Overcoming land tenure deadlock in a context of complex ethnic tensions in the Cavally Region of Côte d’Ivoire

When the US housing bubble burst in late 2008, it dragged major banks into liquidation and destabilised financial systems worldwide. A long, era-defining recession ensued, ushering bank bailouts, currency crises and austerity measures. Meanwhile, China’s skyrocketing industrial production was shifting global economic power.

Over the past nine years, the project on Supporting Implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests (VGGT) has helped countries make political commitments towards the eradication of hunger, food insecurity, and malnutrition, with the explicit outcome of increasing awareness among decision makers, development partners, and society at large regarding access to natural resources. The F

The task of opening a large event is never easy. Within a short space of time, you need to set out a clear agenda, freshening the perspective of the viewer, and then clear the decks for discussion to move forwards rather than retread old ground. Following some introductory greetings from Jean-François Cuénod of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Micah Ingalls (Team Leader MRLG) took up the challenge.

The recognition of customary tenure systems and responsible land-based investments that safeguard legitimate tenure rights and right holders are the interconnected main themes for mainstreaming the principles and internationally recognized good practices of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (VGGT) in Cambodia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Myanmar and Viet Nam.

To better understand key land tenure terms and their meaning, four bilingual glossaries have been prepared with the title "The ABC of land tenure - Key terms and their meaning with a focus on the Voluntary Guidelines and the Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security".

Reports suggest the COVID-19 fallout is providing opportunities for elites to seize lands and rewrite regulations. We need effective responses to secure land rights and lay the foundations for a just recovery. 

The passing of the Land Expropriation Without Compensation bill by the South African parliament with overwhelming support by the ruling African National Congress (ANC) and the radical Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has instigated uncertainties in the country's property rights and agricultural production.

It has been decades since Africa’s independence, and the peasants (rural land cultivators) are still suffering. How did Africa ignore the agricultural sector, after the peasants ushered the continent’s independence? Agriculture has become Africa’s “sunset” sector making the continent the most impoverished region, with over 70% rural poverty, heavy dependence on donor food aid valued at over US$ 51 million annually and high rates of unemployment.  At least Africa is now embarking on agrarian reforms after years of neo-colonialism.    

I think the engagement with Illovo is a good start. … [the Project] has provided a platform for Illovo to engage with [us], which is not only a benefit to Illovo, but to the community. It opens up dialogue. In the future…, we’d love for Illovo to come to (us) and ask us to get involved.

Rural women demand for accountability on land rights in Africa as we celebrate the second anniversary of the Kilimanjaro Initiative.

On December 11 2018, at the sidelines of the second ordinary session of the Economic Commission of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament, a parliamentary network on gender equality in land, agricultural investments and food security was launched.

The dominant debates about land in South Africa often focus on the transfer of land from a few white hands to the black majority. The discussion seldom unpacks who constitutes the “black majority” as this is not a homogeneous group. In instances where the debate touches on land use, again the focus is often limited to agricultural production and whether or not small-scale farmers are productive. This narrow framework clearly has to be broadened and we need to ask deeper and more strategic questions than the ones we have been asking.