Over the last 20 years in Tanzania, conflict has escalated between communities and foreign investors over land rights and land-based investments. Here, Masalu Luhula discusses how the use of simplified legal guides is helping to empower communities to engage in dialogue and negotiations with government authorities and investors – and to promote socially responsible land-based investment.

Women own less than 20 percent of land in the world

Half of the world’s smallholder farmers are women

70 percent of Africa’s food is produced by women smallholder farmers

Three new case studies show: In the context of large-scale land investments in Africa, human rights violations and social as well as environmental damages are the rule, not the exception. The message of the studies is therefore clear: development banks and their governments must do more for human rights and take responsibility for damages caused.

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.

The Côte d’Ivoire Land Partnership (CLAP) brings public and private sectors together to work for affordable land documentation for smallholder farmers at scale. The panellists explained that land security should be at the core of corporate sustainability agendas because it translates into benefits across supply chains. Providing smallholder farmers with land documentation to strengthen their land rights has an impact on their lives, their families and also their productivity.

The session addressed the impacts of land-based investments on poor and vulnerable people in the Global South. It facilitated an exchange of knowledge about the strategies that are employed on the ground to strengthen the position of these groups when it comes to negotiating for their interests with investors amidst the climate crisis and the global pandemic. How might we, as practitioners, researchers and policymakers contribute to increased developmental impact of land-based investments, especially in times of crisis?