Introductory Remarks by Mr. Javier Molina Cruz, Land Tenure Officer, FAO

Introduction

FAO and the Land Portal welcome you to our online discussion running for two weeks, from 6 to 20 October. This discussion will provide an opportunity for project implementers and land governance practitioners to share knowledge and experiences in improving governance of tenure, which will feed into the content of a webinar planned for 27 and 28 October 2021 to which you are all invited. 

Overview

Millions of people in the world depend on access to land, fisheries, and forests for their livelihoods. The increase in world population, urbanization, large-scale land-based investments and climate change have led to increased demand and competition for natural resources. To address the increasing demand for food while preserving the ecosystems that sustain life in the planet, land tenure governance (which includes policies, laws and institutions) need to be improved to promote and ensure the sustainable utilization of land and other natural resources.

By 2050, the world will need to feed more than nine billion people worldwide. For the last three years, there has been a rise in world hunger, while the number of people facing chronic food deprivation has increased to over 821 million. Humanity has a great challenge ahead and should invest in a lifelong dedication of innovative and responsive tenure governance systems to tackle this matter. It is widely accepted that tenure arrangements affecting access to natural resources have a high impact on food security and the environment. 

The eradication of hunger and poverty, and the sustainable use of the environment, depend in large measure on how people, communities and others gain access to land, fisheries, and forests. The livelihoods of many, particularly the rural poor, are based on secure and equitable access to these resources. Inadequate and insecure tenure rights to natural resources often result in extreme poverty and hunger, with many tenure problems arising because of weak governance, while the quality of governance affects attempts to fix these problems. In addition to weak governance of tenure, humanity is facing challenges emanating from climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic which are threatening to wipe put the gains made towards achieving zero hunger by 2030.

In response to the challenges, FAO and its partners have been promoting the application of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (VGGT) as a framework that stakeholders in the land governance landscape can use when developing strategies, policies, legislation and programmes. 

Through the project Supporting the implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests, over a period of 9 years FAO has raised awareness and built capacities of stakeholders on governance of tenure, developed sustainable partnerships with CSOs and regional institutions while developing capacity development tools as global public goods. This project enhanced global processes to improve governance of tenure through collaborative partnerships for sustainable impacts, while promoting the application of VGGT tools and materials. This initiative addressed tenure rights of vulnerable groups, gender equality, conflict prevention, increased participation and multi-stakeholder processes. The geographical coverage of the project included countries and regions in Africa, Asia and Latin America. After nine years of implementation, there are concrete experiences, good practices, knowledge sharing, and lessons learned that can guide others to improve governance of tenure in their own countries.

We look forward to your active participation in the online discussion and subsequent webinar and we value your responses to our questions on how the VGGT has supported global tenure rights.

Progress toward expected results is gradually achieved as communities in Darfur continue gaining comprehensive understanding of different forms of land tenure rights and associated obligations. Contrary to the formal tenure rights, customary rights are not recognized by Sudan constitutions. However, all land tenure holders are equally obliged to pay state taxes and other customary fees (Rusoum) irrespective of whether their land tenure types are recognized or not protected by the constitution. 

The biggest successes of the project during the five years of its implementation included:

Trust: Building trust and confidence among stakeholders over land issues in Darfur Region. At the start of the project in May 2016, discussion over land issues were insinuated with rebellion, political sensitivity, and foreign driven secessionist agenda. Through inclusive capacity development that enhanced stakeholders’ awareness and knowledge on the principles of the voluntary guideline on the responsible governance of tenure of land, fisheries and forest, perceptions on land issues changed. Currently, anyone can freely express their legitimate land tenure rights in public without fear of repression. 

Changed perceptions: In Darfur, land tenure rights are governed by native administration through customary institutions (Hakoura) that does not formally register individual or group rights. According to the 1970 Unregistered Land Act determined that all land in Sudan that was not registered before its entry into force shall be the property of the Government and be deemed registered as such (Article 4(1)). Thus, both customary institutions and legitimate customary land rights are not recognized by the land laws, while customary institutions and customary land right holders did not recognize the land laws they viewed as discriminatory. To ease the tension between formal and customary institutions, the project created Darfur regional (Technical Advisory Committee), states (State Technical Committees) and locality (Locality Action Groups) level platforms with inclusive representations that developed the culture of working together on land issues where roles of each member recognized. Negative perceptions over customary land tenure rights that existed at government institutions changed significantly as a result of project interventions and changes in the country’s political leader.

Recognition of customary land tenure rights in progress: The project reviewed all types of land laws, ordinances, regulations, and peace agreements in Sudan against the provisions of the voluntary guidelines core principles. The review findings were validated in a three-day workshop (February 2019) with representatives of the country’s law-making judicial institutions, lawyers’ associations, judges, land service providing government stakeholders and diverse community groups including women and youth groups. The report was shared with state and national government officials including PM and Minster of Justice. The gaps in the legal framework on land, equipped communities, and their leaders to vocally articulate their demands for recognition of customary land tenure rights in various policy decision making forums including negotiation between Sudanese transitional government and Darfur Rebel groups in Juba, South Sudan. This resulted inclusion of 15 articles (chapter 7) on customary land rights in Juba Peace Agreement (JPA) signed on 11th September 2019.  

Secured customary Agricultural land rights through formal registration: Through inclusive consultation processes, the project harmonized agriculture land registration procedures, processes, timeframe and registration fees; and initiated agriculture land registration that created overwhelming demand to formally secure agriculture land tenure rights in Darfur. The government institutions (land Services providers) also acknowledged the necessity of reducing formal agriculture land registration fees and bringing the land service closer to legitimate tenure rights holders. For the first time in the history of Darfur, the project supported 346 internally displaced returnees in four return sites ( Edeliem, Haraza, Kobei and Urukoum in Yasin, Mershing, Rural Elfasher and Zalingie localities respectively) formally register their agricultural lands. 

VGGT principles recognized: Although there are underlying institutional challenges in terms of organizational operational and individual capacity to responsibly govern all types of land tenure rights (customary and formal) in Sudan, the need to advance the use of five general principles of VGGT is getting recognition which lays foundations for expansion of the project to other regions of Sudan. For instance, South Kordofan state formally requested FAO to expand its EU funded land tenure project currently implemented in Darfur as the state shares similar land issues. 

Established Institute of Land Tenure Governance in University of Khartoum: With the support of Transversal project co-funded by EU and Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the project initiated the establishment of Institute of Land Tenure Governance (ILTG) in University of Khartoum for the first time in the history of Sudan. The institute secured all required higher education approvals including taught and research curriculum for undergraduate and graduate. FAO-Sudan and University of Khartoum initiated a memorandum of understanding for partnership that aimed to advance knowledge base of Sudanese academic institution on responsible governance of tenure of land, fisheries and forest and provides opportunities for local capacities to address land issues. . Such capacity does not currently exist in the country. Therefore, the institute will play a key role on capacity development of relevant stakeholders with a view to improving governance of land and related natural resources. The capacity development extended to public and private sector, organizations of farmers and small -scale producers, fishers and of forest users, academia and local communities enables participatory decision-making process that improves governance of land tenure systems in the future. Moreover, the institute will also be a means to advance and sustain project achievements, supports future National Land Commission and the land reform processes in Sudan. 

1. Advocacy at political level: Increased advocacy would have grasped the required attention of federal level politicians on the project achievements and prioritized and land tenure rights issues as agenda for achieving national food security.  

2. Digitization of agricultural land registration processes: this would have enhanced the capacity of land service providers, reduced registration process and brought the services closer to end users.

Je pense que la FAO aurait pu faire:

• Contribuer aux processus de réforme foncière nationale :

• Une feuille de route + une  stratégie d'amélioration des cadres juridiques et administratifs 

• Un espace favorable aux progrès en matière de reconnaissance des droits fonciers légitimes des plus vulnérables et d'un accès équitable et sécurisé aux ressources naturelles 

1. Reconnaître le rôle que jouent les femmes et les jeunes dans la lutte contre l'insécurité alimentaire et de créer des opportunités pour ces jeunes ruraux notamment en renforçant leur sécurité foncière 

2. Plus d'implication des communautés rurales dans les processus de décision liés aux questions foncières 

3. Plus de transparence en matière de gouvernance foncière et un accroissement de la confiance entre les autorités et les concernés 

4. Renforcement des mécanismes communautaires de résolution des conflits fonciers et l'idée de justice préventives

5. Même si on observe une reconnaissance croissante des impacts positifs des approches participatives (des solutions plus légitimes, cohérentes et durables) les mettre en œuvre reste un défi (le foncier reste une question sensible, l’exclusion des groupes marginalisés existe toujours, etc.)

6. Solution proposée : ciblage, formation et motivation des « agents de changement», (les décideurs, les acteurs de la société civils, les leaders locaux et religieux, les juges, les enquêteurs, etc., ayant la volonté et la capacité de changer les choses) pour transformer les principes en actions et former d’autres agents afin d’opérer un changement concret et durable sur le terrain.

7. Les DV, en tant que document de nature volontaire, constituent un référentiel souple et facile à contextualiser pour la mise en œuvre d’approches innovantes: sensibilisation des acteurs, création de mécanismes multi-acteurs, analyses concrètes pour trouver des solutions aux questions foncières, conception d’outils contextualisés de renforcement des capacités à tout niveau.

The biggest successes of the project in Cameroon are:

• Decisions taken in favor of better management of land resources: With regard to rights allocation processes, project activities have contributed to the government authorities' decision-making, including protecting and securing the tenure rights of customary populations and communities, and limiting the development of land grabs for speculative purposes.

• Two land-based investors adopted two significant policies, in response to concerns raised by a number of stakeholders (including the LandCam project) at the local, national and international levels: zero-deforestation policy and sustainability council.

Challenge

• Cameroon is in the process of a land law reform. So many stakeholders are providing some proposals to the state. The fact is that some proposals of the Civil society may not be taken up since the State can prioritize those coming from the private sector and International Financial Institutions considering economic interests.

The Inter-governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) is a Regional Economic community of the Africa Union responsible for the East and the Horn of Africa. Working with the Member States, the VGGTs have influenced and have been widely used in the development of National Land Policies in 3 of our 7 Member States – Uganda, Kenya, and South Sudan. At Regional level, IGAD has used the VGGTs together with the Framework and Guidelines on Land Policy in Africa to develop a regional gender responsive model National Land Policy that is now informing policy reforms and development in the IGAD Region.

IGAD is using the AU Policy Framework on Pastoralism, the Framework and Guidelines on Land Policy in Africa and the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure as key reference documents for pastoral policy development and implementation of a regional program on sustainable land use and management in the Somali cluster – a cross border area for Kenya, Somalia, and Ethiopia. This program addresses issues of tenure security, the role of pastoral communities in pastoral management, guarantee equal access to pastoral resources for women and other vulnerable groups, establish processes for the resolution of cross-boundary disputes, and improve technologies of resource use. The IGAD Member States established a multi-stakeholder Pastoral Land Governance Platform comprising of government, academia, civil society, agricultural producers, and pastoral associations in 2018 as a knowledge sharing and learning platform.

Dear Charles,

thank you for your contribution. It is encouraging to hear that conflict prevention and mitigation at local level was among the achievemnt of the project. When you refer to community structures, are those newly established ones through the project, or existing ones, and how these structures interact with customary authorities?

La plus grande réussite de la mise en œuvre des VGGT dans mon pays est l’élaboration de la politique foncière du Niger à laquelle j’ai pris part du début à la fin 

A mon avis la FAO a fait de son mieux elle a soutenu ce processus financièrement du début jusqu’à la fin mais elle aurait du faire une large diffusion du document des VGGT, pour le cas de mon pays cette diffusion des VGGT n’a pas été suffisante ce qui amené la société civile de chercher des financements complémentaires  pour faire connaitre ce document par les acteurs afin d’obtenir la légitimité de la politique à travers plusieurs consultations et ateliers.

Dear Abdirahman

Thank you for these extensive and interesting comments on the project in Sudan. There is much to discuss here but I will confine my reaction to this question: What do you think is the next step to further strengthen customary land rights in Sudan?

Best regards,

Darryl

Dear Sandrine,

Thank you for your comments. I'm especially interested on the challenge related to land law reform. What do you think could be done to ensure that civil society proposals are seriously considered? What would you advise?

Best regards,

Darryl

Cher Adam,

Merci pour ces commentaires et suggestions. Quelles sont les prochaines étapes au Niger pour promouvoir la transhumance transfrontalière pacifique ? Comment les VGGT pourraient-elles être utilisées pour soutenir cela ?

Meilleures salutations,

Darryl

Analysis of current gaps in the Land Law, future trends, global practices and lessons documented by FAO. In particular, the project team analyzed legal provisions on land right transfers, administration; status of land tenure governance, and land concentration & accumulation in light of VGGT principles with case studies in selected provinces.

Capacity building and knowledge sharing sessions specifically targeting law/policy makers, development practitioners, and academia.

The capacity development activities implemented by the project in my country have addressed capacity gaps and led to concrete actions of advocacy, policy and legal reforms that benefited tenure rights holders including smallholders, indigenous and tribal peoples and others in my country. This is witnessed by the new land laws which are mainstreaming issues of VGGT enacted in recent years. These new land laws have recognized the importance of land ownership by the indigenous people by putting a specially customary land Act. In this Act customary land will be required to be registered in order to ensure permanent ownership by the indigenous.

L’élaboration de la politique foncière du Niger a suivi un processus inspiré des directives volontaires et du cadre et lignes directrices sur les politiques foncières.

Pour s’en inspiré le processus a assuré une formation de tous ses acteurs sur les documents tels que la formation des chefs traditionnels qui disposent d’un pouvoir de conciliation des parties en matière coutumière civile et de transactions foncières ; la formations des membres de la société civile constituée en consortium d’OSC dans un comité multi acteurs les organisations de la société civile ont occupé des postes de responsabilité en occupant le poste de vice présidence du comité et le poste de présidence du sous comité suivi des recommandations de états généraux du foncier.

Le consortium des OSC a organisé 120 rencontres qui ont mobilisé 3130 acteurs pour des renforcements des capacités des producteurs sur les VGGT et du cadre et lignes directrices

18 ateliers régionaux ont été aussi organisés dans le cadre du renforcement des capacités des producteurs sur les VGGT et du cadre et lignes directrices de 2014 à 2020.

With the support of FAO, we organize training on VGGT, specifically:

- Online training: Organize training for delegates from state agencies by online form. The training content is divided into specific modules, students participate in the study and with the technical support of experts to discuss with the trainees the content related to the lesson.

- Face to face training: After finishing online training, we conduct face to face training activity. Delegates who meet the requirements of the online training phase will have the opportunity to participate in this phase. For 4 days in a row, we continue to discuss the issues raised in the online training phase. Also at this stage, in addition to continuing to discuss the aspects students are interested in during the online training period, we invite to train speakers from many different fields and regions such as business representatives, investor representatives, CSO representatives, INGO representatives with projects related to responsible land investment, and also representatives from the government sector. Delegates will hear plans and programs from the perspective of government agencies, as well as listen to sharing’s from businesses, investors and CSOs.

- Support to implement an action plan: After finishing 4 days of face-to-face training, participants will complete the action plan on the plan to apply VGGT to their own work. We support delegates so that delegates can execute this action plan. Initially, the participants shared all the contents of the VGGT program that they were able to participate in, then many participants integrated the contents of the VGGT they learned into the process. provide professional advice to the agency in the process of revising and designing a number of relevant policies.

The committees are the ones which have been newly established as a result of project implementation

Thank you Charles for acknowledging the importance of the VGGT in capacitating key stakehlders in customary land management in Malawi. Can you highlight a little more how the local level customary structures also benefitted from the capacity development. This will help other countries with customary structures to learn from your experiences.

Thanks to those who provided their on thoughts on the capacity building aspects of the VGGT project.  We heard about several interesting activities, including:

1. The blended learning program for government officials in Vietnam on responsible land-based investment.
2. Translation of the VGGTs into local languages in Namibia to make them accessible to a wider range of people.
3. Working with key stakeholders in Malawi to help to improve customary land management.
4. Building awareness among land holders in Colombia of the benefits of formalizing their rights.
5. A wide range of capacity building activities on land governance involving a consortium of CSOs in Niger.

Please continue to share examples of capacity building elements of the project.

Thanks,
Darryl

Though there is no direct influence on the enacted laws/policies, the project has tried to reflect gender equality principles (from the Law on Gender Equality and relevant international instruments including CEDAW) in land tenure governance. The project products have well reflected gender-equality principle in VGGT guidelines and that in local legislation (2013 Constitution Art. 26, 2013 Land Law Art. 98, 2014 Law on Marriage and Family Art. 29-33-34-59-66, etc.

In the project activities, women’s participation has been prioritized to reflect their needs and perspectives on land tenure.

En nuestro país en este momento no existe distinción de genero a la hora de formalización de tierra, todos los ciudadanos colombianos tienen los mismos derechos sea hombre o mujer. No existe un limite de acceso a tierra para ningún genero. Todo tienen los mismos derechos.

The IGAD Land Governance Program has supported all the seven Member States – Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan, Somalia, Sudan, and Uganda to develop their National Women’s Land rights Agenda. IGAD has also developed its Regional Women’s Land rights Agenda, endorsed by the Ministries responsible for Lands and the Ministries Responsible for Gender from its Member States. The foundations of this work lie in the VGGTs and the application of FAO’s Legal Assessment Tool to undertake diagnostic studies for each country and draw strategies for concrete gender transformative interventions over a ten-year period 2021 – 2030. IGAD together with its Member States is now developing gender indicators for measuring progress in implementing the Regional Women’s Land Rights Agenda.

L’application des VGGT a suscité une égalité des sexes tant au niveau des hommes qu’au  niveau des femmes ce qui a abouti aux résultats suivants.

Le dynamisme du consortium de la société civile a favorisé la création d’un groupe de leaders féminines au Niger qui porte le nom d »initiative femmes pour l’accès à la terre ». Cette initiative est née pendant le processus participatif et a apporté une forte contribution dans la mobilisation de plusieurs groupes d’acteurs tels que la participation des honorables députés femmes à des séminaires organisés par cette initiative. Il faut dire que j’ai participé personnellement à l’élaboration des  VGGT pendant son processus à Rome en tant que déléguée de la Via Campésina ; en tant que membre du comité national de préparation de la politique foncière du Niger j’ai trouvé que les femmes sont sous représentées au sein du comité, pour recueillir l’avis des femmes sur un large éventail j’ai crée le groupe initiative femmes pour le foncier rural où à chaque étape de l’élaboration du document je réuni le groupe pour leur présenter le document et recueillir leurs avis que je fais intégrer dans le document pendant les séances plénières

Le conseil des ministres en date du 09 septembre 2021 a adopté le projet de décret portant adoption du document de la politique foncière rurale du Niger PFRN et son plan d’action

Dans ce document de PFRN les acquis pour les femmes rurales sont les suivants :

• Octroi aux femmes, aux jeunes et aux handicapés d’un minimum de 30% des parcelles aménagées par l’État et les collectivités territoriales
• Encourager la délivrance des actes au bénéfice des femmes, des jeunes et des personnes en situation de handicap ainsi que des actes de sécurisation foncière commune aux conjoints ;
• Assouplissement des conditions de paiement des frais de délivrance des actes du Code Rural pour les femmes, les jeunes et les personnes en situation de handicap (payement par échéances) ;
• Exigence du consentement du conjoint / de la conjointe pour les transferts fonciers définitifs en cas de copropriété entre conjoints ;
• Encouragement du recrutement ou de la désignation des femmes dans les organismes de gestion et d’administrations foncières, avec notamment un objectif de 20% de femmes dans les Commissions foncières, et de leur positionnement aux différents postes stratégiques ;
• Sensibilisation des communautés sur les textes relatifs à l’accès sécurisé des femmes, des jeunes et des personnes en situation de handicap au foncier.

Ces mesures ont été retenues de haute lutte du groupe initiative femmes pour le foncier rural afin de permettre aux femmes d’exploiter des terres aménagées sur fonds publics et de se faire délivrer des actes de sécurisation avec des modalités adaptées de paiement des frais.

Organizational and individual capacities of land service providing government institutions at federal, Darfur states and project targeted localities were assessed. Some of the preliminary findings indicated limited organizational linkages between federal and state institutions; budgetary allocations focused on staff salaries and operational costs of State Ministries. organizational and individual capacities at all levels of government structures that would have improved land service delivery was not a priority. Thus, competent human resources that could have spearhead desired changes in land service provision were scanty. The assessment recommended targeted capacity building that enhances required skills at all levels and coordination mechanism that links institutional mandates, budgetary focus and improvement in land related services such as land registration, transfer of entitlements, arbitration of disputes, access to information and many others.

In response to these recommendations, the project executed three-phases of blended learning program for key stakeholders from state institutions, native administration and community representatives including women and youth groups. Selected VGGT e-learning materials on; a) introduction to responsible governance of tenure concepts, principles and tools; b) addressing disputes and conflicts over tenure of natural resources and d) how to monitor and promote policy challenges on governance of tenure; e) Free Prior and Informed consent (FPIC); f) corruption on land administration; and g) gaps in Sudanese land laws were translated into Arabic and used for building the capacities of stakeholders. capacities of over 90 members of state technical teams (STTs) of which 92% male and 8% female and 100,000 community (79% Male and 21% Female) were enhanced in Darfur Region. 

VGGT technical guidelines and e-learning courses were shared electronically, in flash disks and hard copies to stakeholders at federal, Darfur states and twenty targeted localities and five return sites. electronically learning resources materials and guidelines that cover diverse aspect of responsible governance of tenure to project stakeholders. Pertinent policy issues were identified, discussed at STTs meetings, individual line departments and states ministries; and the outcomes of policy discussions presented to media outlets (national TV channels and FM radios) for dissemination. Each state formed WhatsApp social platforms to discuss project issues and share knowledge on responsible governance of tenure of land. 

Project staff, focal person from ministry of Agriculture and general secretary of Darfur Land commission participated capitalization meetings aimed at multi-country experience sharing. While State level technical teams benefited from inter-state learning exchange visits. These approaches enhanced the knowledge and capacity of stakeholders to practically use lessons gained from project capacity building modules and solved an average of 25 land tenure related disputes in their respective states. STT members also understood community concerns and grievances on land use, land tenure rights and governance of tenure.

Not country specific but I would like to highlight the continued influence of the VGGT within certain land sectors. The VGGTs has continued to act as a northstar for many of us involved in land valuation, unregistered land value and tenure security, and compulsory purchase. the VGGTs are heavily referenced (especially sections 16, 17, 18) within the new UN GLTN Valuation of Unregistered Land–A Practice Manual – Global Land Tool Network (gltn.net). This operational manual is directly connected to IVSC and RICS valuation standards so bringing the VGGTs to a new influential audience in the financial and investment sectors.  The VGGT ethos of social justice connected to land security is deeply embedded within numerous professional sectors - I would encourage nations to make sure their land professionals & institutions (surveyors, planners, valuers etc) are adhering to international standards such as the manual that not only contain the VGGTs but also help operationalise them for use in practice.

Effectivement, les activités de renforcement des capacités mises en œuvre par le projet dans votre pays, la disponibilité de documents traduits liés au VGGT, les échanges entre plusieurs pays, etc. - ont permis de combler les lacunes en matière de capacités et ont conduit à des actions concrètes de plaidoyer, des réformes politiques et juridiques qui ont bénéficié aux détenteurs de droits de tenure, y compris les petits exploitants, les peuples autochtones et tribaux et d'autres personnes dans votre pays. En effet, il s’agit des activités de renforcement des capacités organisées dans et en prélude du processus de l’élaboration la politique foncière rurale. Les différents acteurs (organisation de la société civile, les autorités coutumières (chefs traditionnels, les autorités communales, les structures des organisations féminines et de jeune ont réussi des formations sur Directives Volontaires pour une gouvernance responsable des régimes fonciers. Ces activités de renforcement de capacités ont eu lieu en prélude du processus de l’élaboration de la politique foncière du Niger pour que les différents acteurs participent en connaissance de cause dans le dit processus. Aussi, tout au long du processus, les actions de renforcement des capacités ont eu lieu.

Dans un cadre spécifique de l’amélioration de la gouvernance des terres pastorales et celle de la mobilité transfrontalière dans l’espace CDEAO, le Niger est parvenu a adopté par décret le Comité National de Transhumance et les différents comités régionaux de transhumance. Ces comités ont vu aussi leur capacité renforcer grâce au guide en image élaboré sur la base de guide sur la gouvernance des terres pastorales et les Directives Volontaires pour une gouvernance de régimes. Ces outils leur permettront d’avoir une grille d’analyse de situation de gouvernances des ressources naturelles dans leurs zones respectives.

• Le projet a commandité au début une étude sur l’intégration de la dimension genre dans le projet
• Les recommandations dégagées ont été prises en compte dans la composition des commissions d’identification et de délimitation (CID), tout comme dans les équipes d’enquête foncière (EF), et de bornage et mesurage(BM) tout comme pour les commissions de reconnaissance collinaires(CRC)
• Sur base des données collectées dans le pays sur le nombre d’attributions des terres domaniales, il a été constaté que les femmes demandeurs de terrains sont peu nombreuses, un message de sensibilisation des femmes pour formuler des demandes de terres a été diffusé.
• Prise en compte de l’égalité de sexe dans la collecte des indicateurs d’activités (nombre H et F).

The issue of gender equality is considered and evaluated in every country. So far, it is an important indicator used to evaluate and rank countries in the world. In Vietnam, we have a saying that "when the invaders barge in, even women fight" which shows that in war or in peace, women and men share the same responsibilities. VGGT only helps Vietnam develop regulations and policies that are more compliant with international standards.

According to the World Bank Group's 2020 summary report, the World Economic Forum ranked gender equality in Vietnam 87th out of 153 countries surveyed in the world in terms of narrowing the gender gap, with women's average annual income being 3 million VND less than that of men. Only 31.3% of entrepreneurs in Vietnam are female, while the proportion of men holding senior management positions is still high at 77.6%.

However, this number does not necessarily mean inequality. Women can choose to spend more time with their families while still being supporters or even supervisors of men.

minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:Calibri;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:
EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">One of key successes would be the translation and revision of the VGGT Lao version. The VGGT books were also printed and disseminated to stakeholders, including CSOs, NGOs, and relevant government agencies. There is greater awareness by local stakeholders especially the CSOs, NGOs, some responsible investors/private companies. A most significant achievement could be a sign of buy-in by government agencies, such as technical departments of some Ministries (e.g., Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, MONRE; Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, MAF; Ministry of Planning and Investment, MPI).

Thanks for your comment, Elizabeth. I agree it would be interesting to hear from Esther whether and how they used some of those resource. Esther, can you elaborate?

The level of innovativeness is moderate. Vietnam is a country of diverse ethnic identities (54 groups), and the project has been implemented during a historic period when the first National Target Program on Ethnic Affairs (NTP-EA) was enacted for 2021-25 period. 

The project has tried to retrospectively evaluate the outcomes of instruments/ policies on EM’s access to land (2019 Resolution 22/NQ-TW, 2013 Land Law Art. 133, 2013 Decision 755/QD-TTg, 2016 Decision 2085/QĐ-TTg). Key shortcomings of the current policy framework were analyzed (e.g. fee mechanism for LURCs as a burden for EM households, long-term livelihoods support to avoid the sales of allocated land). Some good lessons were drawn but there is little evidence on how this has been taken up by law-makers.

LA metodología innovadora es hacer los procesos directamente de la mano o en compañía de las comunidades, a mi parecer nadie conoce mejor su tierra que las mismas comunidades, ellos saben su historia, ellos conocen quien son sus poseedores históricamente, incluso saben las delimitaciones de los territorios, hacerlos participes de todo este proceso ha sido fundamental, contribuyen a la formalización equitativa garantizando así que a cada quien se le adjudique lo que en realidad le corresponde.

The innovative methodologies developed by the project that have advanced the equitable formalization and documentation of customary tenure rights, and Indigenous Peoples and Tribal peoples' rights in my country are; advocacy and lobbying, capacity building of relevant stakeholders, resource provision and this has led to a domestication of VGGT in our new land laws.

Identification et délimitation des terres faite de manière publique, et contradictoire, même chose pour l’enquête foncière, le bornage et mesurage.

Implication des communautés à la colline à travers la commission de reconnaissance collinaire (CRC)

Implication des services techniques dans le travail de l’inventaire des terres domaniales (agriculture, forêts, urbanisme, élevage)

In Vietnam, there is no concept of indigenous people, only the concept of ethnic minorities. In addition, in the field of land, in Vietnam, there is no concept of customary land tenure. However, after participating in the training program on VGGT, the delegates all affirmed that it is possible to apply the VGGT principle on land use rights according to customs and traditions, especially for people. minorities, and uphold the principle of FPIC. This is a very good thing, especially in the context that in 2022, Vietnam will amend and supplement the 2013 Land Law. 

Arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs) dominate the landmass of the IGAD region – form 60-70% of the total landmass. ASALs receive less than 600mm of rainfall per year and are susceptible to cyclical patterns of short and more persistent droughts. Pastoralism, an extensive and mobile rearing of livestock on communal rangelands, is the major livelihood and production system practiced in ASALs thereby employing a greater percentage of the population. Pastoralism involves mobility to access seasonally available pastures and water. There are also agro-pastoralists who are largely sedentary, combining livestock rearing with crop production.

Pastoral management in ASALs is based on the utilization and management of seasonal pastures: dry season and rainy season pastures. Traditionally, dry season pastures are deliberately not used during the wet season to enable them to regenerate for use during the dry season. Thus, permanent use of one area is avoided to prevent depletion and degradation of pasture, and large tracts are seeming left idle during the rainy season. Thus, pastoralists are not concerned with the management of fixed territories of the land but adjust their grazing grounds in relation to climatic factors, in which they may have to negotiate access to pastures with their neighbors. This results in pastures being held as common property rather than individual property, in which multiple users negotiate and compete for rights. In some instances, rights to pastures may be established through the control of wells and access of livestock to water rather than through land.

Pastoral land management strategies have been poorly understood in national policy frameworks, where pastoral lands are under-used, poorly managed, and degraded. This leads policymakers to assume that pastoralism is outmoded and that pastoral lands would be better protected, managed, and conserved if they were allocated to other sectors. These perspectives legitimize the appropriation of pastoral lands and heighten the vulnerability of pastoralists. However, pastoralists make considerable contributions to national economies. For example, in Sudan the pastoral-dominated livestock sector contributes 80% of the agricultural GDP; in Ethiopia, pastoral areas supply the export of live animals.

Pastoral land-use strategies are not easily translated into policy. Land policies have tended to confer land rights based on individual claims to specific plots of land. Policies that recognize rights to land-based on development and investment in the land have worked against pastoralists and in the favor of farmers, who have frequently been able to claim rights over land established in dominantly pastoral areas. Therefore, pastoralists have lost considerable areas of land to other land users. The boundaries of rangelands are not stable, and they are often constructed out of political interests and contradictory claims of different groups, rather than constituting distinct, authoritative, and historically defined categories. Therefore, pastoral rights in land are not easily reduced to an individual title, and pastoral areas are easily encroached upon by other users.

The African Union (AU) policy framework for pastoralism explicitly recognizes the rights of pastoralists, and the need to provide security, services, infrastructure, and economic opportunities in pastoral areas. The framework supports pastoralism as a way of life and as a production system; it recognizes the importance of mobility to make efficient use of rangeland resources. The AU framework and guidelines for land policy, as adopted in July 2009 by the AU Assembly of Heads of States and government, explicitly supports measures designed to improve indigenous tenure arrangement and acknowledge the legitimacy of indigenous land rights. It recommends that national land policy processes must recognize the role of local and community-based land administration/management institutions and structures, alongside those of the State. The framework highlights that protection of pastoral ecosystems will require policies that address issues of tenure security, the role of pastoral communities in pastoral management.

Recent land reform initiatives in the IGAD countries, based on customary rights, have attempted to recognize the land rights of pastoralists. The Ugandan Land Act enables common land associations to obtain customary certificates for their common lands and group rights to manage and protect their interests in rangeland management. Kenya’s Community Land Act (2016) provides a framework through which customary holdings are to be identified and registered. A review of land governance legal, policy, and institutional frameworks for IGAD member States and rangeland management of the three RPLRP countries was conducted by IGAD in 2016. In general, policies supporting pastoral land governance are adopted by most countries but implementation is very weak.

The previous study shows that in sub-Saharan Africa 70% of rangelands are considered moderately to severely degraded. Degradation manifests itself through the increase of bare ground and the replacement of perennial grasses by undesirable plant species resulting in reduced forage availability. When land is poorly governed, the associated problems often lead to disputes, land degradation, and lost socio-economic development opportunities. Land governance is critical for reducing poverty and for enhancing economic development, gender equality, social stability, and sustainable resource use. Failure to resolve land issues is increasingly recognized as a barrier to achieving other development objectives, including the SDGs.

The overall objective of the Forum is to enhance pastoral land governance convergence among IGAD member states especially in the cross-border areas to enhance sustainable development of pastoralism.

The establishment of a multi-stakeholder Pastoral Land Governance Platform comprising of IGAD  departments working on pastoralism, government, academia, civil society, agricultural producers, and pastoral associations is critical to raise awareness on the frameworks and tools available to support the enhancement of pastoral land governance at member states level in the IGAD region. These frameworks AU Policy Framework on Pastoralism, the Framework, and Guidelines on Land Policy in Africa and the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure, and the IGAD Transhumance Protocol.

The Inaugural Pastoral Land Governance Forum will take the form of a two-day learning event to be held on 14 – 15 December 2021. Experiences of countries on responding to different pastoralist issues will be shared.

Chère Fatimatou, merci infiniment pour votre contribution à ce sujet. Pouvez-vous nous raconter comment la récente politique foncière du Niger peut aider tous les acteurs, en particulier les femmes, à obtenir de meilleurs droits fonciers ? Et pouvez-vous nous expliquer l'impact des Directives Volontaires (DV) pour ces mêmes acteurs ?  Bien cordialement, James

Hello,

Today we open up question 5:

Improving food security is a core objective of the VGGT. So, please tell us what you think!

Thanks,

Darryl

Impact on national food security can only be achieved through a long-term project that covers the entire country. The project under discussion on focused only in 32% (20 localities) of Darfur localities. However, through agriculture land registration, some members of communities in Darfur enabled  have access to financial institutions for getting agricultural investment loans and machinery. The project also supported communities’ groups, women associations and youth with small irrigation pumps, oil pressing machines powered by engine generators; grinding mill machine units of knapsack sprayers that encouraged productivity, omitted transportation costs of agriculture produce to localities for the services and reduced farmers expenses in accessing the services.

We cannot already talk about impact.

Many local organizations working to achieve food security, especially in the far north region, which has one of the highest rates of food insecurity and malnutrition of the country, barely linked their efforts to land issues. The project, through the Network for the fight against Hunger (RELUFA), has been able to raise the attention on the necessity to take into account land issues in order to be more effective on actions undertaken for food security, livelihoods development and climate change adaptation. For this purpose, RELUFA is currently developing a tool which will help to integrate land issues from the design of development projects targeting food security and climate change adaptation.

Le projet n’a pas pu avoir un impact sur la sécurité alimentaire puisque les attributions des terres n’étaient pas encore réalisées, on devrait attendre l’enregistrement avant l’attribution (le code foncier précise que l’attribution d’une terre domaniale non enregistrée est nulle).

Many of the project designs of the EU Land Governance Project did not directly link improved tenure security to food security. It is one area that we still have scant data to establish the linkage. The linkage is done anecdotally, theorising that people with secured tenure are likely to invest in responsible land management and land use practices and this will lead to improved productivity and food security. Future projects should be designed to include the linkage so that the appropriate data can be collected to support the theory. However, there is enough evidence to support the view that the projects have improved tenure security considerably. They have also highlighted the nexus between improved tenure security and overall economic development.

RELAPU could have put more efforts in identifying the registered cadastral coverage and names of the Mailo landowners whose tenants have been mapped under the ILGU project through activities like rectification of the cadastral records based on recognised ground controls and register searches at the ministry zonal offices .

There has also been demand from the communities and technical leadership to consider the issue of Issuing COOs for those tenants that have received a LIP and landowners have consented to the issuance of COO.

Planning for the project exit strategy right from the start of the project to ensure/ease project sustainability.

Targeted awareness raising specific for vulnerable groups through women and youth FGDs concerning their land rights in addition to general community and leaders’ sensitization.

Qualitative evidence and voices from the beneficiaries indicate RELAPU has improved the tenure security of tenants and Mailo landowners which in turn has increased investment in land in light of the reduced fear of being evicted/ actual and perceived security of tenure.

There has been evidence of increase in acreage of land available for farming for Households as parcels under conflict have reduced. Documented land is also less risky to rent out to others.

Evidence of increased investment in long-term income generating crops such as coffee, banana plantations etc

More scientific evidence on this will be generated from the World Bank led Impact Evaluation study to conducted at the end of the project in 2022.

The real impact of the project in terms of numbers is yet to be complete but a scientific study to investigate the most prominent or preferred option by the tenants and landowners as far as the options to resolve the Impasse between landowners and tenants on Mailo in line with the National Land Policy 2013 strategies shows that evidence is required if any support is to be given in the registration of rights of tenants on mailo tenure to discern between those with legitimate use claims and those without.

Support to landowners with regard to the update of their registered interest since un-updated land owners records directly impact on the possibilities for further tenure securization for the land users.

 Awareness raising is necessary after land use rights documentation on financial literacy as well as good agronomic practices in consideration of the determined land sizes.

Hello,

The time for this online discussion has passed quickly! It is already time to consider our last question:

More than the other questions, this one should resonate with those who were and were not directly involved in the project. Where do we go with mainstreaming the VGGTs to help improve land governance? Please tell us what you think!

Thanks,

Darryl

Yes, quite relevant. FPIC is one of the key principles that should be promoted.

Since VGGT principles have been reflected in other FAO important agenda and instruments (e.g. agrology, RAI, etc.), it is important to collaborate with other DPs and use different platforms to disseminate them.

Use of Fit for Purpose (FFP) approaches and FFP technologies (with a continuum of accuracies) on customary as well as mailo tenure to document land rights as a basis for issuance of the certificates of customary ownership (CCOs) and certificates of occupancy (CoOs). On mailo tenure, the FFP technologies enable the establishment of the actual registered interest with whom negotiations have to be held to further tenure securization through juxta positioning (in QGIS) use and ownership rights.

The alternative dispute resolution mechanisms using locally based structures; relying on a combination of opinion leaders, local authorities, CSO partners and traditional authorities that have mediated land disputes has proven to be effective as an alternative to time-consuming and costly formal judicial processes.

The use of CRISP (land rights data collection tool) and incorporating aspects of physical planning and wetlands protection particularly on customary land in the Northeastern region has been achieved by the project something that has only been done by RELAPU.

The whole procedure of inventorization of land rights on private Mailo something that no partner; not even government dared to do prior to 2017, has been achieved by RELAPU. A social document is an important first step that has bridged the gap between informality of legitimate tenure rights and formal registered interest for customary and more so for occupants on mailo tenure .

While ‘’FPIC’’ and ‘’do not harm’’ result into an initially less systematic approach, the gradually increasing systematic approach improves accuracy of documentation as well as reduces the average cost per parcel.

The display of results of parcel mapping for community validation prior to land tenure documents issuance strengthens community participation and ownership aside from the offering an opportunity for community members to contribute to quality control of the data collected.

Multistakeholder dialogues have been utilised as a avenue to share experiences, challenges and good practices amongst project partners as well as forums to share challenges with the line ministry with respect to land governance bottlenecks.

The mainstreaming of the VGGT and its principles is still relevant as a tool for advocacy, decision making and research in support of strengthening tenure rights in my country. The project needs to continue supporting all activities such as capacity building, monitoring and supervision of VGGT as well as advocacy and lobbying with relevant stakeholders.

Yes, the VGGT and its principles is still relevant in Namibia, especially since Government committed itself to implement the resolutions of the 2nd National Land Conference. The implementation of these Resolutions can largely draw inspiration on what the VGGT says. It is against this background and in anticipation of this need that FAO developed the Popular version of the VGGT for communal land administration with the Namibia context in mind.  The VGGT Popular Version was developed on the basis of having identified 14 pertinent land governance issues in Namibia’s communal areas. Each identified issue is linked to key messages of the VGGT that are relevant within the context of communal land administration in Namibia. Therefore, similar projects can support the National Land Agenda  by providing technical support through awareness creation on the VGGT principles and how it can be used to resolve land tenure issues.

Through inclusiveness project implementation; women, youth and men are included in the land use rights documentation and the CCO processes. CoO and LIP documents both provide for joint ownership for couples and families as well as individual ownership for both men and women.

The project relies on the mandated lower land administration institutions such as the Area Land Committees which a comprised of female member.

CSO partners have emphasised the related issues of women land, marital and succession rights during both awareness raising and grievances settlement.

 Encouraging women and youth participation in awareness raising activities, ADR processes as well as participation on land use rights documentation teams.

Gender disaggregated data from awareness raising events, use rights documentation and ADR shows use rights of women headed Households and joint ownership of the LIP as part of the secured/documented use and customary ownership rights.

The project has documented success stories emerging from marginalised categories such as the women, elderly, youth, and PWDs; whose ownership and use rights have also been documented.

Integration des VGGT est toujours pertinente puisque dans notre pays la sensibilisation des autorités aux VGGT n’a pas eu lieu. Au moment où l’atelier allait être organisé, la crise de 2015 a éclaté.

A l’avenir, le projet pourrait commencer par cette sensibilisation des autorités politiques et techniques aux VGGT, et renforcer le droit d’accès de la femme à la terre à travers l’enregistrement des droits réels qui ne sont pas encore connus au pays-seul le droit de propriété est enregistré et est matérialisé par un titre foncier- les autres droits ne sont reconnus que de manière contractuelle. 

Le projet pourrait aussi  travailler sur les stratégies du droit d’accès des jeunes à la terre, en vue de réduire le chômage et rendre le milieu rural attrayant pour eux ?

The integration of VGGT and principles is still very relevant in the policy advocacy process, influencing the decision-making process of legislators. In the future, this project can be made intensively into a full project, not just a "Learning program" component. The project can develop a program of activities such as: Continuing training to improve the capacity and awareness of state agencies at the provincial level about VGGT and its effects; Introduction of VGGT to NGOs, by NGOs with certain voices, influence on state agencies, legislative bodies; building a network of multi-stakeholders on VGGT; develop a policy advocacy plan for guiding documents on land law enforcement, etc.

In  the recent past,  mailo tenure is intensely debated. The RELAPU project is severally  cited as an empirical example of how the Uganda NLP, 2013 strategies can be implemented as measures to put in check rampant evictions of occupants from parcels registered under mailo tenure. Additionally, the amendment of the following provision is recommended:

''Section 31 (9) of the Land Act provides that for the avoidance of doubt, the security of tenure of a tenant shall not be prejudiced because he or she does not possess a certificate of occupancy.''

This in effect means that it is optional to have the certificate; this which has not helped many with legitimate claims as they lack documented evidence to present in courts of law. The Act provides under Section 33 (1) of the Land Act '' the provision of a certificate of occupancy to a tenant by a landlord which acts as proof of occupancy.''

There is consideration for a review to allow for mass certification of legitimate claims supported with social documents/LIP as an initial step.

Dear Darryl,

In addition to my submission below;

Through awareness raising many women are now aware that they can indeed bear individual or joint ownership of land. It has been common that women would register land under their use either in their spouse' name or male childrens' names. On the other hand, men are also encourged to formally bequeth land and property rights to the girl child as well.

Land owners have been observed to respect legitimate claims of both men and women. Still, it is common that women are more vulnerable if their spouse passes on. This has been impressed upon the males with respect to the benefits of joint registration as well as the formal writing of wills. Still, while the Uganda legal framework provides for spousal consent during land transactions a number of male community members occupying mailo tenure have expressed reservations to joint registration/documentation at first registration of use rights more so for parcels that do not bear the matrimonial home. It is my belief that specific studies are necessary to discern the specific effects on the varied categories of women: married, single, separated, divorced, elderly, married-with-children, married-without-children, separated-with-children, separated-without-children, cohabiting, traditionally married etc.

Thank you for the elaborate response to the question.  How are the products that you have developed so far taking on board the regional frameworks (eg. African Union Declaration on Land Issues and Challenges and the Framework and Guidelines on Land Policy in Africa (F&G))  on gender-equitable access to and ownership of land and other productive natural resources?

I have not been directly involved in the VGGT process but your last question "Where do we go with mainstreaming the VGGTs to help improve land governance?" raises important issues.

Back in 2016 Ruth Hall and Ian Scoones wrote a review of the VGGT process which included a section on key debates about VGGT implementation. In this they noted that:

Globally, significant progress has been made on implementing the VGGT. Enormous efforts by diverse actors have laid the groundwork for scaling up initiatives. For a non-binding instrument this widespread support is a key ingredient, but by itself it is not enough.

They identified a number of key debates which had arisen around the VGGT

"Critics in CSOs and social movements... argue many of the implementation initiatives focus on governing the status quo, through protection of existing rights and improved land administration, rather than agrarian change and transforming land relations towards greater equity. This is despite the provisions on redistribution and restitution in Paragraphs 14–15, which have been somewhat neglected in practice, arguably because of wider political realities ... and the drive by both governments and investors to facilitate investment".

They asked a key question:  "Is the focus on improving governance of existing landholding systems and land relations at the cost of transformative visions of agrarian reform?"

Hall and Scoones also drew attention to what they described as a ‘business turn’ in the use of the VGGT  which had emerged in international discussions prioritising elements that concern responsible business and the management of private land-based investments. They questioned whether the guidelines had shifted  "towards regulating and shaping private companies’ behaviour – possibly to the detriment of sufficient attention to the responsibilities of governments and building state capacity to improve governance, recognition and protection of tenure rights". They  also questioned  whether "the growing expectations of private companies deflect attention from governments as primarily responsible for governing land rights, and expect companies to substitute in their own policies for failings and gaps in national laws and policies?"

Crucially Hall and Scoones note that:

"Continued political commitment – from governments, donors and others – hinges on evidence that the Guidelines are being translated from global ‘soft law’ into ‘hard law’ at country level. Examples are needed of national governments that have locked key principles of the VGGT into policy and legislation".

This is where the contestation lies in South Africa. Critics argue that there have been  numerous process such as:

• The report of the  High Level Panel 
• The Presidential Advisory Panel
• Public participation processes in relation to the drafting of legislation
• The Multistakeholder Platform initiatives

However the  majority of the in-depth recommendations which have been made - many of them congruent with the VGGT - appear to have fallen on deaf ears and the state has proceeded with a policy agenda which many argue ignores the fundamentals contained within the VGGT. This has contributed to increasingly polarised positions around the continued value of engaging with government.

Some laws past and present run counter to the principles contained within the VGGT  

For example the Ingonyama Trust Act led to mining activities and other developments on communal land, frequently done without proper community consultation  which have led  to deprivation of use rights and access to land. At the same time people’s rights to land occupied and inherited by families over generations have been arbitarily and illegally converted into into lease agreements, recently found to be illegal.

Likewise the  recently passed Traditional and Khoisan Leadership Act (No 3 of 2019) serves to undermine rather than secure tenure rights and has eroded the protections contained in preexisting law.  All of this runs counter to the principles contained in the Voluntary Guidelines.

These contradictions have contributed to an increasingly adversarial environment in which land rights activists have  turned to the courts and to protest action. Even then, despite numerous court judgments confirming land rights in different settings, practically little seems to change on the ground, which in turn deepens the polarisation and  mounting disaffection with the state.

 South Africa has been in a bitter struggle to resist "state capture" as politically connected elites appropriate resources and hollow out state institutions. This may go a little way to explain the current situation pertaining to the VGGT in South Africa and the difficulties in navigating a highly contested and fragmented landscape.

Hall and Scoones observed that:

[While] much donor funding has gone to global multilateral partnerships with global institutions, bilateral partnerships with states and developing tools; remarkably little support has gone to direct civil society action to mobilise communities around their rights. In the midst of proposed investments, civil society input and support for grassroots organisations could strengthen the bargaining power of poor people and their capacity to negotiate.

Increased support for civil society organisations may  provide the key to effectively mainstream the VGGT.

Recognizing the tenure rights of land and forestry hold an importance for individuals and communities in a number of ways:

Economically- as a main source of livelihoods and food security or as a safety net. 

As a source of social legitimacy and as a reflection of power within society. 

As a source of cultural identity and as a marker of belonging to a community and as a political territory. 

The Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (VGGT)  and other instruments of land governance have been at the core of the Support to Land Governance and Sustainable Development project which the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has been supporting in Malawi for three years. VGGT has been significant in the project in a number of ways, despite limited time and resources that were allocated to activities aimed at popularizing the guidelines while linking them to the implementation of new land laws in Malawi.

The land bills 2016 were drafted and lobbied in line with VGGT to address gaps. The law now provides a consultative process in all land acquisitions and land-based investments to recognize and respect legitimate land tenure rights. Thus VGGT and related instruments of land administration were also imparted to key structures established through the new land laws as well as existing structures that shape and set agenda of policy implementation like the media.

One of the biggest successes of the VGGT project activities was the tangible influence they had to steer the acceptance and popularization of new land laws, whose spirit is to ensure secure land tenure and are informed by the principles of good land governance. Through the VGGT activities, the target audience of such initiatives and participants were able to appreciate the key objectives of the new land laws and what they intend to address. This informed key stakeholders on the linkages with land administration in the country in relation to the following aspects informing the new pieces of land legislation:

-       Recognizing and respecting all legitimate tenure right holders and their rights, including women and children,

-       Safeguarding legitimate tenure rights against threats and infringements related to customary land,

-       Avoidance of disputes relating to land tenure, conflicts and corruption and

-       Promoting and facilitating the enjoyment of legitimate tenure rights.

The VGGT activities complimented the above aspects and the aspect of gender equality and mainstreaming in the programmes helped women to appreciate their land tenure rights and security needs. Thus, the activities concurred with key provisions of new land laws, notably the gender balance in land administration and tenure rights provided for in both the principal Land Act 2016 and Customary Land Act 2016.

Therefore, the biggest success of the VGGT project activities was their ability to establish an understanding of the social and economic benefits of the introduction of new land legislation and the main objective behind the land reform agenda. Beneficiaries of the activities were able to link and relate the new land laws and the VGGT provisions which are voluntary, while the law is mandatory.

However, FAO as a lead provider of implementation support to the Ministry of Lands, could have moved faster and earlier in the advocacy for the voluntary guidelines, without necessarily having to wait for other land reform activities of the Ministry. The delay of FAO in the VGGT activities created some confusion among members of the public as they, in some cases, failed to relate the voluntary guidelines and the enforcement of new land laws. The confusion created a perception that FAO was behind the introduction of new land laws in the country. There was need for a more systematic approach on VGGT than directly linking them to new land laws.

Capacity building is one of the major challenges facing the country in other areas of expertise land Tax and Valuation administration.  Benchmarking and availability of expertise in the field of Valuation and Estate Managements there is a deficits that requires an attention.  There is a gap when it comes benchmarking with other countries in some areas in order to see how other countries are doing in terms of Valuation and land Tax administration in areas such as statutory valuation and valuations of specialized properties. The areas  addressed are the ones mostly has an impact in land reform  which leads to concrete actions of advocacy in areas such as policy and legal reformat that can benefit land tenure right holders.

Yes, the VGGT workshop and learning programme has been successfully organized and addressed capacity gaps for individuals and organizations, especially government authorities in the VGGT application for more responsible land tenure governance. The project has made policy recommendations to address tenure-related barriers in the 2013 Land Law and existing legal frameworks, improve responsible governance of tenure, and protect tenure rights holders including smallholders, indigenous and tribal peoples and others. Policy advocacy activities were implemented through four local workshops, two regional workshops, a leaflet and one video clip to popularize project findings and mainstream the VGGT principles and good practices in the revision of the Vietnamese Land Law 2013 on agricultural land accumulation and acquisition for more responsible land tenure governance.

During the dissemination of voluntary guidelines to key stakeholders including members of the community, issues of gender equity and equality were carefully tackled. Carefully because in some communities, gender equity and equality advocacy is still some taboo, and requires a well-thought-of and tactful approach. By carefully tackling gender balance issues along other VGGT provisions and advocacy of other instruments, it was easier for some communities and audiences to embrace gender equality aspects, especially when it was linked to what new land laws say, and NOT the Ministry of Lands officials or FAO facilitators.

Therefore, the linking of VGGT to provisions of the new Customary Land law helped in addressing gender inequality issues, especially when it comes to land registration. Gender inequality was also addressed through the establishment of land dispute safeguards like the Customary Land Tribunals, where a good women representation is supported by the law, just like the VGGT.

And also, by making specific provisions that protect women from arbitrary land dispossession, the project helped in addressing gender inequality in the country.

Improved gender equality was thus achieved by the VGGT with the backing of the laws in force, which advocate for gender-balance from the Customary Land Committees level, where a 50-50 representation of men and women is mandatory. Thus, with women forming at least 50% of the CLC, their tenure rights are guaranteed. Evidence is the more women who attained secure land tenure through registration, and many families opted for joint registration of their land parcels during the piloting of new land laws, which is a plus to gender equality.

The VGGT project developed user-friendly training manuals which were used during orientation and training sessions for interest groups and stakeholders in districts where Government was testing new land laws, and other districts where FAO was implementing its gender programmes.  The innovation behind the training manuals was that they were developed and produced in a book illustration form, which made it easy for communities and other stakeholders to follow and understand the voluntary guidelines and gender elements 

The training manuals were also translated into Chichewa, which is the mostly used language of communication in Malawi. Adding to this innovation, the illustrator was a Malawian cartoonist whose indigenous characters were already familiar among the local audience and readership 

This helped women and their menfolk alike to apply the messages advocated through the innovations during customary land registration, thereby enhancing secure land tenure among women and their children 

Similar to the training manuals, the project developed user-friendly posters in various lead languages including Tumbuka and Yao, which are used largely in the northern and eastern parts of Malawi respectively 

Perhaps, what pulled women most to get attracted to the VGGT activities and advocacy were the clothing wrappers, popularly known as Chitenje in the local language which was developed under the project, and were distributed to some fols in the districts. The branded Chitenje  innovation always has a good impact in rural areas where women put on wrappers during almost all social gatherings in strategic convergences. The messaging on the innovations formalized issues of gender equality and women’s land rights as the public positively responded during land registration activities positively. The disadvantage with this innovation was that the funds were very limited for mass production and dissemination. Only a lucky few women accessed the innovations!

Yes, this project has enhanced the capacities of government authorities by providing them with guidance to create an enabling environment for responsible investments in agriculture. When doing responsibly, such investments would enhance land-use efficiency, improve productivity and income, while maintaining equitable access to land for small-scale farmers, especially for vulnerable groups, and thereby contribute to achieving sustainable agricultural development, national food security, and nutrition. 

It would be better to have more effort in term of capacity building for smallholder farmers   and enterprises who are key stakeholders in investment activities in agriculture.

The change of tenure which is not only a challenge in Namibia but it is a global challenge throughout the world.  This is caused by the migration of people from rural to urban areas which leads to the expansion of commercial pressure, expansion of infrastructures on urban land, extractive activities, and climate change.

There is a need for FAO to discourage the migration by introducing projects in each constituency and providing more water to enable the community to come up with projects like piggery, poultry and horticulture and other projects like hydroponic fodder.

The VGGT principles are a relevant tool for advocacy, decision-making and research as far as strengthening land tenure rights in Malawi if they are more domesticated per region or area of advocacy. The domestication of VGGT principles will demystify issues of land administration and policies, or laws among the public and sensitive communities. VGGT principles should not be regarded as foreign elements into how local customs manage their land for fear of creating a misconception on forceful land acquisition by government and its agents or associates.

The dissemination and teaching of VGGT principles should be tailored in a way that local communities and their respective leadership are fully involved for them to own the elements. Ownership of the voluntary guidelines should be emphasized at all levels of engagement to gain massive acceptability and meaning taking.

In this regard, trainers or facilitators in all public engagements should identified from within the areas so that they can use the local language fluently, and give local scenarios, cases and examples for easy acceptance. Importation of trainers from other regions or traditions should be discouraged at all costs as this has a direct negative impact on the advocacy. 

Other areas to consider to advance national land reform agendas are; 

-       Strategize and reach out to land-related investment authorities such as the Green-Belt Authority, Malawi conferederation of chambers of Commerce and large-scale investors such as Press Agriculture, Malwi mangoes etc.

-       Include research, documentation and promotion of best practices in land governance, land-based investments and conflict resolution so that local communities in similar predicaments can emulate.

-       Produce, print and disseminate more VGGT materials in vernacular languages and

-       Promote VGGT principles through electronic media such as Television and Radios. Efforts by the Ministry of Lands to have VGGT principles and other land related instruments were not successful due to unclear funding budget lines. 

However, the above notwithstanding, there have been land-related cases that were amicably settled using VGGT principles. These include:

-       A conflict between community forest workers and the Department of Forestry in Traditioanl Authority Kwataine in Ntcheu district and

-       A case in Salima involving the Department of national parks and Wildlife and over a thousand fishers on Malele Island in Traditional Authority Maganga in Salima

It is clear that attempting to further gender equality in relation to land played an important role in the project activities in many countries. Here are a few takeaways from the contributions on question 3:

• There is a still a lot more to be done!
• Many countries have formal laws that promote or require gender equality but the reality on the ground is often different. This is especially so in the case of customary land where men still tend to dominate. One potentially effective strategy in this regard is to promote dialogue between women and traditional leaders. Forming groups of women leaders can also be productive.
• Each country is unique in this regard and thus needs its own long-term strategy tailored to its circumstances.
• The VGGT can help to ensure that new land laws lead to more gender equality in relation to land.
• There are many good resources on this subject that can help guide efforts to further gender equality. One example is the FAO Technical Guide "Governing Land for Women and Men."
• Most, but not all projects had a specific gender focus.

Please let me know if you disagree or think I missed an important point.

Thanks,
Darryl

Perhaps not surprisingly, the biggest takeaway from responses to question 5 is that most projects did not expressly focus on improving food security. We all know that the VGGTs emphasize the positive impact better land governance can have on food security but it seems that it is too soon to know if that happened as a result of any of the activities carried out in the project.

I fully agree that we need to gather a lot more evidence to establish a direct link between tenure security and food security. We all think it is there and there is much anecdotal evidence to support that. But this could be a focus of follow-on efforts.

In Uganda, evidence suggested that more secure tenure led to increased investment in income-generating crops, such as coffee and bananas. But did this help or hurt food security? Too soon to tell. Similarly, the responsible investment learning program in Vietnam taught that such investments should lead to more food security or, at least, not cause increased insecurity. Let's do a follow-up study to see what actually happens.

What do you think?

Thanks,
Darryl

Thanks Esther for the elaboration on the use of the existing FAO-developed VGGTs resources and how you have developed the tailored documents for use in IGAD Members States, with the practical focus and attention to translating into local languages. This is all good to see and shows how the VGGTs have become an important springboard for improved land governance in so many different ways, rather than a one size fits all.

Thanks Rick for your reflections on the experience with the   multi-stakeholder platforms in South Africa. I  agree with you that the VGGTs offer many avenues for reform and by  no means suggest a 'one size fits all' solution to land issues. There is something in them for everyone and every country, regardless of livelihood system, environment, historical land use patterns, or broader governance trends. One of the ways that the most relevant VGGTs-inspired solutions to land governance problems was intended to be developed was through debate and discussion within the multi-stakeholder platforms.  As you point out, CSOs have a key role to play as important stakeholders. And I would add also local communities more broadly - as any policy, legal or regulatory change will need their buy-in if it is to be implementable, particularly where it touches on long-established values, attitidues and practices and ways of organising the relations between people and land, and between different people in respect of land. Gender, class, ethnicity, age, disability etc all have a bearing here, so the more diverse and inclusive multi-stakeholder platforms can be, the more opportunity there is for meaningful participation across  all of society,and a better (more socially legitimate) end result.

Merci pour votre commentaire. Le renforcement de la gouvernance des droits fonciers pastoraux est un objectif important des VGGT. Beaucoup de travail a été fait sur cette question, mais il en reste encore beaucoup. J'espère que cela pourra arriver en Côte d'Ivoire !

There were many innovative methodologies developed within the MUL project in Colombia, in particular, it is interesting to highlight the "Pathway for the formalization and titling of properties of Public Law Entities" (Hoja de Ruta para la formalización y titulación de predios de Entidades de Derecho Público). A tool that interprets the legislation and facilitates pedagogically the understanding of the rules on legalization and land titling, associated with public law entities. When communities manage to legalize their properties (rural schools, hospitals, sports fields, community halls), local governments may invest the public resources to maintain and improve the quality of the services provided on these properties.

Another interesting tool is the "Route for addressing and transforming socio-environmental conflicts" (Ruta para el abordaje y transformación de conflictos socioambientales), it approaches a transformation focus because we do not intend to talk about conflict resolution (considering the magnitude of them) but rather we want to transform and prevent them from growing and reaching other levels. This rapid conflict approach methodology allows, through 4 cyclical steps, to analyze and manage socio-environmental conflicts, it is a new tool that can be used in any Latin American or external context.

On the other hand, another interesting tool is the "10 keys for journalists covering land tenure rights" (10 claves para periodistas que cubren derechos de tenencia de la tierra), a basic compilation so that journalists from different origins can understand the VGGT and can use them in the best way in their journalistic investigations and their coverage of land issues. A tool that can be used internally by FAO in several countries, as well as widely disseminated in front of journalists in different contexts.

Es correcto lo que comenta Juan Diego, la metodología colaborativa al interior de la Hoja de Ruta para la formalización y titulación de predios de Entidades de Derecho Público, permite que la comunidad, aporte con sus conocimientos locales sobre los predios, para agilizar el levantamiento de información, y en ultimas agilizar los tramites de formalización o titulación de bienes como la escuela rural, el acueducto veredal, la caseta de acción comunal, el centro de salud entre otros.

Dear Odame and Darryl,

You made an interesting observation here! I would see that the link between tenure and food security can be straightforward and measurable at the household level but more complicated at the national one. At the household level, there is a direct link, for instance, in the case of people dependent of ‘traditional’ livelihoods and subsistence farmers. For them, a secure access to land and natural resources as well as the availability of these resources are vital. For instance in Northern Finland, many households complement their diets and revenues by fishing and hunting as well as by mushroom and berry picking on state land. If the access to these resources is endangered and if these resources become scarce, it has a direct impact on the nutrition, food security and economy of the households. This impact could be measured at the household level for instance through small surveys.

Best wishes,

Anni

Hi Anni,
Thank you for your contribution. It is great to hear that you have been able to use both the VGGT and the FAO resources so much in your work. I have done the same. I hope to see development of new resources and more widespread use of the VGGT and resources by others in a wide range of stakeholder groups.
Darryl