In Jharkhand, eastern India, women are not entitled to own land and accusations of witchcraft are wielded against them to silence their claims to land

When Talabitti’s husband died in 2016, her claim to the family land seemed to die with him. Though her husband had worked the family land by himself, upon his death his male cousins laid their claim. If Talabitti attempted to make a competing claim, they threatened to drive her away – with violence, if necessary. Sadly, this threat materialized.

When Namati's Community Land Protection project in Sierra Leone's Paki Massabong Chiefdom came to a close, a 'handing over' ceremony was held. Along with village chiefs and local officials, a number of female community members stood to speak. Here are excerpts from what a few of these women shared.  

By SARAH ELIZABETH ANTOS, MOHAMMAD ZIA, and ENRIQUE PANTOJA

Originally available at World Bank blogs

A la faveur d’un atelier de formation du réseau Wildaf/Feddaf-Bénin appuyé par la fondation Konrad-Adenauer à l’attention des acteurs de la gouvernance foncière en milieu rural, des participants venus des communes du département du Zou ont été entretenus sur les enjeux économiques d’un accès sécurisé des femmes à la terre. Nous vous rapportons 05 bonnes raisons pour ne plus empêcher les femmes d’accéder à la terre.

Par: Olivier Ribouis*

This blog is a summary of a paper that assesses the effectiveness of a specific land tenure intervention to improve the lives of women, by asking new questions of available project data sets.

Second in a series of blog posts on the release of the 2019 Annual Trends and Outlook Report (ATOR) at the ReSAKSS Annual Conference in Lomé, Togo, Nov. 11-13.

Date: 23 octobre 2019

Source: RFI 

Par: Delphine Bousquet

Au Bénin, la loi garantit l’accès de tous à la terre et le code foncier, révisé en 2017, a des dispositions en faveur des femmes. Mais en milieu rural, comme dans le département de l’Atlantique, au sud du pays, le droit coutumier est toujours pratiqué et elles n’y ont pas facilement accès…

On the 2019 International Day of Rural Women, Landesa’s Shipra Deo explores how land rights are an essential element for overturning misperceptions about the role of women in society and on the farm.

In a workshop with a group of agronomists who work in agriculture extension in India, I ask the participants to draw the picture of a farmer with whom they work. All but one of them draw male figures.

Date: 6 septembre 2019

Source: Mali-web.org

Par: AMK/MD

Au Mali, si l’Etat exige, dans ses projets de développement, de réserver aux femmes 10 à 15% des terres aménagées, au niveau national, cette mesure n’est pas très suivie dans les villages et hameaux, où c’est le droit coutumier qui prévaut.

By Chris Hufstader

After an audacious land grab by a foreign company, indigenous women in a remote Cambodian village struggle to regain their farms and sacred sites.

By Deborah Espinosa and Patrick Gallagher, USAID’s Land Technology Solutions Program

Persistent and pervasive gender inequality is a global development challenge that constrains economic growth, educational opportunities, and health outcomes. It jeopardizes food security and undermines poverty reduction strategies. The world over, some formal and many informal laws and customs operate to hinder women’s empowerment and thus their full potential as agents of economic and social change.