Promises and realities of land formalization in Africa
Has land formalization - as a type of land reform - delivered on the promises of improving tenure security, agricultural productivity and women's land access? Learn more in this data story.
Has land formalization - as a type of land reform - delivered on the promises of improving tenure security, agricultural productivity and women's land access? Learn more in this data story.
Rather than scaling up, I think we should be talking about scaling out and scaling over time when it comes to inclusive, community-led land governance. I tried these ideas out with some success two weeks ago at the annual LANDac Conference in the Netherlands, specifically during a Round Table which asked “(how) can we scale bottom-up or community-based initiatives towards fair and inclusive land governance”?
Ido Lekota is a former Sowetan political editor.
Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Minister Thoko Didiza tabled a R17, 3 billion budget in the past week to help support food security in the country.
Didiza said the money will be distributed through a range of programmes, including the commercialisation of black farmers through land development support.
"If you look at the R17.3bn of our budget, the majority of that is transferred to provinces dealing with food security," she said.
Nick Vink and Johann Kirsten
Most countries in both the rich and the developing world have some sort of programme to help early career farmers (mostly, but not exclusively young people) to get established in a farming or agribusiness enterprise. South Africa sticks out like a sore thumb, even against many African countries, in not having such a programme.
In our view, subsidies for black farmers in South Africa are justified. This is because they would help deliver a more inclusive agricultural sector and correct past racial biases.
The Land Portal published a new country portfolio for Nepal as part of our Country Insights initiative. The initiative seeks to expand knowledge about how countries govern their land, the challenges they face, and the innovative solutions they find to manage land tenure issues.
Nepal is a small landlocked country situated between India and China. It comprises three main geographical areas, namely lowland plains bordering India, foothills, and then the high Himalayan mountains bordering China. The total land area is 147,516km2.
Submission Deadline: All manuscripts should be submitted for consideration by December 31, 2021.
The global environmental crisis is intertwined with the crisis of social and economic inequality. From coal plants to palm oil plantations, economic activities that threaten the planet are concentrated in communities with less power and wealth. “You can’t have climate change without sacrifice zones,” writes Hop Hopkins, “and you can’t have sacrifice zones without disposable people.”1
By Allan Cain, Development Workshop Angola
* This article was originally published as part of the online discussion on customary law in Southern Africa
By Phillan Zamchiya, Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS)
* This article was originally published as part of the online discussion on customary law in Southern Africa
Although land reform has been a priority area of the government, land use planning has always remained under the shadow of revenue collection and land distribution.
By Ben Cousins, Emeritus Professor, Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS), University of the Western Cape
* This article originally appeared in the The Conversation on 22 June 2021
A really important report from the International Land Coalition and Oxfam is just out called ‘Uneven Ground: Land Inequality at the Heart of Unequal Societies’, along with 17 supporting papers. Through new analysis it shows that land inequality is even larger than previously thought, and that this has dramatic effects on poor people’s livelihoods, particularly those of women and young people.