This article is a summary of the chapter by Marcus King, John O. Rankin Associate Professor of International Affairs at the George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs, in the new book, Water, Security and U.S. Foreign Policy. The book was produced by the World Wildlife Fund-US and edited by David Reed. The summary was prepared by Chelsea Spangler. 

In Ghana, farmer-herder conflicts have become widespread and increasingly assume a violent dimension. Competition over access to and use of land and water resources is at the center of the conflicts. However, competition does not automatically result in conflicts. The conflicts are driven by triggering activities of both farmers and herders. This study identifies triggers of farmer-herder conflicts in the Upper West Region of Ghana and tests the level of agreement among key stakeholder groups on the triggers of these conflicts.

Nigeria’s arid North West is beset by violence between herders and farmers, which has been compounded by an explosion in criminal activity and infiltration by jihadist groups into the region. The last decade has seen thousands of people killed and hundreds of thousands displaced, with many fleeing into Niger Republic next door. Statelevel peace efforts with several armed factions have had some success, but these will not prove durable unless more actors lay down their weapons.

Increasing understanding of the role that secure water resources tenure plays in ensuring sustainable livelihoods, just resource governance, environmental protection, and sustainable economic development has led FAO to re-kindle the debate that had begun in 2012, when the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests (VGGT) were adopted by FAO, and that had culminated in 2016 with the publication of the FAO seminal study "Exploring the concept of water tenure".

According to estimates by the International Land Coalition based at the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), 57 million hectares of land have been leased to foreign investors since 2007. Current research has focused on human rights issues related to inward investment in land but has been ignorant of water resource issues and the challenges of managing scarce water. This handbook will be the first to address inward investment in land and its impact on water resources in Africa.

The country profile is a summary of key information that gives an overview of the water resources and water use at the national level. It can support water-related policy and decision makers in their planning and monitoring activities as well as inform researchers, media and the general public. Information in the report is organized by sections:

Proyecto Opciones de Políticas para el Fomento del Desarrollo de Mercados de Tierras Agrícolas, con el Fin de Facilitar la Transferencia de Tierras a Pequeños Agricultores

In Afghanistan, insecurity over land and water rights hampers investments in food production and irrigation. In rural areas, customary tenure systems, partly based on religious law, are the most relevant but suffer from weak recognition and offer little protection to rights holders. The land policy reform is on-going but remains slow. Moreover, land administration capacity is weak and improvements mostly take place in urban areas. In this context, land disputes are common and often violent.

Through investigating the reactions of commercial farmers to land and water reforms in the Trichardtsdal-Ofcolaco area, Limpopo Province, Olifants Basin, South Africa, from 1997 to 2006, it is shown that water claims are key to land redistribution processes, and that commercial farmers make strategic use of arguments for nature conservation and ecological stewardship to defend their claims to water.

International Water Management Institute (IWMI).

CESCR calls for written contributions to the draft general comment on Land and Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights is developing a general comment on Land and Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). The purpose of this general comment is to clarify the specific obligations of States parties relating to land and the governance of tenure of land under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.