Growing commercial interests;population growth and conservation initiatives are increasing competition for land in Tanzania. At the same time;land-related conflicts are on the rise. These trends undermine livelihoods by threatening rural people’s access to land and tenure security. Women tend to be disproportionately affected as available land diminishes;disadvantaged by weak land rights and limited participation in decision-making processes.

Las Naciones Unidas, en su agenda 2015-2030 –concretamente en el obje- tivo de desarrollo sostenible n° 11: ciudades y comunidades sostenibles–, se propone la consecución de ciudades y asentamientos humanos inclusivos, seguros, resilientes y sostenibles, si se asume, como expresa la misma or- ganización, que la mitad de la población mundial vive en ciudades, lo cual es crucial para el desarrollo sostenible. Si bien el objetivo es claro, el reto es encontrar la forma de conquistarlo.

This report denounces human rights violations occurring in Socfin Group’s rubber plantations operation in Liberia.

State-led development visions and the accompanying large-scale investments at the geographical margins of Kenya rest on the potential of public–private partnerships to fast-tract sustainable development through accelerated investments. Yet, the conceptualisation, planning and implementation of these visions often deploy a depoliticising development discourse that reinforces and expands long-standing misconceptions about the margins primarily directed at pastoral livelihoods and related communal land tenure.

FAO’s Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (VGGT) were endorsed by the Committee on World Food Security in May 2012. These Voluntary Guidelines have been described as a catalyst leading to improvements in the conditions under which land is held or occupied in the agriculture sectors. The Guidelines address problems of weak governance of tenure and the growing pressure on natural resources, thereby assisting countries to achieve food security for all.

In many rural areas across sub-Saharan Africa lack of tenure security for women has been exacerbated by rising commercial pressure on land;further aggravated by climate change;urbanisation and population growth. As a result;rural livelihoods are being undermined;with potentially dire consequences for communitieseconomic development and food security. Since 2016 IIED has been working with partners in Ghana;Senegal and Tanzania to engage with rural communities.

Tenure risk – or the risk of dispute between investors and local people over land or natural resource claims – is endemic in emerging markets. There are hundreds of recorded incidents of tenure disputes creating delays;violence, project cancellation and even bankruptcy at a corporate level. These tenure disputes create lose-lose outcomes for investors;local people and national governments;while robbing emerging markets of the developmental benefits of responsible land investments. However;many investors are unaware of the problem or lack the time and resources to address it.