News on Land

Forest dweller Utpal Nokrek, who is now at 32, has been restricted to a wheelchair for 13 years.

It was 3 January 2004 when Utpal was shot during clashes between the forest dwellers and police over acquisition of thousands of acres of forest land by the government in the name of an eco-park at Tangail's Madhupur forest.

"As the forest dwellers of Garo and Koch communities protested the eco-park project, rangers and police opened fire. I was shot during the clashes," Utpal said.

Worried by the high rate of deforestation in the state and its negative consequences, some communities in Cross River State have called for the adoption of forest governance as a way to tackle the menace.

From exposing dodgy land barons in Zimbabwe, to public-private sector collusion forcing locals off their land in Uganda, we’re using the power of video show how land corruption affects lives and what we’re doing to bring about change.

Take a look:

Ghana

This film was made by widowed farmers in Kulbia village in northern Ghana. It documents how land rights violations are destroying their livelihoods.

The young Changemakers who won seed grants through our Land and Corruption Programme last year are making progress with their projects.

Here are their stories:

Ariel Lashansky

Malian men control access to land and decide which parts women are allowed to farm - that's a problem for women as erratic weather increases competition for land and harvests

BOGOSSONI, Mali, May 29 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Anthio Mounkoro has been farming land in Bogossoni for as long as she can remember – but none of it was ever hers.

"The land I've been cultivating my whole life is my father's," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation while meticulously watering a batch of shallots, careful not to waste one drop from the hose.

National laws and regulations in low- and middle-income countries consistently fail to protect the land rights of women living in indigenous and rural communities, making them ill-prepared to reach the targets set by the Sustainable Development Goals or the Paris Agreement on climate change, a new report called “Power and Potential” released by the Rights and Resources Initiative, or RRI, reveals.

With detailed field studies from Kenya, Cameroon, Uganda and Namibia, a new report sheds light on the consequences of extractive industries on land rights and indigenous peoples in Africa. “Worrying that so little is done to protect the environment and the indigenous peoples,” says the report.

 

Environmental degradation, cultural ethnocide and gross human rights violations: For indigenous peoples these are some of the consequences of the current global race for natural resources and raw materials.

The Civil Society Organization Working Group on Land Reform on Monday told the Legislature that they remain optimistic that the land reform bill, when passed into law, will empower rural communities through the recognition of customary land rights and other issues across the country.

The CSO working group said the passage of the land rights act will also support communities to self-identify and manage their land in line with the new law, going as far as providing legal assistance where needed.

 Globally, principles for responsible investment in agriculture and food system, requires respecting, protecting, and promoting human rights, including the progressive realization of the right to adequate food, in the context of national food security. This is in line with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other human rights instruments and protocols.

International principles, protocols that safeguard land rights

Colonialism brought large-scale farming to Africa, promising modernisation and jobs – but often dispossessing people and exploiting workers. Now, after several decades of independence, and with investor interest growing, African governments are once again promoting large plantations and estates. But the new corporate interest in African agriculture has been criticised as a “land grab”.

RSPO Ruling Condemns Plantaciones de Pucallpa for Its Destruction of Over 5000 Hectares of the Peruvian Amazon but Deforestation and Threats to Community Leaders Continue