This event, hosted at ODI in London, was convened to discuss the use of new technologies to map and document land rights, and their impact on land registration and administration, and provide updates on recent activities of Forum membe
The purpose of this study is to investigate whether the Flexible Land Tenure System (FLTS) in
Namibia is in line with the Fit-For-Purpose (FFP) land administration approach which is
developed in order to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at national and
local level in developing countries by providing tenure security to poor people and creating
country-wide land recordation systems. The FFP approach is based on a Minimum Viable
Product focusing on the specific local tenure security needs, flexibility on survey accuracy,
Women face many problems with regard to land inheritance and land rights in Kenya. Individual and community land ownership do not favour women. The reason for this is that ownership of land is patrilineal, which means that fathers share land amongst sons, while excluding daughters. This practice is traditionally widespread and partly accepted although it goes against the interest of women and is prohibited by the constitution.
While women’s rights to land and property are protected under the Kenyan Constitution of 2010 and in various national statutes, in practice, women remain disadvantaged and discriminated. The main source of restriction is customary laws and practices, which continue to prohibit women from owning or inheriting land and other forms of property.
Secure land tenure in rural landscapes is widely recognized as an essential foundation for achieving a range of economic development goals. However, forest areas in low and middle-income countries face particular challenges in strengthening the security of land and resource tenure. Forest peoples are often among the poorest and most politically marginalized communities in their national contexts, and their tenure systems are often based on customary, collective rights that have insufficient formal legal protection.
... The restitution of housing, land and property rights after conflicts
and periods of non-democratic governance are fundamental aspects of transitional justice which are
essential for the achievement of durable solutions to forced displacement, and to broader concerns
of peace, reconciliation and economic prosperity. The NRC Country Office in Myanmar considers it
necessary and positive to increase attention to raise public awareness on international standards on
Housing, land and property rights are fundamental human rights and a global advocacy priority for
the Norwegian Refugee Council. The restitution of housing, land and property rights after conflicts
and periods of non-democratic governance are fundamental aspects of transitional justice which
are essential for the achievement of durable solutions to forced displacement, and to broader
concerns of peace, reconciliation and economic prosperity. The NRC Country Office in Myanmar
This synthesis of our findings from an investigation of tenure risk in East, West, and Southern Africa, shows that a majority of tenure disputes are caused by the displacement of local peoples, indicating that companies and investors are not doing enough to understand competing claims to the land they acquire or lease. This failure in diligence is particularly noteworthy given that a majority of the disputes analyzed had materially significant impacts: indeed, a higher proportion of projects in Africa are financially impacted by tenure dispute than any other region in the world.
Looking at several large-scale land deals in Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia, this extraordinary documentary highlights the nuanced impacts of these investments. Small-scale farmers and producers, national government officials, and African policy-makers unpack the deals, showing that there are winners and losers when providing investors access to large tracts of land in Africa. For example, land deals impact differently on women and youth, and altering land regimes also impacts on access to other natural resources such as water, fish, and local indigenous vegetables.
Land tenure remains one of the most critical factors determining equity under REDD+, as we demonstrated through our previous article, ‘Roots of inequity: how the implementation of REDD+ reinforces past injustices”. Githiru responded to this paper, with some apparent challenges to both the empirical basis and theoretical arguments, that we had put forward.
GRAIN is a small international non-profit organisation that works to support small farmers and social movements in their struggles for community-controlled and biodiversity-based food systems. Our support takes the form of independent research and analysis, networking at local, regional and international levels, and fostering new forms of cooperation and alliance-building. Most of our work is oriented towards, and carried out in, Africa, Asia and Latin America.