This guide aims to help communities, to understand and address land-investment based conflicts thus supporting them in exercising their basic human rights.
The land crises and large-scale land grabs affecting many African countries today stem from historical and colonial mistakes whose problems remain. The systems;policies and laws that are being pushed to “register” and “formalise” land ownership do not put into consideration the cultural and historical aspects that govern land in many countries on the continent.
These messages were developed based on the field experience in fragile and crisis affected contexts of UN-Habitat and the partners of the Global Land Tool Network and the HLP Area of Responsibility of the Global Protection Cluster. They are a quick reference on how to empower
Includes an interview with Amanda Massaquoi;member of the Informal Alliance Against Industrial Oil Palm Plantations in West and Central Africa;who is supporting women in Sierra Leone who are opposing the oil palm plantations model. In practice women are not included in decision-making on land and there is a prevalent violence towards women from within communities.
Describes the efforts of Zambian traditional leaders to promote gender equality in the management of land and natural resources at the national level. Developed a tool to address knowledge gaps and provide practical guidance on promoting gender equality in the chiefdoms in the areas of land;forestry;wildlife;water;fisheries;and minerals.
The restitution of ancestral land rights in Namibia has divided opinions since independence. Some argue it is a fitting process in dealing with colonial era land dispossessions;others are concerned about the complexity of implementing this kind of restitution.
Writers have guest-edited an African Studies Review forum on Understanding Land Deals in Limbo in Africa which examines the contentious politics of incomplete land grabs in Senegal;Tanzania and Zambia.
Presents a framework for tackling urban-rural land challenges. Designed to help a range of stakeholders in developing countries understand how to adopt an inclusive approach to land management and administration initiatives to produce a balance in urban and rural development.
Gives details of how villagers in Chilonga in Zimbabwe’s Masvingo province are being kicked off their land;paving the way for growing lucerne grass as stockfeed. Cites some individual case histories;government support to the giant dairy company Dendairy and attempts to resist the evictions.
Proponents of large-scale agriculture have put forward a multitude of reasons to support the advancement of this approach to farming. Large-scale agriculture is seen as the only way to “modernise” and “develop” the land;to close the yield gap;and to ensure food availability.