The cities in southern Africa reflect the rapid urbanisation characteristic of sub-Saharan Africa in general. Angola, Botswana and South Africa have the highest levels of urbanisation with about 60% of their population living in cities in 2010 and this percentage is expected to rise to about 80…
Southern Africa is one of the most well endowed regions in the continent in terms of mineral and natural resources. However, the region is facing serious environmental challenges such as land degradation, deforestation and water stress in specific areas.
The population of Southern Africa…
In this issue, we will be looking at work underway on the Voluntary Guidelines on responsible governance of tenure of land and other natural resources. We will also look at work done in Thailand and lessons learned by the German-financed Bioenergy and Food Security project.
Access to arable productive land in African has been in decline due to the pressure of growing population trends and worsening land degradation as a result of climate change. Recent high profile land purchases covering thousand of hectares of prime agricultural land have raised concerns over…
Given the recent trend of granting vast areas of African land to foreign investors, the urgency of placing real ownership in the hands of the people living and making their livelihood upon lands held according to custom cannot be overstated. This study provides guidance on how best to recognize…
The impacts of natural disasters such as hurricanes, floods, earthquakes and tsunamis have been increasing steadily since the 1950’s, particularly for developing countries. According to a World Bank external evaluation report “natural disasters destroyed US$652 billion in property worldwide in…
The Eastern and Anglophone Western Africa Regional Assessment meeting was organized by a task force consisting of FAO, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, African Land Policy Initiative, the United Nations World Food Programme, United Nations Development Programme, the…
FAO and its development partners are working together with countries to prepare Voluntary Guidelines that will provide practical guidance to states, the private sector, civil society, academia, donors and development specialists on the responsible governance of tenure. By setting out principles…
The Namibian part of a 3-country project which also covered Zimbabwe and . Includes land reform and poverty: national policy context; regional contexts: Hardap and Omakeke; Affirmative Action Loan Scheme; Farm Unit Resettlement Scheme; group settlement schemes; rethinking viability: reflecting…
It has emerged quite clearly from Urban LandMark’s work in South Africa – and increasingly in the region – that the emergence of more sophisticated property markets has taken place locally and in most larger cities in the region. While there might be a need to assist these markets to develop…