General

Land tensions and conflicts have always existed in Mali. Formal and customary law co-exist, causing a legal duality and ambiguity. Competition over land and natural resources is growing, and so are land-related disputes. Over 90% of smallholder farmers and pastoralists access land through customary tenure systems. Considering the large role customs play in rural areas, formal legal recognition of these customary rights is important. At the same time, the patrilineal customary systems undermine the position of women and youth. Land Commissions form a key structure in Mali and play a key role when it comes to customary land tenure management as well as land conflict resolution. However, only 30% of the communes have established a Land Commission, and their functioning is not monitored on a systematic basis. Project objective The goal of the intervention is to promote stability, food security, climate resilient agricultural development and natural resources management by strengthening security of access to and rights over land and natural resources, with special attention for inclusivity (especially women and pastoralists), through establishing and capacitating Land Commissions. Project strategies - Formalizing a coordination mechanism for building capacity towards sustainable, inclusive and transparent Land Commissions. - Providing a systematic approach for validating and sharing capacity building for Land Commissions, with a focus on mediation and inclusivity. - Setting up an independent monitoring and evaluation system of Land Commissions. - Establishing a network and exchange organization for Land Commissions.   

General

In Colombia’s post-conflict context, access to land and tenure security are still a cause of many conflicts and inequalities. Especially Indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities are amongst the most vulnerable groups in Colombia. Their land tenure insecurity has a negative effect on the possibilities for livelihood improvements, and on the protection of natural resources within their territories. Project objective The project aims to contribute to filling the Multipurpose cadastre with information about land titles and natural resources of indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities, which is obtained in a fair, efficient and effective manner, and to create security for the communities to invest in sustainable income generating activities in those areas. Combining improved tenure security with income generating activities and protecting natural resources results in an integrated approach, tackling multiple issues at the same time. Project strategies - Improved tenure security through mapping 3 different communities using the Fit for Purpose method - Mapping possible income generating activities together with the communities and looking for external financing - Mapping natural resources together with the communities: how to protect or use them sustainably       - Share this integrated approach with government, donors, financial institutions throughout the project in order to guarantee upscaling and to improve the Multi-purpose Cadastre

General

Burundi has the world’s highest hunger score and around 45 percent of the population is affected by food insecurity. The country copes with increasing scarcity of land as a result of increasing population size, returnees and IDPs and climate change. With the majority of Burundians depending on agriculture for their food and livelihoods, land scarcity makes this reliance on agriculture precarious. This pressure on land causes elevated levels of land disputes with over 55% of all court cases being related to conflicts over land. The results of these disputes are often highly uncertain, as land is commonly not registered and no good documentation of ownership or use rights exists. ZOA has successfully implemented Land Tenure Registration projects in the Makamba-province, but the sustainability of the local land offices (SFCs) remains an issue, as well as guaranteeing gender equality in land governance.The objective of this LAND-at-scale project is to improve tenure security of women and men, conflict resolution and to create the basis for improved agricultural production, access to justice and sustainable, climate smart agri-businesses. This will be done through the following project strategies: 1) Implementing the land tenure registration approach in Nyanza Lac through the operationalization of the SFCs. 2) Ensuring local land conflict resolution mechanisms can effectively resolve land conflicts in Nyanza Lac. 3) Developing a business case that will result in the rollout of (financially) sustainable SFCs at national level, which is validated through multistakeholder engagements.