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Rick has over 40 years experience working in the land sector in Southern Africa. He is part of the Land Portal knowledge engagement team working to research and develop knowledge resources including data stories, blogs and in-depth country profiles for Southern, Central and Eastern Africa.
Rick is also a Senior Research Associate with Phuhlisani NPC - a South African land sector NGO and the curator of specialist Southern African land news and analysis website https://knowledgebase.land
He tweets on land related issues Twitter account https://twitter.com/KnowledgebaseL
He has a PhD from the University of Cape Town. His research in Langa, Cape Town features as the central case study in a recent book Urban Planning in the Global South (2018), co-authored with the late Vanessa Watson, which examines the on-going contestations over land and housing in the rapidly growing cities of the global South.
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Transforming Agri-Food Systems in West and Central Africa: Rwanda, DRC, Burundi to benefit from TAFS-WCA programme
Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Burundi are set to benefit from a regional initiative dubbed “Transforming Agri-Food Systems in West and Central Africa (TAFS-WCA)” which is aimed to increase food security and combat climate crisis.
Struggle continues for landless Brazilians
Though a moratorium on evictions has been extended in Brazil, families still face forced removals. Activists are fighting for the right to land amid increasing precarity.
Judge blocks mine expansion: Licence to extend the Somkhele mine set aside
Mining in the former homelands in South Africa remains highly contested. At issue is the tendency of many mining companies to trample land rights, negotiate deals with elites to avoid securing informed consent while sowing division and conflict in poor rural communities.
Francis Wilson: A heart on fire, with a mind on ice
The life and work of labour economist Francis Wilson was one of the inspirations for the Land Portal data story Double dispossession? A history of land and mining in South Africa's former homelands. The data story was published on the 28th April - the day on which Wilson died aged 82.
Double dispossession? A history of land and mining in South Africa's former homelands
This Land Portal data story explores the history of double dispossession in South Africa, from the colonial and apartheid era until contemporary times due to mining investments.
Early warnings for floods in South Africa: engineering for future climate change
Severe weather, rain and flooding are at the forefront of the minds of many South Africans, especially those in KwaZulu-Natal. Early last week (11-12 April 2022), the province’s coast received heavy rain, with some areas recording over 300mm in 24 hours. This is about a third of the annual rainfall in KwaZulu-Natal.
Climate may not directly drive conflict but it’s critical for building peace
Climate change isn’t a direct driver of conflict. Most scientists agree on this and it’s reflected in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Working Group II Report. There isn’t a straight line between climate-related risks and conflict-related outcomes.
ANC plots big land expropriation change for South Africa
The ruling ANC wants farmers to donate land for redistribution to emerging black farmers as part of a significant shift in land expropriation policy. The proposal is found in a discussion document prepared for the party’s policy conference scheduled for July, the Sunday Times reports.
New documentary explores women’s struggles for customary land rights in Zambia and Mozambique
This documentary explores women’s struggles for customary land rights.
In sub-Saharan Africa, 90% of land is held under customary tenure.
Half the women in the region lose their land in the event of divorce or death of a spouse.
Sub-Saharan Africa under threat from multiple humanitarian crises
The number of hungry people in the Sahel and West Africa has quadrupled over the last three years, currently reaching 41 million, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) reported on Friday.
Issuing the alert, WFP said that the figure rose to 43 million when the Central African Republic was included in the food insecurity estimate.