A group of concerned actors has partnered to co-lead a series of Independent Dialogues ahead of the upcoming 2021 United Nations Food Systems Summit. The Dialogues will promote the centrality of land rights in building sustainable food systems.
Together, the European Commission, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), the International Land Coalition, the Land Portal Foundation, RVO & LANDac – the Netherlands Land Academy (both supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands), the Deutsche Gesellschaft für internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and Welthungerhilfe are joining forces to hear experiences across the globe of how land rights can be a part of building sustainable and resilient food systems. The Summit, which is part of the Decade of Action to achieve Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, is the opportunity to remind the world of the key role that land plays in achieving the 2030 agenda. Food sustainability, as part of the 2030 agenda, cannot be achieved if the rights of those who depend on land for their survival are not secured.
Survey
This survey is part of a series of consultations to collect ideas and solutions for potential game-changing and systemic solutions to feed into the decision-making process and the outcome of the United Nations Food systems Summit. The survey will complement the outcomes of regional dialogues organised by the co-conveners and feed into the efforts of brining land rights as an inherent element in building inclusive, sustainable and resilient food systems in the world.
Take the survey in English, French of Spanish
Independent Dialogues
The Independent Dialogues will hear from women and men, family farmers, pastoralists, indigenous peoples, fisherfolk, and youth. They will also hear from governments and their development partners, and NGOs. The dialogues will inform the Summit by crowdsourcing promising ways of securing land rights that are locally based and locally led, which strengthen sustainable food systems. Dialogues will be conducted in Asia, Africa/Middle East/Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean.
ASIA
Date: Tuesday, May 4, 2021, 10:00H CEST
Where: Online
AFRICA, EUROPE, AND THE MIDDLE EAST
Date: Tuesday, May 11, 2021, 14:00H CEST
Where: Online
LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN
Date: Wednesday, May 12, 2021, 09:00AM Peru Time
Where: Online
For more information, visit the website of ILC
Posted: 28th May 2021 by Charlotte Stam
Opportunity: Two co-editor positions at The European Journal of Development Research (EJDR)
Deadline for expressing interest: July, 31st, 2021
The EJDR is seeking to recruit two new co-Editors to join its Editorial Team. They are looking for research-active scholars or practitioners with extensive experience of publishing, editing and reviewing for high-ranking academic journals. They encourage applicants from minorities and the Global South. They are looking for one with expertise in International Development Practice and one with expertise in the Sociological and Anthropological perspective and analysis of International Development.
The co-Editors will join an active Editorial Team, amongst which management of the paper review process is shared to ensure that Editors manage papers within their area of expertise.
The co-Editor roles available are:
Read more about the positions and the application process here.
Posted: 19th May 2021 by Charlotte Stam
The Land Portal & Open Data Charter: Open Up Guide on Land Governance
The Land Portal and Open Data Charter are launching the Open Up Guide on Land Governance, the latest addition to a lauded series of practical guides for governments to address key policy changes. This launch comes as part of the Open Gov Week (OGW), an annual call-to-action to transform the way governments serve their citizens.
This Open Up Guide on Land Governance is a practical resource to be used by governments from developing countries to publish land-related data to improve data quality, availability, accessibility and use for improved citizen engagement, decision making and innovation. It sets out:
The public is invited to contribute to the Open Up Guide, which will be accepting public comments until July 31. Land experts, data practitioners, and other stakeholders are encouraged to share comments or suggestions to improve the Guide.
Read more on the website of The Land Portal.
Read and contribute to the guide, here.
Posted: 19th May 2021 by Charlotte Stam
Job opportunity: Assistent professors in Human Geography, Planning and International Development Studies (UvA)
University of Amsterdam (UvA) – Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences – Human Geography, Planning and International Development Studies
Deadline: 31st of May
The Department of Geography, Planning and International Development at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) invites applications for three tenure-track Assistant Professor positions.
The department is looking for colleagues with an innovative research agenda and teaching interests across several thematic, methodological and disciplinary fields. Candidates whose training and/or experience covers several of the following fields are specifically encouraged to apply.
They are especially interested in strengthening the department’s thematic and methodological expertise in the following areas:
Visit the website, for more information!
Posted: 30th April 2021 by Coordinator
Fragile Truths Podcast: Grounded Ligitimacy. Strengthening Local Land Registration in Conflict-Affected Northern Uganda
Although a key policy intervention for addressing conflict, land reform programs have complex implications for legitimacy of (inter)national and local actors. In this second episode of KPSRL & NWO-WOTRO's pilot podcast mini-series 'Fragile Truths', Sudi Suleiman (Policy Officer at the Dutch MFA) talks to David Betge (Senior Specialist Land Rights at ZOA) about his research project on this relationship, illustrated by the case of Northern Uganda. Are NGO and policy officers paying enough attention to how land reform interventions impact the perceived authority of local actors, or their own legitimacy? How can interventions be better attuned to this ‘unmeasured’ local impact?
Listen to the podcast here!
Last Updated: 30th April 2021 by Charlotte Stam
Call for applications: Shelter City Netherlands
Shelter City provides temporary safe and inspiring spaces for human rights defenders at risk where they re-energise, receive tailor-made support and engage with allies. The term human rights defender is intended to refer to the broad range of activists, journalists and independent media professionals, scholars, writers, artists, lawyers, civil and political rights defenders, civil society members, and others working to advance human rights and democracy around the world in a peaceful manner.
From September 2021 onwards, several cities in the Netherlands will receive human rights defenders for a period of three months. At the end of their stay in the Netherlands, participants are expected to return with new tools and energy to carry out their work at home.
Deadline for application: May 14th, 2021
Posted: 28th April 2021 by Coordinator
Roads to Change: Livelihoods, Land Disputes, and Anticipation of Future Developments in Rural Kenya
Roads to Change: Livelihoods, Land Disputes, and Anticipation of Future Developments in Rural Kenya
This article by Greiner, Greven and Klagge examines how rural roads relate to differences in livelihood patterns, attitudes toward social change, and land disputes in Baringo, Kenya. Although their direct use is limited for many residents, roads have a highly differentiating impact. While some households orientate themselves toward roads, those relying more on (agro-)pastoralist livelihoods avoid their proximity. Our findings suggest that better-off households are not the only ones that tend to live closer to roads, but that poorer households do as well. Rather than by socio-economic status, households living closer to roads can be characterized by higher degrees of formal education and also appear to be more open to economic and social change. Our data also highlight dynamics of land disputes in the face of ongoing large-scale infrastructural investments in Kenya’s previously marginal northern drylands.
Read the full article here.
Last Updated: 28th May 2021 by Charlotte Stam
ILC | 2021 UN Food System Summit (UNFSS) Survey and Independent Dialogues
Together, the European Commission, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), the International Land Coalition, the Land Portal Foundation, RVO & LANDac – the Netherlands Land Academy (both supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands), the Deutsche Gesellschaft für internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and Welthungerhilfe are joining forces to hear experiences across the globe of how land rights can be a part of building sustainable and resilient food systems. The Summit, which is part of the Decade of Action to achieve Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, is the opportunity to remind the world of the key role that land plays in achieving the 2030 agenda. Food sustainability, as part of the 2030 agenda, cannot be achieved if the rights of those who depend on land for their survival are not secured.
Survey
This survey is part of a series of consultations to collect ideas and solutions for potential game-changing and systemic solutions to feed into the decision-making process and the outcome of the United Nations Food systems Summit. The survey will complement the outcomes of regional dialogues organised by the co-conveners and feed into the efforts of brining land rights as an inherent element in building inclusive, sustainable and resilient food systems in the world.
Take the survey in English, French of Spanish
Independent Dialogues
The Independent Dialogues will hear from women and men, family farmers, pastoralists, indigenous peoples, fisherfolk, and youth. They will also hear from governments and their development partners, and NGOs. The dialogues will inform the Summit by crowdsourcing promising ways of securing land rights that are locally based and locally led, which strengthen sustainable food systems. Dialogues will be conducted in Asia, Africa/Middle East/Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean.
ASIA
Date: Tuesday, May 4, 2021, 10:00H CEST
Where: Online
AFRICA, EUROPE, AND THE MIDDLE EAST
Date: Tuesday, May 11, 2021, 14:00H CEST
Where: Online
LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN
Date: Wednesday, May 12, 2021, 09:00AM Peru Time
Where: Online
For more information, visit the website of ILC
Posted: 22nd April 2021 by Charlotte Stam
Call of abstracts: IASC Land Commons Virtual Conference
As one of a series of virtual conferences organized by the International Association for the Study of the Commons (IASC), this virtual conference aims to broaden a dialogue between traditional commons scholars, practitioners and researchers from the IASC and related global change research communities, regional research networks and organizations working with Indigenous Peoples and local communities. These include but are not limited to the Global Land Programme, the Political Ecology Network (POLLEN), and others.
The 2021 IASC Land Commons Virtual Conference will be held from 13 until 17 September, 2021 and will be an immersive intense experience using various new technologies to provide an inclusive, low-cost, and low environmental impact event. Instead of traveling to the conference to attend panels and deliver a talk, as speakers, you will do the following:
1. Create and submit a video of your presentation with a maximum length of 10 minutes.
2. Answer questions during the conferene.
3. View other presentations and ask questions to other speakers.
4. Participate in Webinar conference panels.
5. Participate in networking events, which are Zoom meetings to meet people working on similar topics.
6. Participate in other conference events such as games, virtual field trips, etc.
The call for abstracts is now open and can be found on their website.
Conference website
Sumbit your abstract here
Last Updated: 21st April 2021 by Charlotte Stam
WRI Blog | 4 Ways Indigenous and Community Lands Can Reduce Emissions
Peter Veit wrote a blog for the World Resource Institute (WRI) on how countries are now missing out on a key strategy to fight climate change. There is growing evidcence that there are emissions-reduction benefits of well-managed indigenous and community lands. However, still only a few countries set targets to protect these lands in their initial national climate plans in 2015 (known as ‘Nationally Determined Contributions’ or NDCs).
Peter Veit describes 4 ways in which indigenous and community lands can reduce emissions. Concluding that indigenous and community lands are crucial for avoiding catastrophic climate change. In addition to carbon sequestration, these lands provide the benefits of global ecosystem services that merit increased protection and financial support, especially if forested countries are to achieve their commitments under the Paris Agreement.
On the website of World Resource Institute you can read the full blog.
Posted: 21st April 2021 by Charlotte Stam
Land Portal | RVO and FAO Round Table on Land Consolidation in the Arab World
The Land Portal summarized the outcomes of the roundtable by RVO and FAO to initiate a dialogue and to share experiences between countries in North Africa and Middle East, while also bringing in lessons from Europe on land consolidation building on lessons learned from FAO and RVO. Countries in the MENA region are facing many similar challenges, which include fragmentation of agricultural land, need for improved and more efficient irrigation, and strong impacts of climate change on agricultural production.
What are the state-of-the-art and new approaches to land consolidation as part of integrated rural development strategies in North Africa and Near East? That was the main question around which several experts from Egypt, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia, and Turkey joined the FAO/ RVO roundtable discussion on land consolidation during the Second Arab Land Conference last February; a session which 110 participants attended – both in person and online.
Read the outcomes of the discussion and the most interesting insights on the website of the Land Portal.