On the sidelines of the land inequality report launch, ILC co-organised the Youth and Land Conference 2020. In this blogpost, Gerdien Archterberg, ILC Africa research intern, shares her experience of speaking to a wide range of stakeholders on youth and land issues.
Why would the African youth need to be involved in land governance?
This was the first question that popped into my mind when I first read the internship vacancy of ILC-Africa, to which I applied later in July 2020. From my very Dutch and white female youth perspective, land rights did seem to be a bit boring to be engaged in as a young person. However, after doing research for the past 3 months on ‘youth access to land in Africa and their engagement in land governance’ I started to reframe this question into ‘why is African youth not involved in land governance, as they are so heavily affected by it?’
As a Dutch student who has never been to Africa (and barred from travelling now due to COVID-19), the whole African tenure system and setting are quite new to me and even surprising.
On the one hand, this made it sometimes very hard to be ahead of all different aspects that are relevant to land related questions in the African context. On the other hand, it allowed me to ask new questions and see things from a different perspective. What was really striking to me was the importance of land for the African youth.
Here in the Netherlands, access to land and housing is of course also important, but as I learnt at the just-ended IGAD Youth and Land Conference, land seems to be even more important in the African context as it is a prerequisite for African youth to reach food security, gain economic empowerment and to create sustainable livelihoods.
The agricultural sector is still seen as a key factor for African development in which access to land plays a crucial role. Moreover, in several communities land is very much interconnected with the social norms and cultural values that are a part of peoples’ identity. For example, a case study I consulted says that a young person is only considered an adult if they have access to land so they can build a house and start a family.
But the youth are facing a lot of challenges in getting access to, control over and ownership of land. Challenges that are often mentioned are the dependency of inheritance, fragmentation of land and land governance practices that are in the hands of elderly men. Most African countries have a growing youth population which form a large part of their demographics. The 226 million that lived in Africa in 2015 are expected to double by 2055, according to the UN. In combination with higher life expectations, this results in accessing smaller plots of land at a later age for the youth. Besides accessing land through inheritance or land allocations by the traditional authorities, there are also possibilities to access land through government allocations and to rent or buy land on the land market. However, bureaucratic practices and lack of legal structures that acknowledge and secure land rights for youth make this pathway very difficult. Accessing rental and sales markets for the youth is also a big challenge, as these markets are often very insecure and expensive. Youth generally lack the financial resources to access land through this way.
One of the things that became really clear during my research is that youth are often not taken seriously in land governance spheres. One of my interviewees, who is a female youth who worked in the land sector, said: “I remember the times that I went to these meetings and you find that you are the youngest person in the room, and you feel that your voice is suppressed. You are scared because you know those are people that have been in land governance for 20 years or 15 years, and they look at you thinking, ‘what are you even doing here?’” This was confirmed in other interviews with other (female) youth in the land sector. This is a very important point as it is often acknowledged and pointed out by many actors that it is important that youth be at the table, and involved in land governance. After all, they are the ones that are going to inherit the laws and policies that are made today. However, there are many challenges that need to be overcome to make sure youth are really engaged and able to participate in land governance. Besides not being taken seriously, they also often lack information about their land rights and sometimes seem to be unaware of the need to be involved in land governance. This places them at a disadvantaged position.
The scientific literature is very much silent about youth engagement in land governance, and what their challenges and opportunities are. There are some examples of how conflict can change social settings within land governance, and there are some papers that stress the importance of good training programs and youth engagement in research about land governance. However, very little has been written about how youth can be engaged further, especially within traditional land management systems. For ILC, this might be an opportunity to investigate how their members deal with youth participation in land governance and what we can learn from each other. After all, it would be a missed opportunity for everyone if the youth have no voice in creating their own future, and the future of Africa.
References
Chigbu, U. E., Wanyonyi, A., & Antonio, D. (2020). Empowerment of youth through strengthening their land rights knowledge and research capacity: evidence from Eastern and Southern Africa. African Journal on Land Policy and Geospatial Sciences, 3(1), 129-142.
Diao, X., Hazell, P., & Thurlow, J. (2010). The Role of Agriculture in African Development. World Development, 38(10), 1375–1383.
IGAD youth land governance. (2020, November 24). Exhibition Day 1. Steering Committee Video [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xJl77EZKX4
Kobusingye, D. N. (2020). African youths; the forgotten category in land governance. A case study of post-conflict Acholi Region, Northern Uganda. Geoforum, 109, 135-142.
United Nations. (2015). Population facts: Youth population trends and sustainable development.
This blogpost is published as part of Ms. Achterberg’s intership program at ILC Africa under the supervision of Kevin Eze, Communications, Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist.
Find the original publication of the blog here on the ILC’s website
Last Updated: 28th October 2021 by Coordinator
Publications from our Professional Learning Network
We are happy to announce the publication of two policy briefs from our Professional Learning Network!
These two briefs are situated in Uganda. ‘Planning the city from the bottom up: The case of Kibugambata community in Jinja City Experiences of participatory planning in Uganda‘ is written by Junior Alves Sebbanja and Romy Santpoort. ‘Development-induced displacement The impacts of the Kampala-Jinja Expressway on the women of Kinawataka, Uganda‘ is written by Teddy Kisembo.
The Professional Learning Network brings together professionals working on sustainable and/or inclusive land governance in a community of practice. While working at NGOs, governmental agencies, universities or businesses, these LANDac fellows (based in different African countries) will exchange experiences and best practices. Furthermore, they bring stakeholders together in the field to identify ways to make land-based investments – whether in agriculture, infrastructure, nature conservation or natural resource extraction – more inclusive and sustainable.
Click on the titles to read the articles and stay tuned because there is more to come!
Last Updated: 28th September 2021 by Coordinator
Release – Land Matrix Analytical Report III: Taking Stock of the Global Land Rush
The Land Matrix has just published a report ‘Land Matrix Analytical Report III: Taking Stock of the Global Land Rush’.
Click here for the announcement including links to the full report and executive summary.
“More than 10 years since the surge in large-scale land acquisitions (LSLAs) in developing countries which followed the spike in agricultural commodity prices in the late 2000s, the Land Matrix Initiative has taken stock of the “global land rush” and its socio-economic and environmental impacts. Our findings are sobering, in part alarming. Compliance with the principles of responsible business conduct is rare, and scant consultation with the affected communities is common. The non-consensual and uncompensated loss of land often comes with only little socio-economic benefits – be they employment, positive productivity spillovers, or infrastructure. “Business as usual” continues to destroy rainforests, natural habitats, and biodiversity on the agricultural frontiers of the Amazon, Southeast Asia, and the Congo Basin. Although progress has been made with regard to land governance, a lack of policy implementation in this area is evident. This is particularly apparent from our assessment of the application of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure (VGGTs) and the transparency of land acquisitions.
Overall, our report clearly shows the urgent need to rethink LSLAs and transform current practices into responsible and sustainable contributions to economic and social development. Specifically, to effectively ensure that land rights are protected, social development in target regions is enhanced, and the environment is respected, we see five priority areas for policy change: 1) Land governance reforms and their effective implementation, based on the VGGTs, should be pursued and fast-tracked by governments; 2) Local development should take centre stage, with a focus on spillovers to and the inclusion of smallholder farmers; 3) International investment treaties must integrate human rights and environmental provisions, and human rights due diligence should be mandatory; 4) LSLAs that lead to deforestation, the conversion of other valuable natural habitats, or damage important carbon stores such as peatlands need to be stopped; and 5) Binding commitments to increase transparency are needed, for all stakeholders.”
Last Updated: 27th September 2021 by Coordinator
Vacancy: Gender and Land Specialist (Social Policy)
APPLICATION DEADLINE: 29th of September.
The FAO is looking for a Gender and Land Specialist.
Organizational Setting
The Inclusive Rural Transformation and Gender Equality Division (ESP) coordinates FAO’s work on gender equality and women’s empowerment, social protection, decent rural employment, rural institutions and people’s empowerment, and the right to food. Among others, this division is responsible for working with members and other partners to foster gender equality land related matters, including the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (VGGT) and the SDG Indicator 5.a.2 on women’s land rights.
FAO International Consultants and Call purpose
The Organization frequently engages experts to work on short-term projects as international consultants. An international consultant is engaged by the Organization to provide expertise, skills or knowledge for the performance of a specific task or piece of work, which would be short-term by nature. The assignment may involve full-time or part-time functions similar to those of staff members. The assignment can be from 1 month up to 11 months. The possibility of extension is subject to satisfactory performance and depending on the resources and needs of the Organization.
The objective of the Call is to attract suitable individuals to undertake B or C level consultancies in the area of gender equality and land. Individuals meeting or exceeding the requirements of the Call will be included in the Divisional Roster. Experts who are registered in the Roster are available for consideration whenever relevant opportunities arise related to gender equality and women’s empowerment and gender mainstreaming.
The purpose of this call is to attract talents with relevant experience and background to populate the rosters.
Technical Focus
The incumbent(s) will contribute to the implementation of FAO’s Strategic Framework and the Gender Equality Policy which aims to achieve equality between women and men in sustainable agricultural production and rural development for the elimination of hunger and poverty. Specifically, the incumbent(s) will address aspects such as: gender equitable governance of land tenure, and women’s land rights, collection, analysis and use of land related gender-statistics including sex-disaggregated data; support to countries to report on the SDG Indicator 5.a.2 on women’s land rights.
Click here for more information about the vacancy and application instructions.
Posted: 20th September 2021 by Coordinator
Job Opportunity at The Land Portal Foundation
Vacancy: Budget, Administration & MEL Support
Application deadline is 30th of September
The Land Portal Foundation is a non-for-profit organization based in the Netherlands dedicated to supporting the efforts of the rural poor to gain equitable access to land by addressing the fragmentation of information resources on land. We believe access to information is crucial to achieve good land governance and to secure land rights for vulnerable people. Our mission is to build an information ecosystem for land governance that supports better informed decision and policy making at national and international levels. Our belief is that within a functioning and inclusive information ecosystem data, both information and the diversity of perspectives become more visible and accessible to a much larger audience. Ultimately, this significantly increases the chances that the information reaches target audiences in a way that contributes to securing people’s land rights.
The Land Portal website brings together content from over 1,000 partner organizations all over the world.
General responsibilities
She/he/they will support all administration and budget functions of the Land Portal Foundation, including recording, classifying, examining and analysing data and records of financial transactions. This person will also support M&E activities for the Foundation.
For more information about the details of the position, the required qualifications and application process, check the Land Portal website here.
Last Updated: 16th September 2021 by Coordinator
Mayke Kaag professor by special appointment of the Anthropology of Islam in Africa and its Diaspora at the University of Amsterdam
We congratulate Dr. Mayke Kaag with her new position as professor. She has been named professor by special appointment of the Anthropology of Islam in Africa and its Diaspora at the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences of the University of Amsterdam (UvA). The chair has been established on behalf of the African Studies Centre Leiden.
As a political anthropologist, Mayke Kaag conducts research on contemporary Islam in Africa and the African diaspora from the perspective of Africa’s global connections. Islam – in Africa and elsewhere – is both a product of global connections and a co-constructor of them. Kaag focuses primarily on connections achieved through mobility and migration and through Islamic charities and educational institutions.
It has become particularly important to consider the dynamics of Islam and its global connections in these times of intensive globalisation, in which increasing global interdependence is developing hand in hand with major uncertainty, distrust and inequality, as well as an intensified search for connection, morality and meaning.
Muslims from sub-Saharan Africa have often been underrepresented in research on (global) Islam. With this in mind, Kaag will use her special appointment to research how West African Muslims interpret, use and help determine these connections. Local cultural and political contexts will be important in her analysis, as will the experiences that (categories of) African Muslims have of inclusion or exclusion, influenced by local, national and global power dynamics. Kaag will examine the impact that these experiences have on processes of religious meaning-making, forms of political Islam, and connections that Muslims in Africa and the Diaspora establish.
At the UvA, Kaag will participate in the ‘Exploring Diversity: Critical ethnographies of belonging and exclusion’ research programme set up by the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR).
Posted: 9th September 2021 by Coordinator
Book chapter “Alli Kawsay: Epistemology and Political Practice in the Territories, a Possibility from the Andean Pluriverse for Ecological Justice and the Care of Mother Nature”
Eduardo Erazo Acosta is a Sociologist at the Researcher Group Curriculum and University, University Nariño, Pasto, Colombia. Eduardo has written a chapter for the book The Palgrave Handbook of Climate Resilient Societies, called “Alli Kawsay: Epistemology and Political Practice in the Territories, a Possibility from the Andean Pluriverse for Ecological Justice and the Care of Mother Nature”.
Abstract:
Indigenous communities are noted for being resilient. The following presentation is an epistemological-political action from the world of possibilities in the pluriverse of indigenous knowledge. The Alli Kawsay (Buen Vivir) and its political, cultural, and epistemic options offer the possibility to work collectively in favor of our ‘Mother Nature.’ From the urgent options to be heard in the current climate crisis and even more in the sociopolitical crisis, it is essential to strengthen respect for Mother Nature. This document arises from learning in indigenous communities in walking and listening to indigenous talk in the Andean region in high Andean and Amazonian communities. Presented here are elements of the rights of nature. The Alli Kawsay is an option to be lived urgently now, as a serious and fundamental option that originates from ancestral knowledge, is lived by millions in the global south, and that today is taken up again at the global level by activists and people aware of the care of nature as a subject of rights in the international political framework.
Click here to go to the chapter on Spring Link
Posted: 9th September 2021 by Coordinator
IGAD endorsed Regional Women’s Land Rights Agenda
On 28 July 2021, the Ministers responsible for Lands and the Ministers responsible for Gender/Women Affairs from the IGAD Member States made history, when they as a Regional Economic Community put closing of the gender gap on land at the center of the Region’s Development Agenda. The IGAD Regional Women’s Land Rights Agenda was endorsed with the presence of 11 of the 14 ministers expected to be present at the event.
The Regional Women’s Land Rights Agenda is a framework document that will enable IGAD Secretariat provide the necessary support to its Member States in implementing gender and land projects for the next 10 years.
Click here to read the IGAD’s Women’s Land Rights Agenda
Click here to read the document with the outcomes of the IGAD Regional Women’s Land Rights Conference
Click here to read more information on IGAD’s website
Posted: 31st August 2021 by Coordinator
Lecture by Anthony Bebbington: Natural resource extraction: social justice challenges
Join LIVE the #KAPTalks with Anthony Bebbington of the Ford Foundation who will discuss extraction of natural resources as a social justice question, particularly in light of COVID-19 pandemic. The event will be hybrid, physical and online. Join us on 10th September at 14:00 CET / 12:00 GMT. The lecture is hosted by the University of Utrecht.
Click here to register to join the zoom session
Global Witness’s annual reports on the killings of environmental defenders are but one, awful, indication of the social injustices that can accompany the extraction of natural resources from the subsoil and from forests. The struggle for social justice in these environments has become yet more difficult under COVID, all the more so given the impacts of COVID on indigenous populations in many of these environments. These challenges seem likely to intensify downstream of COVID in the face of economic reactivation policies, closing civic space, the search for energy transition minerals, and a politics of urgency that risks undermining a politics of social justice. In this talk I explore some of these trends and the challenges they present to civil society and to philanthropies that support civil society. I will refer especially to the experience of the Ford Foundation, while also making a broader argument.
Go to the Kapuscinski Lectures website
Posted: 11th August 2021 by Coordinator
African Youth Engagement in Land Governance
On the sidelines of the land inequality report launch, ILC co-organised the Youth and Land Conference 2020. In this blogpost, Gerdien Archterberg, ILC Africa research intern, shares her experience of speaking to a wide range of stakeholders on youth and land issues.
Why would the African youth need to be involved in land governance?
This was the first question that popped into my mind when I first read the internship vacancy of ILC-Africa, to which I applied later in July 2020. From my very Dutch and white female youth perspective, land rights did seem to be a bit boring to be engaged in as a young person. However, after doing research for the past 3 months on ‘youth access to land in Africa and their engagement in land governance’ I started to reframe this question into ‘why is African youth not involved in land governance, as they are so heavily affected by it?’
As a Dutch student who has never been to Africa (and barred from travelling now due to COVID-19), the whole African tenure system and setting are quite new to me and even surprising.
On the one hand, this made it sometimes very hard to be ahead of all different aspects that are relevant to land related questions in the African context. On the other hand, it allowed me to ask new questions and see things from a different perspective. What was really striking to me was the importance of land for the African youth.
Here in the Netherlands, access to land and housing is of course also important, but as I learnt at the just-ended IGAD Youth and Land Conference, land seems to be even more important in the African context as it is a prerequisite for African youth to reach food security, gain economic empowerment and to create sustainable livelihoods.
The agricultural sector is still seen as a key factor for African development in which access to land plays a crucial role. Moreover, in several communities land is very much interconnected with the social norms and cultural values that are a part of peoples’ identity. For example, a case study I consulted says that a young person is only considered an adult if they have access to land so they can build a house and start a family.
But the youth are facing a lot of challenges in getting access to, control over and ownership of land. Challenges that are often mentioned are the dependency of inheritance, fragmentation of land and land governance practices that are in the hands of elderly men. Most African countries have a growing youth population which form a large part of their demographics. The 226 million that lived in Africa in 2015 are expected to double by 2055, according to the UN. In combination with higher life expectations, this results in accessing smaller plots of land at a later age for the youth. Besides accessing land through inheritance or land allocations by the traditional authorities, there are also possibilities to access land through government allocations and to rent or buy land on the land market. However, bureaucratic practices and lack of legal structures that acknowledge and secure land rights for youth make this pathway very difficult. Accessing rental and sales markets for the youth is also a big challenge, as these markets are often very insecure and expensive. Youth generally lack the financial resources to access land through this way.
One of the things that became really clear during my research is that youth are often not taken seriously in land governance spheres. One of my interviewees, who is a female youth who worked in the land sector, said: “I remember the times that I went to these meetings and you find that you are the youngest person in the room, and you feel that your voice is suppressed. You are scared because you know those are people that have been in land governance for 20 years or 15 years, and they look at you thinking, ‘what are you even doing here?’” This was confirmed in other interviews with other (female) youth in the land sector. This is a very important point as it is often acknowledged and pointed out by many actors that it is important that youth be at the table, and involved in land governance. After all, they are the ones that are going to inherit the laws and policies that are made today. However, there are many challenges that need to be overcome to make sure youth are really engaged and able to participate in land governance. Besides not being taken seriously, they also often lack information about their land rights and sometimes seem to be unaware of the need to be involved in land governance. This places them at a disadvantaged position.
The scientific literature is very much silent about youth engagement in land governance, and what their challenges and opportunities are. There are some examples of how conflict can change social settings within land governance, and there are some papers that stress the importance of good training programs and youth engagement in research about land governance. However, very little has been written about how youth can be engaged further, especially within traditional land management systems. For ILC, this might be an opportunity to investigate how their members deal with youth participation in land governance and what we can learn from each other. After all, it would be a missed opportunity for everyone if the youth have no voice in creating their own future, and the future of Africa.
References
Chigbu, U. E., Wanyonyi, A., & Antonio, D. (2020). Empowerment of youth through strengthening their land rights knowledge and research capacity: evidence from Eastern and Southern Africa. African Journal on Land Policy and Geospatial Sciences, 3(1), 129-142.
Diao, X., Hazell, P., & Thurlow, J. (2010). The Role of Agriculture in African Development. World Development, 38(10), 1375–1383.
IGAD youth land governance. (2020, November 24). Exhibition Day 1. Steering Committee Video [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xJl77EZKX4
Kobusingye, D. N. (2020). African youths; the forgotten category in land governance. A case study of post-conflict Acholi Region, Northern Uganda. Geoforum, 109, 135-142.
United Nations. (2015). Population facts: Youth population trends and sustainable development.
This blogpost is published as part of Ms. Achterberg’s intership program at ILC Africa under the supervision of Kevin Eze, Communications, Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist.
Find the original publication of the blog here on the ILC’s website
Posted: 10th August 2021 by Coordinator
Land 2022 Travel Award
Land (ISSN 2073-445X) is an international and cross-disciplinary, peer-reviewed, open access journal of land use and land management published quarterly online by MDPI.
Land will be awarding two Travel Awards for junior scientists. The applications will be assessed by an Evaluation Committee led by Editor-in-Chief, Prof. Dr. Andrew Millington.
The award provide financial support for the winners to attend an international conference in the field of Land to be held in 2022, in order to hold a presentation, present a poster, or both.
Candidate Requirements:
– Postdoctoral fellows or PhD students.
– Plans to attend an international conference in 2022 (oral presentation or poster).
Required Application Documents:
– Information of the conference the applicant is planning to attend and the abstract that will be submitted.
– Curriculum Vitae and list of publications.
– Justification letter describing the focus of the research (max. 800 words).
– Letter of recommendation from the supervisor, research director, or department head, which also confirms the applicant’s status as a postdoctoral fellow/PhD student.
The winners (two awardees) will each be awarded CHF 800 and a certificate.
Please submit your applications for the Land 2022 Travel Award online by 31 December 2021. Prizes will be awarded at the end of February 2022 and announced on the Land website.
Apply here