The WOLTS experience has given me hope for the future. Change is possible.
The issue of land tenure and governance is one of the most complex and multifaceted challenges that face policymakers and practitioners in the development field. This is especially true when it comes to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as there are more than a dozen land-related indicators housed over five SDG goals, with data maintained by different custodian agencies.
In a blog series from IIED and the Land Portal, rights defenders and practitioners in the global South reflect on their strategies to push for more responsible and sustainable land-based investments. Here, guest blogger Jesinta Kunda describes how civil society organizations were key to improving Zambia’s first ever National Lands Policy.
In this blog we talk to Maria-Clara van der Hammen, who has worked with indigenous communities in Colombia for many years with Tropenbos, one of the LAND-at-scale partners in Colombia. For the moment the project is being applied with Koreguaje and Macaguaje communities in the Colombian Amazon region who live mainly from slash and burn agriculture, fishing and hunting and the commercialization in small amounts of agricultural and forest products.
Last week, the International Land Coalition (ILC) hosted its 9th Global Land Forum in Jordan - the first large in-person meeting of the land community for three years.
Traditional leaders assign land giving little consideration to spatial planning for long-term, sustainable settlement. People are settled in places unsuitable for human habitation. And climate change will bring added volatility and exposure.
This Country Insights Digest explores the challenges faced by informal spouses and other "invisible" women to secure their land tenure, particularly in the context of land rights formalization and land titling campaigns.
In many countries men control who gets to use, own, and make decisions about land.
“We used to stay in a corner, quiet. If someone came to take our land or exploit our forests, we did not have the courage to try to stop them.” These words from a woman in Mecoburi, Mozambique reflect how women across the world often feel powerless to defend their rights to land and natural resources. For rural communities, land means everything, from the ability to produce crops for food and income to leveraging financial assets.
Gender equality guidelines will motivate Zambia’s traditional leaders to champion women’s rights in land and resource management
Women in Zambia, like in most countries, have less access to land, productive resources, and opportunities than men. Due to discriminatory gender norms that view men as heads of household, men typically have more decision making power at both the household and community level. This leads women to have less of a voice in decisions about land use, income earning opportunities, household finances, and community resource distribution.
