Little Progress in Practice | Land Portal

Resource information

Date of publication: 
May 2022
Resource Language: 
ISBN / Resource ID: 
ISBN: 978-0-620-99156-8
Pages: 
22
License of the resource: 
Copyright details: 
© The authors, 2022

Despite the progress made in terms of global and national land policy frameworks, effective changes in practices remain limited. This is particularly the case with regard to large-scale land acquisitions (LSLAs), as highlighted through this assessment of the implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure (VGGTs) in the framework of LSLAs in Africa.

Key results for Africa include:

  • 78% of all deals assessed show unsatisfactory levels of VGGT uptake and implementation
  • 20% of all deals assessed do not comply with any of the VGGT principles
  • 87% of countries present unsatisfactory results regarding VGGT implementation
  • Main areas of concern include:
    • Weak or non-existent consultative processes
    • Lack of respect for national law and legislation, including investment and land legislation
    • Low regard for legitimate tenure rights, including informal tenure of local communities and indigenous peoples
    • Lack of respect for human rights
    • Lack of safeguards, unlawful expropriation, and minimal application of agreed-upon compensation measures.

Even after 10 years of monitoring, a recurring issue across all deals in Africa is the continuous lack of data and the dire state of transparency with regards LSLA.

Authors and Publishers

Author(s), editor(s), contributor(s): 

Anseeuw, W., Bourgoin, J., Harding, A.

Publisher(s): 

The Land Matrix is an independent global land monitoring initiative that promotes transparency and accountability in decisions over large-scale land acquisitions (LSLAs) in low- and middle-income countries across the world. The initiative actively collects information about land deals from publicly available sources (such as media, internet, research, contracts, and government and company websites), while partner organisations contribute through their own field research.

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