Ms.

Laura

Meggiolaro

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.

Twenty six years after South Africa’s first democratic election, land issues remain a point of contention, from land reforms to expropriation without compensation. Given the primacy of this issue in South Africa, it begs the question of what is the state of land information in South Africa? Do government agencies have sufficient data to support land governance decision making? Can civil society access the kind of information it needs to defend its interests?  These were the kinds of questions we asked ourselves when we were reflecting on data fragmentation and access to information in South Africa.

Hundreds of land practitioners from around the globe gathered and came together at the 2019 LANDac Conference at the beginning of July with the purpose of looking at land governance from the lens of transformation and in particular, how to support transformation that works for people and nature.  The conference delved into questions such as the long-term dynamics around land, water and food production and promising concepts and tools for building learning and knowledge building about these dynamics.

With the inclusion of several land-related indicators in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), land data collection and monitoring has reached an unprecedented momentum. There is a palpable positive drive within both global and local civil society to contribute to the official process through advocacy, data collection and international monitoring efforts. The broad consensus is that data and information are building blocks that support better informed decision and policy making at all levels.