News of soaring demand for land in Africa and the strain this places on rural men and women is not new. Nor is it news that some of the land governance systems on the continent have not sufficiently protected rural communities in the face of heightened demand for land.
But at the conclusion of the first African Land Policy Conference on Nov. 14, the momentum behind land policy reform on the continent is strong and clear.
Just last week, the Land Policy Initiative — a joint initiative of the African Union, the U.N. Economic Commission for Africa and the African Development Bank — launched its Principles for Large-Scale Land-Based Investments, which is certain to spark new policy and laws among African countries at a time when several of them are in the process of historic reforms to their land tenure laws and policies.
About the author
Jennifer Duncan
Jennifer Duncan is a senior attorney and land tenure specialist with Landesa, an international nongovernmental organization that fights poverty and provides opportunity and security for the rural poor through the power of land rights. Both Landesa and BRAC USA are members of the Hilton Prize Coalition, an independent alliance of the 21 winners of the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize. The Coalition works together globally to achieve collective impact in humanitarian assistance, human rights, development, education, and health.
