Category: Uncategorized

Land Matters Media Scan – 11 November 2016

Posted on by Amrit Bhandari
In Mali, women’s traditional roles as resource managers serve them well in introducing adaptation activities.

Here are the recent land tenure and resource management media items:

Upcoming Events

  1. IIED webinar: Using community by-laws to secure customary land rights in Kenya (11/16/16)
    Source: IIED
  2. Webinar on the Land Portal’s New Thematic Portfolios (11/17/16)
    Source: The Land Portal

COP22 / Climate Change

  1. Who owns this land? A question that matters for climate change and COP22 (11/10/16)
    Source: Devex
  2. Indigenous land rights: A cheap and effective climate change solution, just in time (11/4/16)
    Source: Ford Foundation blog
  3. Amazonians call on leaders to heed link between land rights and climate change (11/4/16)
    Source: The Guardian

Reports / Publications

  1. FINAL DRAFT: Tenure Responsive LUP – A Guide for Country Level Implementation (11/9/16)
    Source: GLTN

Global

  1. Video: Land and Urban Development Challenges in the Social and Economic Development of the Global South (11/6/16)
    Source: Land and Property Network / YouTube
  2. Indigenous peoples given interactive map to help secure land rights (11/10/16)
    Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
  3. Photo Essay: Run the World – Six countries’ efforts to drive adaptation action through gender equality in leadership and equitable control over resources (11/4/16)
    Source: UNDP / Exposure

Africa

  1. Mali: Rainfall, grazing, families and land in Dlonguebougou (11/9/16)
    Source: IIED
  2. Zimbabwe: EU Worried By Fresh Wave of Land Seizures (11/10/16)
    Source: Financial Gazette / AllAfrica

Americas

  1. How Colombia’s Failed Peace Treaty Could Wreak Havoc on Its Diversity-Rich Ecosystems (11/4/16)
    Source: Smithsonian Magazine
  2. Mexico: U.N. Supports Indigenous Land Rights in Mexico’s Mining Plans (11/10/16)
    Source: The Costa Rica Star

Asia

  1. Cambodia: Domestic violence rife amid Cambodia land conflicts – rights group (11/10/16)
    Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation

Pacific

  1. Malaysia: Kelantan Forestry Department issues ultimatum to orang asli activists (11/11/16)
    Source: The Star Online
  2. Palm oil’s green body comes under fire from activists (11/7/16)
    Source: Reuters

Two and a Half Years After the Diamond Ban Lift, Glimmers of Hope in Cote d’Ivoire

Posted on by Amrit Bhandari

Originally appeared on Medium.

April 2014.

The United Nations Security Council had just voted unanimously to lift a ban on importing rough diamonds from Côte d’Ivoire. The ban had been put in place in 2005, after the UN found that rebels were using diamonds to fund arms purchases during its civil war, which had begun in 2002.

For the first time in nearly a decade, diamond exports, which once supplied jobs for tens of thousands of workers in this West African country, once again became legal. But, after nine years out of the (legal) diamond game, Côte d’Ivoire had to completely rebuild its diamond industry.

In the intervening years before the ban was lifted, diamond buying houses had become defunct, the national mining company left the area, and legitimate financiers packed up and left. Mining had continued, but in secret: artisanal miners had dug in the night, selling at bargain basement prices to illicit buyers, who in turn smuggled the rough diamonds out of the country. Despite the ban, the UN estimates that Côte d’Ivoire extracted a minimum of 50,000 carats per year, and that the diamond industry employed at least 200,000 Ivoirians.

Now, the euphoria of lifting the ban was wearing off, and Ivoirians were grappling with the realities of how to actually re-enter the legal diamond trade.

Fast forward two and a half years, and it appears that progress has been slow, but steady. In 2015 — the year after the ban was lifted — Cote d’Ivoire legally exported 14,000 carats. This year, it has already surpassed 20,000 carats.

Read the full photo essay on Medium.

Webinar Wednesday: Land Tenure in Kosovo

Posted on by Amrit Bhandari

This 30 minute webinar we examines land tenure and property rights in Kosovo and explores USAID’s recently updated Land Tenure Country Profile for Kosovo with Dr. Maureen Moriarty-Lempke, the country profile’s primary author.

Join the discussion live on Wednesday, November 9 at 9 am EST (3 pm Kosovo Time GMT+2) and connect using the form below to submit a question or on Twitter using the hashtag #countrybycountry.

Land Matters Media Scan – 4 November 2016

Posted on by Amrit Bhandari
Map of Kosovo

Here are the recent land tenure and resource management media items:

USAID

  1. Upcoming Event: Webinar Wednesday: Land Tenure in Kosovo (11/9/16)
    Source: LandLinks
  2. Why the African Union’s pledge to advance women’s land rights matters – written by Susan Markham (11/1/16)
    Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
  3. Best of the rest: Week one November 2016 – Stephen Brooks’ Earth Institute blog post included in the roundup  (10/31/16)
    Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation

Reports and Publications

  1. Burma: Farmers Targets of Land Grabs (11/3/16)
    Source: Human Rights Watch
    Related report: The Farmer Becomes the Criminal: Land Confiscation in Burma’s Karen State
  2. Indigenous rights are key to preserving forests, climate change study finds (11/2/16)
    Source: The Guardian

Global

  1. The ‘Great Land Rush’ is here to stay as capital seeks stable assets (10/28/16)
    Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
  2. Donor Platform Assesses Impact and Future of Land Governance Interventions (10/31/16)
    Source: IISD

Africa

  1. IGAD Advances Implementation of AU Declaration on Land (11/2/16)
    Source: IGAD
  2. Nigerian communities open their homes and hearts to refugees – photo essay (11/3/16)
    Source: The Guardian
  3. Ethiopia’s crisis is a result of decades of land disputes and ethnic power battles (10/30/16)
    Source: Quartz
  4. Ethiopia: Slums in the city center slowly disappearing (10/30/16)
    Source: Africanews / AFP
  5. Land Grab Update: Mozambique, Africa Still in the Crosshairs (10/31/16)
    Source: Food Tank
  6. Kenya: Rights agencies call for tackling of land disputes (11/1/16)
    Source: Daily Nation
  7. Sierra Leone: ‘Help us upgrade, don’t evict us’: Sierra Leone’s slum dwellers battle for their homes (11/1/16)
    Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation

Americas

  1. Colombia Court Orders Top Companies to Return Stolen Lands (11/3/16)
    Source: teleSUR

Asia

  1. China loosens land transfer rules to spur larger, more efficient farms (11/3/16)
    Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
  2. India: Forced by tradition to give up inheritance, Indian women embrace property ownership (11/2/16)
    Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation

Land Matters Media Scan – 28 October 2016

Posted on by Amrit Bhandari
USAJOBS Posting

Here are the recent land tenure and resource management media items:

USAID

  1. Taking Stock of the Voluntary Guidelines of Tenure: Lessons Learned and Best Practices (10/27/16)
    Source: LandLinks
  2. Toward a Carbon-Neutral Future: Why Land and Resource Rights Matter – written by Stephen Brooks (10/27/16)
    Source: Columbia University’s Earth Institute blog

Upcoming Events

  1. Climate Change and Sustainable Investment in Natural Resources: From Consensus to Action (11/2/16)
    Source: Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment

Global

  1. Three myths about rural women (10/14/16)
    Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
  2. “Barefoot surveyors” flag needs in world’s slums, key to urban development – activist (10/20/16)
    Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
  3. Women and land – how to get from intentions to change on the ground (10/25/16)
    Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
  4. Could giving wild animals property rights help stop their decline? (10/27/16)
    Source: The Guardian

Africa

  1. Uganda: Why Uganda is a model for dealing with refugees (10/25/16)
    Source: The Economist
  2. Uganda: Jennifer Musisi Warns Investors Against Grabbing Schools’ Land (10/27/16)
    Source: AllAfrica / The Monitor
  3. Uganda: Government Blames District Land Boards for Illegal Land Titles (10/24/16)
    Source: AllAfrica / The Monitor
  4. Ethiopians adjust to life in Africa’s most ambitious social housing project (10/25/16)
    Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
  5. Ethiopia vows to protect European companies after farms attacked (10/26/16)
    Source: The Guardian
  6. Kenya: ‘I haven’t been given my share’: young Kenyans’ long wait to inherit land (10/26/16)
    Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
  7. Zimbabwe: How land reform is transforming a small town in southern Zimbabwe (10/24/16)
    Source: Zimbabweland blog
  8. Sudan: Tear gas fired as hundreds protest Sudan ‘land grab’ (10/26/16)
    Source: The Daily Star / AFP
  9. Malawi: From Drought to Green Revolution? Malawi’s—and Africa’s—Quest for Food Security (10/25/16)
    Source: World Politics Review

Americas

  1. Colombia: Despite ‘No’ Vote, Colombian Indigenous Groups Say They’ll Implement Peace Accord (10/17/16)
    Source: Latin America News Dispatch
  2. Brazil land grab threatens isolated tribes: activists (10/27/16)
    Source: Yahoo! / AFP

Asia

  1. Vietnam: Forest land tenure yet to yield full benefits: experts (10/27/16)
    Source: Viet Nam News
  2. India: ‘This forest is like an old friend’ – India’s tribal women fight for land ownership (10/21/16)
    Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
  3. China needs to protect property rights for all sectors (10/23/16)
    Source: Global Times
  4. Cambodia: Families Living Near Sihanoukville Waterfall to Get Land Titles (10/28/16)
    Source: The Cambodia Daily

Land Matters Media Scan – 24 October 2016

Posted on by Amrit Bhandari
A river runs by green farmland in the rural Afghan area of Panjshir

Here are the latest land tenure and resource management media items:

Reports and Publications

  1. Afghanistan: Improving ways to settle water disputes key to economic growth, avoiding conflict – new UN report (10/23/16)
    Source: UN News Centre
  2. Related: Liberia: GVL Rejects Global Witness Claim (10/21/16)
    Source: AllAfrica / Daily Observer
  3. Related: Liberia: the growth of a new palm oil frontier (10/20/16)
    Source: The Guardian

Global

  1. Promoting Land Rights to Empower Rural Women and End Poverty (10/14/16)
    Source: World Bank
  2. Advancing women’s land and resource rights (10/14/16)
    Source: World Bank
  3. World’s slum dwellers, homeless must be protected with right to housing: UN expert (10/19/16)
    Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
  4. How are Coca-Cola and PepsiCo stacking up on land rights? (10/20/16)
    Source: Oxfam
  5. Related: Reviewing Coca-Cola and PepsiCo’s land assessments in Brazil (10/20/16)
    Source: Oxfam
  6. Obstacles to forest tenure reform deeply rooted in the past (10/20/16)
    Source: CIFOR blog

Africa

  1. African Women Scale Heights in Land Rights Protest (10/14/16)
    Source: Human Rights Watch
  2. Uganda’s nomadic herders feed the country, but under pressure to settle down – activist (10/21/16)
    Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
  3. Tanzania: Modern Map Equipment Expected to Reduce Land Conflicts (10/21/16)
    Source: AllAfrica / Tanzania Daily News
  4. Nigeria: Endless Fight Over Land (10/20/16)
    Source: AllAfrica / This Day
  5. Related: Women push Kaimenyi into action on their rights to land (10/18/16)
    Source: The Star

Americas

  1. Nicaragua Dispute Over Indigenous Land Erupts in Wave of Killings (10/16/16)
    Source: New York Times

Asia

  1. India: Dalit man kills himself in western India as protest over land rights widens (10/20/16)
    Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation

Land Matters Media Scan – 14 October 2016

Posted on by Amrit Bhandari
Indian women holding land titles

Here are the latest land tenure and resource management media items:

USAID

  1. Legitimate Land Rights: You Asked We Answered (9/26/16)
    Source: USAID E3/Land
  2. Liberia: Media Key in Handling Land Governance – Brandy – mentions USAID’s LGSA project (10/6/16)
    Source: AllAfrica
  3. Tanzania: Despite conservation efforts, Tanzania’s forests still under pressure – references USAID’s work in Tanzania (10/7/16)
    Source: Mongabay
  4. Rwanda: Agriculture Land Information System to Help Attract Private Investment – mentions USAID’s Private Sector Driven Agricultural Growth (PSDAG) program (10/12/16)
    Source: AllAfrica

Events

  1. Upcoming: Africa the new palm frontier: can we avoid the mistakes of the past? – event (11/23/16)
    Source: The Guardian
  2. Recorded Webinar: Discover the Land Portal Land Book (10/12/16)
    Source: Land Portal / YouTube

Reports and Publications

  1. A cost-benefit analysis of securing indigenous land rights in the Amazon (10/11/16)
    Source: Mongabay
    Related WRI report: https://goo.gl/ZAfy86
  2. Ghana: Land grabbing may pose threat to achieving SDGs (10/11/16)
    Source: News Ghana
    Related Caritas Ghana report: https://goo.gl/CGQbRn
  3. ‘Land grabbing’ and international investment law: toward a global reconfiguration of property? (October 2016)
    Source: International Institute for Environment and Development

Global

  1. Why Women’s Empowerment Must Start With Land Rights (10/11/16)
    Source: Wilson Center / New Security Beat
  2. The 2016 Nobel Prize: Incentives, Property Rights, and Ownership (10/10/16)
    Source: Mises Institute
  3. Making Gender Equality Central to the New Urban Agenda (10/6/16)
    Source: Next City

Africa

  1. FACTBOX-Best and worst countries in Africa for women’s land rights (10/13/16)
    Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
  2. Ethiopia blames foreigners for unrest, U.N. experts seek probe (10/10/16)
    Source: Reuters
  3. Kenya: Road that divides: Kenya slum braces for battle (10/10/16)
    Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
  4. Kenya to ‘purge’ land ministry of corrupt cartels: official (10/12/16)
    Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
  5. Liberia: Liberia: Concessions Violate Women’s Rights (10/12/16)
    Source: AllAfrica

Americas

  1. Argentina: Cultivating a Different Future for Rural Women in Argentina (10/13/16)
    Source: IPS
  2. Guatemala’s indigenous people are at risk of losing their land (10/10/16)
    Source: ThinkProgress
  3. Peru: What’s in a land title? (10/11/16)
    Source: Land Portal
  4. Peru: When Two Worlds Collide: A victory for Peruvian indigenous leaders, onscreen and off (10/13/16)
    Source: Ford Foundation
  5. Colombia: Ford Foundation returns to Colombia (10/10/16)
    Source: The City Paper

Asia

  1. Video: Piari’s Legacy: A Land Title (10/13/16)
    Source: Landesa / YouTube
  2. India: What’s a slum? India’s Dharavi defies label with thriving informal economy (10/11/16)
    Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
  3. India: Several Projects Stuck As Village Communities Push Back Against Land Grabs (10/10/16)
    Source: Huffington Post

Middle East

  1. Afghan women to be given ‘fair share’ in property rights drive – land authority (10/11/16)
    Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation

 

Online Discussion: Legitimate Land Rights

Posted on by Amrit Bhandari
Video still from the discussion on legitimate land rights

Join the discussion by answering the four questions below, sending a question or comment to the panel, or tweeting using #legitlandrights.

Question 1:
In a small rural community there are 35 households of settled farmers. These farmers and their families have been in the area for several generations. Twice a year, a pastoralist clan moves through the area, following a traditional migration route. The pastoralists have always worked with local chiefs and leaders to negotiate access to the local water source as well as access to harvested fields. Neither the farmers nor the pastoralists have any documentation of their rights over the land at issue. An investor arrives and would like to negotiate to lease some of the land that the farmers and pastoralists both use.

In this case, who has legitimate rights: the farmers only; the pastoralists and the farmers both; or no one, given that there is no documentation of rights?

Question 2:

A family of 5 people was forced, along with many others, to leave their home during a civil war. This family had acquired the rights to their home under a previous regime which favored the family’s ethnic group over another ethnic group. They have documentation to show that this transfer took place. During the conflict, the family members relocated to an internally displaced persons’ camp. While the family was living in the camp, another family moved into their home, living there for over five years, considering this home their own, this family made repairs to the house, planted a small farm, and sent their children to local schools. After a peace accord was concluded, the new government began a process to resolve land conflicts associated with the war.

In this case, who has legitimate rights: the displaced family; the family that took up residence during the war; or is it unclear in this case who would have legitimate rights given the convoluted history of the property?

Question 3:

A government, in an effort to conserve biodiversity, decides to create a new national park. This government endorsed the VGGT. The boundaries of the new park were identified using satellite imagery. When park officials arrive in a portion of the park to conduct an animal head count they encounter local indigenous people. These people explain that they have traditionally used the land to hunt, collect medicinal herbs, honey, and some firewood. The park officials tell these people that they believe the land is probably state/government land and therefore local indigenous people have no claim to the land or the resources on the land.

In this case, who has legitimate rights: the indigenous peoples; the government, because that the land was demarcated; or the government because the state’s biodiversity concerns outweigh the legitimate land rights of the indigenous people?

Question 4:

A developer has legally purchased land from a government where there is currently a city slum. The developer was informed by officials that the land was vacant at the time of purchase, but upon visiting the land finds that hundreds of people are currently living in the slum. The developer plans to invest in the land which will lead to greater economic growth within the city, However, these slum dwellers have already been pushed off of rural lands that were also used without their consent. Moreover, many occupants of the slums have been there for many years and have nowhere that they can go if the slums are destroyed.

In this case, who has legitimate rights: the developer because they purchased the land; the slum dwellers; or is it unclear, this case should be determined through the courts?

 

From Classroom to Community

Posted on by Amrit Bhandari

How Tajikistan’s Youth are Changing the Way We Look at Land Rights

Originally appeared on Medium.

On a sunny day in June at the Financial and Economic Institute in Tajikistan’s capital city of Dushanbe, a class full of energetic young law students discusses the day’s lesson. To the southwest of the capital, in a small rural village in Khatlon Province, high school seniors tell personal stories about helping their community. Sixty-five miles apart, the students are discussing the same subject: land rights. The enthusiasm in both classrooms is impossible to ignore.

The subject of land rights is a new addition to the students’ curriculum. As part of the U.S. Government’s Feed the Future initiative, USAID’s Land Reform and Farm Restructuring project has helped support this effort by establishing the course materials, which include a textbook and a fact-sheet on ways to resolve common land disputes.

Adults may not always recognize how influential youth can be. But in Tajikistan, USAID knows that youth often serve as a bridge of information, helping their families understand and adopt new practices.

View the full photo essay on Medium.

Feeding Ethiopia’s Future

Posted on by Amrit Bhandari

Lessons from a Decade of Land Certification

Originally appeared on Exposure.

LAND RIGHTS MATTER

In Ethiopia, where over 80 percent of the population lives in rural areas, having secure rights to land and other resources is critical. Especially for women.

LAND INSECURITY → LESS FOOD SECURITY

For decades, farmers and other landholders lacked land tenure security because of frequent land seizures and redistributions.

This insecurity meant farmers had few incentives to make investments for fear that their land would be taken away before they could reap the benefits.

This led to declining agricultural productivity, food insecurity and hunger.

Read the full photo essay on Exposure.