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On Thursday, April 21st, USAID and the MCC co-hosted a Side Event to the World Bank’s Annual Conference on Land and Poverty entitled “Roundtable Discussion on Land Access and Responsible Agribusiness Investment.”

On Thursday, April 21st, USAID and the MCC co-hosted a Side Event to the World Bank’s Annual Conference on Land and Poverty entitled “Roundtable Discussion on Land Access and Responsible Agribusiness Investment.” The event’s goal was to bring together stakeholders who often talk past each other (and, in some cases, view each other with suspicion) to interact with, and learn from, each other. USAID is actively engaging with these stakeholders in order to identify and develop strategies for agri-business investments that will leverage and complement Feed the Future goals, particularly the goals of empowering smallholder farmers and women.

• Event Details
• Participants List
• Roundtable Minutes

In December 2009, Kenya adopted a new National Land Policy with the purpose of resolving the myriad of land tenure problems throughout the country. The policy calls for the recognition of customary community lands and land governance, addressing inequitable land distribution rooted in historical injustices, instituting a transparent and accountable system of land administration, and ensuring the effective protection of women’s rights to land and related resources, including the provision for joint spousal registration and documentation of land rights. Along with the new Constitution that Kenya adopted in August 2010, which includes a Bill of Rights for its citizens, the National Land Policy, if implemented in its full intent, will represent a significant change towards equitable access to land, sustainable land use, and secure land rights. The news stories from Kenyan national newspapers below provide additional information.

News stories on women’s land rights in Kenya:

• The Daily Nation Kenya
• The Standard for Fairness and Justice, Kenya

Kevin Doyle, the Team Leader for the USAID-funded Kenya SECURE project, has published an article in SWARA magazine providing background and context for SECURE. The article appears in the July-September 2010 issue of SWARA magazine, published by the East Africa Wild Life Society. Used with permission.

Kenya SECURE’s Team Leader, Kevin Doyle, presented at Kenya’s International Conference on Biodiversity, Land Use and Climate Change, held September 15-17, 2010 at the Intercontinental Hotel in Nairobi. Sponsors of the conference included KWS, IUCN, UNEP, EAWLS, and many others.

Mr. Doyle’s presentation gave a brief overview of the Kenya SECURE Project and highlighted some of the key features of the new National Land Policy and the Constitution as they related to community land rights. He then gave a case study overview of the Boni people living in the Boni-Lungi forest.

The visit of five MPs to PRADD-supported mining villages of Sangha-Mbaere in the Central African Republic (CAR) from September 27 to 30, 2010 was a success beyond expectations.

The Rapporteur of the Natural Resource Committee declared on national media that the license fee should be reduced and that the Minister of Mines will be asked to appear before the Commission to that end. The Rapporteur of the Finance Committee ensured that the Committee will work on propositions of reform with the Ministry of Finances. All of them declared publicly that PRADD trainings on diamond evaluation should be broadened, and members of the Gender Committee and Natural Resources Committee proposed that a reduced fee be applied to vulnerable categories of miners such as widows and indigenous peoples (i.e. pygmies). Concrete innovative propositions were made to PRADD in order to boost the creation of cooperatives and link them to state-supported buying houses. All participants warmly greeted PRADD for this “politically ingenious initiative” six months before the parliamentary elections, and agreed to remain focused on the matter and to circulate PRADD reports in the Parliament on a regular basis. The population itself was overly enthusiastic at what was described as “the first visit of a parliamentary delegation to remote villages since the 1960 independence”. The event hit the news with an unexpected success too. Meanwhile, the autumn parliamentary session opened on Friday, October 1, 2010.

Ms. Fayzinisso Ashurova and her five children were unjustly evicted from their home after her husband passed away. The USAID Land Reform Project took Fayzinisso’s case to the Supreme Court, which decided in her favor.

In Tajikistan, as in many developing countries, a range of cultural, social, and political factors combined with a lack of awareness regarding legal issues prevent women from enjoying their rights to land and property, often subjecting them to unjust and sometimes fraudulent practices.

Ms. Fayzinisso Ashurova and her husband purchased a house near Khujand in 1998. The seller, Mr. Kubilov, took Fayzinisso’s money and promised to finalize the necessary paperwork in a few days time. However, Kubilov unexpectedly moved to Uzbekistan and never provided Fayzinisso with the proper title to the house.

Fayzinisso tried to find the seller for years, but to no avail. Having learned that Fayzinisso was widowed in 2008, Kubilov, still in Uzbekistan, sought to take advantage of the situation. Kubilov gave power of attorney to his friend, who in turn drafted a purchase agreement granting the title of Fayziniso’s house to Parvina, the friend’s daughter. Parvina then immediately evicted Fayzinisso and her five children.

“I did not know where to turn for help” said Fayzinisso. Her son suggested that she contact the USAID Land Reform Project in Khujand having heard that the project provides legal services to farmers and rural citizens. “I had nothing to lose, so I prayed and went to the office” said Fayzinisso.

Legal Aid Director Ms. Nodira Sidykova interviewed Fayzinisso and reviewed all her documents. After a thorough study of the documents and the relevant legislation and international conventions, Nodira took the case all the way to the Supreme Court of Tajikistan on Fayzinisso’s behalf. Court records reveal that the documents granting title to Pariva were void, based upon fraud and collusion. On June 18, 2010 the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Fayzinisso and returned the house to her and her children. Fayzinisso exclaimed “I can’t thank Nodira and USAID enough!”

The USAID Land Reform Project is one of the many assistance projects the American people, through USAID, have provided in support of the people of Tajikistan. Since 1992, the American people have provided approximately $900 million in programs that support Tajikistan’s democratic institutions, health care, education and economic growth.

In a groundbreaking symposium on women’s access to land in Africa, with mostly researchers and institutional officials as attendees, the Huairou Commission delegation provided a unique community-based perspective. The Huairou Commission delegation of 12 grassroots women leaders from Ghana, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, and South Africa participated in two important panels, “Promoting Security of Tenure and Land Rights for Women in Urban Areas” and “Grassroots Women’s Practices on Land Access and Control”.

The International Development Research Centre (IDRC) has supported research and capacity-building for long-term development for forty years. Opening speaker Dr. Connie Freeman, regional Director of the East and Southern Africa Regional Office IDRC affirmed that this was a time to link action research around women’s secure access to land to real action and policy reform, and affirmed that women’s rights to land guarantee their full citizenship. The conference was a chance to consolidate and communicate research findings and analysis from research projects and activities related to gender, women’s rights and access to land in Africa, in order to inform and influence policy, advocacy, and scholarship.

On the first day, Huairou Commission members Fati Alhassan of Grassroots Sisterhood Foundation (GSF) Ghana and Joyce Nangobi from Slum Women’s Initiative for Development (SWID) spoke in the panel, “Promoting Security of Tenure and Land Rights for Women in Urban Areas.” Joyce spoke of the processes they used in community mapping and local dialogues, and the recent success they have achieved with revolving loan funds for securing women’s purchase of land, including 42 women have acquired security of land tenure and certificates of completion was granted by Jinja Municipal Council, and two houses are currently being built. Fati spoke of the tremendous challenge and accomplishments achieved in the GSF Project pilot project they had done in partnership with the Global Land Tools Network facilitated by UN Habitat.

The Huairou Commission lead the session “Grassroots Women’s Practices on Land Access and Control”, moderated by Esther Mwaura-Miuru of GROOTS Kenya, with panelists Emily Tjale of LAMOSA South Africa, Violet Shivutse of GROOTS Kenya, Scolastika Porokwa of MWEDO, Tanzania, and Mastullah Nakisozi of UCOBAC Uganda. They spoke of the realities of grassroots women’s access to land, the strategies they have created and employed to secure tenure and reverse evictions, and called for researchers and donors to partner effectively in action research and invest in long-term organizing and grassroots peer exchange.

Mastullah Nakisozi closed the panel with a moving statement about her own experience. “After I was diagnosed with HIV and my husband died, I was thrown out of my house. That is why I am fighting now, and I don’t want it to happen to anyone else.”

Concluding Recommendations

To date, there has been limited use research around women’s land tenure, and this symposium was meant to be a catalytic opportunity to further push the evidence into real policy recommendations. For the Huairou Commission, it was also a chance to build partnerships with other research institutions and encourage action research in partnership with grassroots groups, and strengthen relationships with UN partners and the IDRC.

Violet Shivutse and Brenda Dosio of GROOTS Kenya were asked to be members of the policy drafting committee that met twice daily to draft the final outcome policy recommendations for the final outcome document, as well as a catalytic document to be used across Africa in policy advocacy and lobbying. Some of these recommendations, such as recognizing that women are not homogenous, and groups with unique needs, such as survivors of conflict situations, HIV/AIDS positive persons, female headed households and the rural and urban poor, must be considered through special measures when developing laws and policies; and Investments should be made to strengthen networks working on women and land rights, to promote learning amongst grassroots groups, land coalitions, and policy makers, and to strengthen their influence in the planning and policy making process. Finally, we stressed that all research is done with grassroots women in the lead, in a manner that ensures that the grassroots women are the collectors and custodians of the data, and that data is used to understand and address real priorities and strategies of communities.

As The Minister of Land James Orengo that Kenya had said in his opening remarks, the symposium was a chance to further galvanize Kenya and the rest of Africa around making these research action results into policy recommendation. Finally, congratulations to IDRC on their anniversary of 40 of groundbreaking development research!