WUNRN

http://www.wunrn.com

 

Contexts for Women & Land in Developing Countries:

 

Women are primary agricultural producers, cultivating between 60 and 80 per cent of the food in most developing countries, and ensure household food security. Women’s lack of access to and control over land is a key factor contributing to their poverty, with devastating results for households and communities, and needs to be addressed if poverty and hunger are to be reduced.

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DEALING WITH THE RACE FOR AGRICULTURAL LAND 

Kiel Institute for the World Economy, Kiel, Germany

Authors: Aslihan Arslan, Setareh Khalilian, Mareike Lange

DOWNLOAD DOCUMENT: English (PDF · 12 pages · 514 KB)

Large scale investments in agriculture, often foreign, raise manifold expectations concerning their impact on the development of the world's poorest countries. These countries often do not have enough capital, and they may welcome foreign governments and companies to invest in their agricultural sector, to acquire land.

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE RISKS INVOLVED, THAT MAY SERIOUSLY IMPACT THE LIVES OF WOMEN, AND ESPECIALLY RURAL WOMEN AND WOMEN IN AGRICULTURE?

Host countries often have insufficient regulations to protect their population. For example, land tenure is complicated in many African countries, and land rights are often customary with no written evidence of usage of ownership - hence governments can sell the land often without consulting the local communities living on the land. Thus local farmers may be displaced when their land is sold to foreign investors, and they may or may noot be compensated for this land. When locals lose access to land, they may also lose an important means of sustaining their livelihoods. Even when there is alot of idle arable land, investors may buy the most fertile lands, and locals who were using it could be moved to other areas with less suitable characteristics for agriculture. Further, when land is declared "unused" by the government, it may still be used by local people for grazing animals, gathering fuel wood or medicinal plants. This type of land use often serves as a safety net against band harvests for the communities, which vanishes when the land is sold to an investor and may be fenced off.

In addition to land use, water use may also be negatively affected if rules of access to water are not clearly spelled out in contracts. In most contracts, there is no clear definition of water use rights, causing local people to have less water in areas with water shortage and affecting negatively both agricultural production, livelihoods, and overall lives at the same time.

The acquisition of land by investors, "land deals" may also create, including in entry of foreign products, competition in local agricultural markets, thus potentially decreasing prices for products marketed by local producers.

Those who have lost their agricultural land and livelihoolds, may be forced to buy products at much higher prices, and with little income to afford such foods.

There may also be concerns for protection of natural resources and the environment, and the need for national regulatory institutions and enforcement of contracts for land.

(Scroll down to: FAO Voluntary Guidelines on Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security.)

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WOMEN & LAND RIGHTS - CHALLENGES FOR EMPOWERMENT - VOLUNTARY GUIDELINES - LAND GRABBING - CORRUPTION - WOMEN'S VULNERABILITY

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International Land Coalition

http://www.landcoalition.org/global-initiatives/womens-land-rights/womens-land-rights

 

WOMEN'S LAND RIGHTS

The percentage of land owned by women is disproportionately small considering their crucial contribution to agriculture and especially the food security of households and communities. The existing gender inequality in access to and control over natural resources is an obstacle to their sustainable management and to sustainable development in general.

There are two key arguments for promoting women’s land rights:

  1. Women’s human rights are violated
    The Universal Declaration of Human Rights stipulates that human rights apply equally to all, regardless of sex, yet women around the world are disproportionately affected by human rights violations, which keeps them trapped in poverty. Women have fewer benefits and protections under legal systems than men and are largely excluded from decision-making structures. Women also lack control of financial resources, have larger work burdens, and are more likely to suffer from social isolation and threats or acts of violence.
  2. Women’s key role in food security and natural resource management is not recognised
    Women are primary agricultural producers, cultivating between 60 and 80 per cent of the food in most developing countries, and ensure household food security. Studies have found that agricultural productivity increases when women are given the same inputs as men. Yet frequently women access land through male relatives only, and not in their own right. Women’s lack of access to and control over land is a key factor contributing to their poverty, with devastating results for households and communities, and needs to be addressed if poverty and hunger are to be reduced.

What can be done?
Women’s access to and control over resources is shaped by complex systems of common and civil law as well as customary and religious laws and practices. International law and conventions such as CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women) protect women’s human rights in signatory states, but are often at odds with national legislation, the actual enforcement of legislation, or local practices. Furthermore, the practise and perception of a woman’s position in the household, family and community affects to what extent women can exercise their land rights.

The ability to access land and to claim, use and defend rights to natural resources is contingent on processes of empowerment. Women face additional hurdles to empowerment, ranging from their status within household and community to discriminatory customary or statutory laws – such hurdles need to be addressed to contribute to women’s empowerment, political, legal and economic, and to transforming gender roles so that women participate in society on an equal footing.

A frequent criticism of efforts for women’s empowerment and gender equality is that “western feminism” is a form of cultural imperialism lacking respect for local tradition and culture. On the contrary, a feminist approach challenges inequality between the sexes – much like inequality of wealth – as an obstacle to people-centred development.

For International Land Coalition, the goal of working together on women’s land rights is to influence global, regional and national processes to enable women’s secure and equitable access to land.

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WOMEN'S RIGHTS & ACCESS TO LAND - ActionAid

http://www.actionaid.it/filemanager/cms_actionaid/images/DOWNLOAD/Rapporti_DONNE_pdf/HerMile_AAItaly.pdf

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FAO - UN Food & Agriculture Organization

Promoting secure tenure rights and equitable access to natural resources
The Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security promote secure tenure rights and equitable access to land, fisheries and forests as a means of eradicating hunger and poverty, supporting sustainable development and enhancing the environment.

IMPORTANT: IT IS NECESSARY TO FIRST CLICK WEBSITE LINK TO THEN DOWNLOAD THE INDIVIDUAL REFERENCES BELOW: http://www.fao.org/nr/tenure/voluntary-guidelines/en/

On 11 May 2012 the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) officially endorsed the Voluntary Guidelines on Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security.

The Voluntary Guidelines are available in:
لعربية l 中国的 l English l français l русский l español 

 

An informal aid on reading the Voluntary Guidelines:
English

More on Governance and its Tenure:
English I français I español


 

UN News Centre - Link to Full Article

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=40698&Cr=corruption&Cr1=

 

CORRUPTION LEADING TO UNEQUAL ACCESS & USE OF LAND - UN - WOMEN

 

12 December 2011 – Corruption caused by weak governance is leading to unequal land distribution and poor resource management, according to a United Nations report released today, which argues that this lack of transparency is undermining social stability, investment and growth in developing countries.

Weak land governance occurs as a result of low levels of transparency, accountability and the rule of law, the report says, which strains “the rules, processes and institutions that determine which land resources are used, by whom, for how long, and under what conditions.”

The report, jointly produced by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Transparency International, found that in more than 61 countries weak governance has increased the likelihood of corruption in land occupancy and administration, intensifying the impact of pressures on land use, agriculture and food security worldwide.......

Direct Link to Full 12-Page Working Paper: CORRUPTION IN THE LAND SECTOR -http://www.fao.org/docrep/014/am943e/am943e00.pdf

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http://www.landcoalition.org/publications/strategies-get-gender-agenda-%E2%80%9Cland-grab%E2%80%9D-debate

STRATEGIES TO GET GENDER ONTO THE AGENDA OF THE LAND GRAB DEBATE