Women’s land rights (WLR) have been and continue to be a live agenda in social development discourse of India. The importance of WLR has been discussed in the context of agriculture; poverty reduction; reduction in gender based violence; women’s well-being and agency.This policy brief outlines the gaps that exist in the realisation of women’s land rights on agricultural land and calls for immediate collective action aimed at removing the structural barriers in inheritance, leasing, and joint ownership of privately held land in favour of women.

This study was undertaken by the Rural Development Institute for the World Justice Project. The study reviews the formal and customary laws and practices governing the rights of women to inherit land in six South Asian countries (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka). The study includes an analysis of existing laws and customs and their impact on inheritance and land rights in all six countries. It also provides recommendations for how to design interventions that can attempt to improve women’s inheritance rights.

In Asia, land issues affect women in ways that call for serious deliberation and action. Suffice it to say, the legitimate concerns of females transcend generations and geographical borders. Attaining a stable livelihood, meeting basic resource needs and having adequate housing are just some of the issues that affect women. There is, however, a pressing need to heed the woes of rural women in particular. The poor are swelling in numbers and the condition of poor rural women lies on the fringes of the global economic agenda.

The oil palm boom in Indonesia continues to be a major driver of land acquisitions in remaining tropical forest frontiers, drawing on a wide range of actors into its production, and transforming both rural landscapes and livelihoods in the process. The growing body of research and evidence on the social and economic effects of oil palm expansion does not adequately consider the gender dimensions of the oil palm boom, thereby lacking a balanced view of both women’s and men’s experiences.

This paper focuses on the enforcement of proprietary rights of women by the Indian courts and their endeavor to interpretlegislation in favour of marginalized women. 

There is a direct relationship between women’s right to land, economic empowerment, food security and poverty reduction. A gender approach to land rights can enable shifts in gender power relations, and assure that all people, regardless of sex, benefit from, and are empowered by, development policies and practices to improve people’s rights to land. This brief gives an overview on how to consider gender aspects in projects and programmes addressing land rights.

This quick guide gives a brief over view of the challenges regarding women’s access to land, outlines what needs to be done to increase women’s access to land and provides Sida with some entr y points for supporting processes where women gain access to land

The UNCCD Advocacy Policy Framework (APF) on gender, approved by the COP10 (Decision 9), demonstrates the benefits of mainstreaming gender in Desertification/Land Degradation and Drought (DDLD)/ Sustainable Land Management (SLM) actions at national and local levels. The framework recognizes that gender mainstreaming has to take place at various levels involving multiple stakeholders. It is through the full participation of local people, especially women, that the efforts efforts to combat desertification can be most effective.

A biodiversity project in Nagaland is improving the productivity and fertility of the jhum land and fallow areas. The increased productivity has spiked sales of products and the incremented farmer income substantially. The study also highlights how women in Nagaland have been empowered through the project.

The year 2012 marks the twentieth anniversary of the Rio Earth Summit, which resulted in the establishment of the three Rio Conventions: the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD ) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC ).

The range of measures often emphasized in gendered efforts to reverse desertification and land degradation and mitigate the effects of drought (DLDD) include improving the participation of women in decision-making, building the capacity of women’s organizations, eliminating illiteracy among women, minimizing the heavy workload on women and eliminating gender disparities in employment and in the access to and ownership of resources. This fact sheet draws attention to the complex and evolving nature of gender issues pertaining to drylands women.