Burkina Faso has a long history of land interventions aiming to achieve tenure security at the local level. The “Observatoire National du Foncier au Burkina-Faso” (ONF-BF) is one of the key players in the country working on mapping land rights within communities at commune-level. How does ONF-BF address the challenge of not only attaining tenure security through mapping, but ensuring these tenure rights last over time?

Au Cameroun, beaucoup de communautés rurales ne connaissent pas leurs droits, dans un contexte où elles sont de plus en plus confrontées à des investissements fonciers à grande échelle. Sandrine Kouba du RELUFA explique comment la mise en place d'un programme radio a permis d'informer les communautés autochtones sur leurs droits et de les préparer à mieux se défendre face aux investisseurs.

Par MINA BEYAN, PATRICK KIPALU ET KENDI BORONA

Lucas Yamat and Pablo Manzano

The future of Ngorongoro has been the subject of hot debate among various stakeholders following a proposal by the government of Tanzania to relocate pastoralists from the district in order to conserve this important World Heritage site.

The proposal is based on claims that wildlife in the reserve faces extinction due to a sharp increase in human and livestock populations. Discussions about the proposal have caused concern among the residents of Ngorongoro who fear that they face eviction.

This op-ed by Katlego Ramantsina, a researcher at the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies first appeared in the Daily Maverick

Developing land tenure legislation is a difficult job to get right — especially given the legacy of intractable problems inherited from apartheid. The Gauteng consultation did not seem genuine: it lasted only three hours.

C'est à nouveau la période de l'année ! Mars est synonyme de journée internationale de la femme et de réunion annuelle de la Commission des Nations unies sur le statut de la femme. Il n'est pas surprenant, après la COP26 à Glasgow, que la CSW66 de cette année lie l'égalité des sexes au changement climatique. Le thème officiel est "la réalisation de l'égalité des sexes et l'autonomisation de toutes les femmes et les filles dans le contexte du changement climatique, de l'environnement et des politiques et programmes de réduction des risques de catastrophe".

By Sean Johnson, land administration specialist at COWI, Swaziland

* This piece was originally published as part of the online discussion on customary law in Southern Africa

By Monica de Souza Louw, Land and Accountability Research Centre (LARC), University of Cape Town

* This piece was originally published as part of the online discussion on customary law in Southern Africa

By Allan Cain, Development Workshop Angola

* This article was originally published as part of the online discussion on customary law in Southern Africa

By Phillan Zamchiya, Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS)

* This article was originally published as part of the online discussion on customary law in Southern Africa

The Maasai community of Musul have lived on the same land in Laikipia county for generations. It is their source of food and water, the heart of their culture and beliefs, and their ancestral home. But until recently, their legal rights to govern it were tenuous.

WHY REJECT CUSTOMARY LAND PRIVATISATION 

Most of the world’s land is still stewarded by communities under customary systems. Billions of people rely on communally managed farmland, pasture, forests and savannahs for their livelihoods. 

This collective management of resources is viewed in the colonial or capitalist economic model as an obstacle to individual wealth creation and private profit.