Land & Gender

ABSTRACTED FROM EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: This report highlights important dimensions of food security in rural Lao PDR, including: the different gender roles in agriculture; reliance on community-level social cohesion as both a coping mechanism and means of livelihood; and the ongoing challenge of shifting rural livelihoods from a subsistence basis towards market-orientation.

Women are often the primary users of land for residential and agricultural purposes, but are frequently denied primary and ownership rights to land and other natural resources because of cultural norms. Women are also often excluded from effective participation in the provision of land administration services.

This paper is about land tenure relations among the matrilineal and patrilineal cultures in Malawi. Data from the National Agricultural and Livestock Census are used to characterize marriage systems and settlement and landholding patterns for local communities. Marriage systems correspond to customary land tenure patterns of matrilineal or patrilineal land holding.

We have used gender-disaggregated household panel data from 2007 and 2012 in combination with dictator games and hawk-dove games to assess the effects of joint land certification of husbands and wives on wives’ involvement in land-related decisions within households.

Ethiopia has implemented one of the largest, fastest and cheapest land registration and certification reforms in Africa.

Based on the principles of sustainable development and in recognition of land’s centrality to development, these Guidelines are intended to contribute to global and national efforts towards the eradication of hunger and poverty by promoting secure tenure rights and equitable access to land, fisheries and forests.

Over the past decade, stakeholders have made a variety of generalized claims concerning women’s landownership, both globally and in Africa.

This technical guide on Governing land for women and men aims to assist implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (FAO, 2012b) by providing guidance that supports the Guidelines’ principle of gender equality in tenure govern

Gender equity is a matter of fundamental human rights and social justice, as well as a pre-condition for sustainable development. The empowerment of women and gender equity has been recognized as a significant driver of development, enhancing the effectiveness of programs, projects, and initiatives.

Currently, Tanzania faces numerous challenges related to land ownership, especially in rural areas. The challenges include farmers-pastoralists conflicts, tenure disputes, and alienation of peasants.

In northern Tanzania, new grassroots groups called Women’s Rights and Leadership Forums (WRLFs) are mobilizing women and men in pastoralist communities to promote and defend local land rights.