Last Friday 11 of May was an important day for millions of poor rural people and small scale farmers whose rights of access to natural resources were recognized for the first time ever. On this day more than one hundred member countries of the Committee of Food Security endorsed the Voluntary Guidelines on the responsible governance of tenure of land, fisheries and forests in the context of national food security (link: http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/nr/land_tenure/pdf/VG_Final_May...). It is the first ever global land tenure agreement and the adoption came up after three year negotiation process, involving governments, civil society organizations, farmers' associations and the private sector.
The VGs outline principles and practices that governments and other actors can refer to when administering land, fisheries and forests rights in order to serve the best interests of their populations and to promote food security and rural development.
Land tenure is a sensitive and crucial issue for food security in developing countries and in many places land tenure systems are effectively nonexistent. The agreement is commended for the anchor in the human rights language and the focus on gender. In developing countries women make up between 50 and 80% of agricultural labour force but they don’t own the land the work in. ActionAid has seen firsthand the difference land rights make to women in Africa and Asia. From 2,000 women who won the legal right to land in Malawi, to a 300-strong women’s cooperative in Uganda, we know how impactful empowering women to tackle hunger in their own communities can be.
Next steps
The is the beginning, not the end, thereafter it is time to insist on promotion and implementation. It is now up to the countries who endorsed the guidelines to put them into practice on the ground. The UN bodies involved (FAO UNDP and WFP) will assist governments providing technical assistance and toolkits, the CSOs will monitor the implementation and will carry on with the advocacy at the national and international level.