CESCR calls for written contributions to the draft general comment on Land and Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights is developing a general comment on Land and Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). The purpose of this general comment is to clarify the specific obligations of States parties relating to land and the governance of tenure of land under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

Benin introduced new instruments to register customary land rights in the 2013 Land and Domain Law, which was updated in 2017. The BMZ supported “Promotion d’une Politique Foncière Responsable (ProPFR)” project is testing these instruments together with scalable implementation modalities in the Borgou department (Benin). This work is complemented with a rigorous impact evaluation to assess changes in tenure security, agricultural investments and food security. The baseline survey was completed in 2018 and includes 2,968 households in 53 villages in the Borgou.

Improvement of Land Governance in Uganda (ILGU) is a project implemented by the German International Cooperation (GIZ), seeking to increase productivity of small-scale farmers on private Mailo land in Central Uganda, co-financed by the European Union and German Government through the German Federal Ministry for
Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

June 4, 2021 -- An increasing number of countries are facing growing levels of acute food insecurity, reversing years of development gains. Even before COVID-19 reduced incomes and disrupted supply chains, chronic and acute hunger were on the rise due to various factors including conflict, socio-economic conditions, natural hazards, climate change and pests. COVID-19 impacts have led to severe and widespread increases in global food insecurity, affecting vulnerable households in almost every country, with impacts expected to continue through 2021 and into 2022.

Smallholder farmers are an important piece in the country’s agriculture puzzle and attainment of food security.

With the globe facing looming food security issues, the smallholder farmers are and have always been stakeholders not be left behind.

Yes, we cannot talk food security without inputs from the small scale farmers. They need to be incorporated in every step, as the country takes baby steps initiatives towards being self sufficient. 

The current relationship between Syria and the West cripples any real prospect for reconstruction. Western sanctions on reconstruction as a political tool aimed at the regime, have wide-ranging negative impacts on the civilian population – while having little hope of political success. For agriculture the repercussions of sanctions on reconstruction are severe, affecting refugee returns, livelihood recovery, food security and stabilization.

This Report presents the findings of this research effort. A comprehensive consideration of the many aspects of land ownership in Nepal, including the related issues of agricultural development, the impact of nonstate actors in newly-formed special economic zones, and the claims of landlords returning to land seized during the Maoist conflict is beyond the scope of this project. The Report and study focused on documenting the impact that inadequate access to land has on the human rights of landless people, including rights to housing, food, water, work, and access to justice.

We investigated wheat price relationships between the import-dependent countries in Central Asia and the South Caucasus and the Black Sea wheat exporters to assess wheat market efficiency. This is crucial for ensuring availability and access to wheat and for reducing food insecurity. Results from linear and threshold error correction models suggested a strong influence of trade costs on market integration in Central Asia, while those costs were of minor importance in the South Caucasus.

This is the report of a webinar held by Land Portal on 24th March 2021.

In much of West Africa, women are considered breadwinners responsible to provide food for the family. However, women do not only own less land but also face manifold obstacles in accessing land through transfers, inheritance, or lease. The tenure security of this group has been threatened by large-scale land deals, state appropriation in the name of the public interest, and the often-discriminating practices of customary tenure systems.

Bhutan Trust Fund for Environmental Conservation (BTFEC) in collaboration with National Soil Service Centre (NSSC), and Gross National Happiness Commission (GNHC) has undertaken the Evaluation and Learning (E&L) activity with financial support from Climate Investment Funds (CIF) for the project ‘Evaluation of Sustainable Land Management (SLM) and innovative financing to enhance climate resilience and food security in Bhutan’.