Marc Wegerif, of the Human Economy Program within the Centre for the Advancement of Scholarship at University of Pretoria, was presenting at the 2019 Conference on Land Policy in Africa (CLPA) in Abidjan Cote d’Ivoire on 28th November 2019. The theme of the CLPA was “Winning the fight against Corruption in the Land Sector: Sustainable Pathway for Africa’s Transformation”.
It is my privilege to address you, on behalf of the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, Dr. Vera Songwe, and welcome you to the 3rd Conference on Land Policy in Africa.
I would like to extend our gratitude to the Republic of Cote D’Ivoire and the African Development Bank for hosting the third Conference on Land Policy in Africa. As the host institution of the second land conference, we recognize the tremendous effort that goes into hosting this conference.
I bring you warm greetings from H.E. Mousa Faki Mahamat, the Chairperson of African Union Commission. It is my honour and pleasure to deliver this statement at the opening of the Conference on Land Policy in Africa. I salute the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Government of Côte D’Ivoire and all partners for hosting and successfully organizing the 2019 Conference on Land Policy in Africa.
Africa is a rich continent. It has vast agricultural and land resources and thus the potential to feed all people living on the continent. We observe technological improvements in agriculture, as well as in geospatial sciences and other relevant land sectors. Thus, the tools are available to implement policies to ensure fair and sustainable land policy in every country. However, there is still a considerable gap in what is proven to work and what is implemented in many countries.
The Declaration on Land Issues and Challenges in Africa very wisely prioritised three key objectives:
As we gather here today, so much has been achieved over the past decade. And yet we know that a great deal of work still remains to be done.
“This plot is not for sale” are the six words you will find, marked on a lot of properties and plots of land in Uganda. The words are meant to ward off quack land or property brokers and conmen. Most of the cases handled in courts in Uganda, and Kampala in particular, are fraud-related cases (like selling land while the true owners are away using counterfeit titles) and land transaction fraud (when fake land titles are obtained and sadly some officers in the land registry are involved).
Our sugar is made from sugarcane. And sugarcane is not planted in trees or in the air, it’s planted in the ground, in the soil, on land. It’s the bedrock of our investment.
—Illovo Land Champion
There is no doubt that the Data Revolution is upon us. Geo-spatial monitoring, citizen-generated and crowd-sourced data, almost ethereal and intangible concepts just a few years ago, are beginning to make their way into everyday lexicon. More data are being produced today than ever before, from a wide array of sources. In the end, this new and emerging data can only be of value when it is used responsibly. Turning data into knowledge and knowledge into power is no easy feat. We have a collective responsibility to ensure the Data Revolution is inclusive and leveraged to effectuate real c
Welcome to 2019. In San Francisco, commuters shuttle to work in self-driving Ubers. In Rwanda, drones deliver blood to patients. In China, Xiaomi released a $500 phone that allows users to map the world with 30 centimeter accuracy.
And yet, a quarter of the world’s population lacks a fundamental human right: the right to property.
Networks provide an increasingly popular organizational structure for collective action on land rights in Africa and elsewhere around the world, but sustaining networks’ impact, engagement, and resourcing can be challenging.
There is no doubt that land use and reforms are at the heart of Kenya’s political and economic future stability. In Kenya in particular, land has a central position in Kenya’s social, economic and political history. An estimated 75% of the country’s population depends on land for their livelihoods, making the ownership, management and control of the resource of great importance. Land is an enabler to support manufacturing, access to affordable and decent housing, universal health care, food security and nutrition.