News on Land
Get the latest news on land and property rights, brought to you by trusted sources from across the globe.
Global agribusiness continues to displace rural communities
Land grabs facilitated by multinational corporations, foreign investors and local governments in a pursuit for agribusiness have been escalating during the last decade. Huge acquisitions of farmland have led to violent displacements of rural populations. Although reports of the practice are not as recurrent in the media, the problem is far from over.
Herders want State House meeting over land conflicts
AS President Samia Suluhu Hassan meets representative of various groups of Tanzanian society, herders have come out with a call that they should not be forgotten because they have longstanding pressing issues worthy of a presidential audience.
He said such a meeting will enable the president to recognize their plight including in being disregarded by political leaders who hand out wrong instructions to them as if livestock keeping activities have no contribution to the national economy.
Land Portal User Survey 2021: Key results, Trends, and Areas for Improvement
Introduction
In May 2021 the Land Portal conducted its fourth Annual Visitor Survey (AVS). The AVS is an important tool to assess impact, track progress and engage with the community, measuring the level of trust across visitors and partners, assessing the alignment with the current strategy, and identifying areas of improvement. With over 380 respondents from 80 different countries, this round of the Annual Survey provided plenty of results, insights, and ideas. The main points are summarised below.
Key Results
More than 100.000 households with secured land rights!
In May 2021, the numbers of households whose land rights have been secured with the support by the Global Programme Responsible Land Policy have reached a peak: Thanks to the hard work of our partners and project teams, 110.163 households had their land legally documented by then, corresponding to about 550.000 people directly benefitting.
Reality of land leases
Whenever the word ‘lease’ is mentioned, three things must come to mind; periodic holding, terms and conditions, and reversionary interests. These features are indispensable to this tenure system because by definition, it is the form of land holding that affords exclusive ownership to be granted by an owner of land, whom we call “the lessor” or “landlord” to another person, called “the lessee” or “tenant” for a period of time, after which such land “reverts” to the lessor. Leases accommodate no perpetuity, however long the period in the lease may be.
Behind land disputes in Tanzania
Dar es Salaam. Land acquisition by investors is said to be one of the major causes of land disputes in Tanzania - especially when locals are not involved in the processes.
Some leaders at the village level offer lands to prospective investors without getting approval from village authorities in accordance with the Village Land Act of 1999.
This, to a large extent, has been sparking land disputes, which normally result in stagnation of investment in the area and at times leading to violation of human rights.
Ex-Kiambu governor William Kabogo entangled in Sh4.5bn Tatu City land bribe row
Former Kiambu Governor William Kabogo is entangled in a Sh4.5 billion bribery court row with investors behind the Tatu City real estate project.
The investors have accused Mr Kabogo of illegally holding onto five title deeds as part of a ploy to blackmail them into ceding a five percent stake in a section of the multibillion-shilling project.
LOCKDOWN VIOLENCE ALERT: As lockdown bites, multinationals resort to the use of herds hired from pastoralists to evict locals off their land
Kiryandongo – Uganda – As natives continue to resist illegal evictions, multinational companies opt to hire livestock as a new tactic to forcefully evict smallholder farmers from their land.
EU Energy Project in Nepal Sets Landmark Precedent on Indigenous Consent
The European Investment Bank has large investments in Nepal, with four projects in its energy sector, but has done little to stop rights violations.
Batwa community included in global environment study
Kampala, Uganda | RONALD MUSOKE | The Batwa, a small indigenous forest-dwelling community found in Southwestern Uganda, are set to benefit from a new research project that seeks to understand the emotional effects of environmental change experienced by the world’s indigenous groups.
Njuki Calls For Speedy Issuance Of Title Deeds
Tharaka Nithi Governor Muthomi Njuki has called on the national government to complete the land adjudication process and issue title deeds before initiating the process of replacing the late chief of Kamaindi Location who was killed way back in 2019 over land related issues.
2,468 acres of forest land recovered in past 8 months: Bangladesh Forest Department
The Bangladesh Forest Department has recovered 2,468 acres of forest land from grabbers in the last eight months.
Officials of the forest department shared this information at a meeting of the parliamentary standing committee on environment, forest and climate change affairs ministry at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban.
Ruling Awami League MP and chief of the parliamentary watchdog Saber Hossain Chowdhury presided over the meeting at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban.