During Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, Marie lost her husband. But thanks to Landesa’s work in Rwanda, she didn’t lose her landRead Article
Landesa targets one of the root causes of poverty and insecurity in sub-Saharan Africa: insecure and inequitable land tenure. We partner with African governments and civil society organizations, as well as regional organizations, to address insufficient recognition and protection of rural peoples’ land rights, women’s lack of control over assets, weak land management and conflict resolution institutions, and gaps and contradictions between customary and formal law.
Land is the single most important asset in most of rural Africa. Yet, 90 percent of the land in rural Africa is undocumented. Insecure land rights leave many African communities and households vulnerable to exploitation and displacement, particularly women who are least likely to have formally documented or recognized rights to the land they rely on. Insecurity of land rights for women, men, and communities in sub-Saharan African countries creates conflict, undermines conservation efforts, and reduces food security. As demand for land rises across the continent, land tenure security becomes a more pressing challenge.
Recognizing the fundamental importance of secure land rights to stability, poverty alleviation efforts, food security, and broad-based economic growth, a growing number of countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have launched ambitious initiatives to strengthen their land laws and policies to ensure land rights for women, men, and communities.
We work with partners across the continent to enhance food security and facilitate broad-based social and economic development through:
Landesa worked with World Resources Institute (WRI), with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to develop a web-based education tool FOLA (www.focusonland.com) to improve development practitioners’ understanding of land tenure in Africa and how it can affect the success of their projects. The site houses a mass of policy-oriented information on land in Africa, from a variety of perspectives, and has been utilized by policy-makers, academics, development practitioners and others.