By Giulia Barbanente and Harold Liversage
Between 24 and 29 November 2019, IFAD attended the third edition of the Conference on Land Policy in Africa in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire. The event was organised by the African Land Policy Centre (ALPC), a joint initiative of the African Union Commission, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, and the African Development Bank (AfDB). The conference gathered representatives from the continent’s traditional leaders, as well as representatives from academia, civil society organizations, intergovernmental agencies and governments. The theme was “Winning the fight against Corruption in the Land Sector: Sustainable Pathway for Africa’s Transformation”, which was discussed throughout the many conference sessions and was finally condensed in a call for actions to help root corruption out of the land sector.
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Photo credit: UNECA 2019
During the conference, IFAD was invited to contribute to a session on ‘harnessing opportunities for operationalising land governance priority issues in the National Agriculture Investment Plans (NAIP)’. The session’s objective was to discuss the current status and way forward for the initiative, promoted by the Land Policy Initiative (LPI), to support governments in integrating and mainstreaming land governance issues in the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) and in the NAIPs. This initiative started due to the realisation that most of the initial NAIPs did not adequately reflect the need to address land tenure and governance challenges as a key element in order to achieve sustainable agricultural transformation. So far, the mainstreaming approach has been piloted in six countries: Cote d’Ivoire, DRC, Madagascar, Malawi, Rwanda and Tanzania. During the session, moderated by Joan Kagwanja (ALPC), representatives from Cote d’Ivoire (Nanakan Quattara), DRC (Floribert Nyamwoga), Malawi (Paul Jere), Rwanda (Serge Rwamasirabo) and Tanzania (Maria Marealle, AfDB, Tanzania) shared their observations on the results of the piloting program. The panel speakers focused on both the progress made and the challenges that still limit the mainstreaming of land tenure and governance in the NAIPs. In particular, they raised the importance of promoting investment in land tenure, integrating land tenure reforms in agricultural development programmes and avoiding fragmentation in programmatic objectives.
IFAD has been a key partner of the LPI from the outset, valuing the contribution that LPI has provided, over the past 10 years, to the growing recognition of the importance of good land governance for development at a global scale. In particular, IFAD has supported the work being done in mainstreaming of land governance in the NAIPs of the six pilot countries, through a successful grant which closed in 2018. The grant resulted in tremendous progress in the mainstreaming of land policy and governance issues in the agricultural strategies and investment plans of the six pilot countries. IFAD recognises that equitable access to land and secure land and natural resource rights are essential for rural poverty reduction, agricultural development and economic growth more generally. Over the past five years, it is estimated that IFAD and its partners have invested about USD 150 million on tenure security measures, half of which in Africa. Typically, IFAD support for tenure security measures is integrated into broader agriculture and rural development projects and programmes, which benefit from supportive policy frameworks. For this reason, the work being done by the ALPC in mainstreaming land governance into National Agricultural Investment Plans at country level is particularly relevant for IFAD investments, as it provides a high-level framework supporting programme implementation on the ground.
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@UNECA 2019
Building on the experience and the encouraging results of the piloting phase, IFAD looks forward to supporting the next steps of the initiative, replicating the approach of mainstreaming land governance in the agricultural investments plans and expand it to other countries in Africa. The experience obtained in the six pilot countries can help shape future country-level engagement and contribute to the documenting and sharing of promising practices and innovative approaches that address Africa-wide land governance challenges. IFAD’s support also presents opportunities for strengthening the engagement in land policy processes of government ministries and agencies that may have a substantial interest in good land and natural resource governance, in particular ministries dealing with agriculture, natural resource management and environment, finance and local government. Further, IFAD plays a key role in creating space for CSO engagement in land and natural resource governance through its involvement as one of the more active intergovernmental organizations in the ILC, as well as through the financial and technical support it provides to CSOs, including in particular farmer organizations.
Between 24 and 29 November 2019, IFAD attended the third edition of the Conference on Land Policy in Africa in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire. The event was organised by the African Land Policy Centre (ALPC), a joint initiative of the African Union Commission, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, and the African Development Bank (AfDB). The conference gathered representatives from the continent’s traditional leaders, as well as representatives from academia, civil society organizations, intergovernmental agencies and governments. The theme was “Winning the fight against Corruption in the Land Sector: Sustainable Pathway for Africa’s Transformation”, which was discussed throughout the many conference sessions and was finally condensed in a call for actions to help root corruption out of the land sector.
During the conference, IFAD was invited to contribute to a session on ‘harnessing opportunities for operationalising land governance priority issues in the National Agriculture Investment Plans (NAIP)’. The session’s objective was to discuss the current status and way forward for the initiative, promoted by the Land Policy Initiative (LPI), to support governments in integrating and mainstreaming land governance issues in the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) and in the NAIPs. This initiative started due to the realisation that most of the initial NAIPs did not adequately reflect the need to address land tenure and governance challenges as a key element in order to achieve sustainable agricultural transformation. So far, the mainstreaming approach has been piloted in six countries: Cote d’Ivoire, DRC, Madagascar, Malawi, Rwanda and Tanzania. During the session, moderated by Joan Kagwanja (ALPC), representatives from Cote d’Ivoire (Nanakan Quattara), DRC (Floribert Nyamwoga), Malawi (Paul Jere), Rwanda (Serge Rwamasirabo) and Tanzania (Maria Marealle, AfDB, Tanzania) shared their observations on the results of the piloting program. The panel speakers focused on both the progress made and the challenges that still limit the mainstreaming of land tenure and governance in the NAIPs. In particular, they raised the importance of promoting investment in land tenure, integrating land tenure reforms in agricultural development programmes and avoiding fragmentation in programmatic objectives.
IFAD has been a key partner of the LPI from the outset, valuing the contribution that LPI has provided, over the past 10 years, to the growing recognition of the importance of good land governance for development at a global scale. In particular, IFAD has supported the work being done in mainstreaming of land governance in the NAIPs of the six pilot countries, through a successful grant which closed in 2018. The grant resulted in tremendous progress in the mainstreaming of land policy and governance issues in the agricultural strategies and investment plans of the six pilot countries. IFAD recognises that equitable access to land and secure land and natural resource rights are essential for rural poverty reduction, agricultural development and economic growth more generally. Over the past five years, it is estimated that IFAD and its partners have invested about USD 150 million on tenure security measures, half of which in Africa. Typically, IFAD support for tenure security measures is integrated into broader agriculture and rural development projects and programmes, which benefit from supportive policy frameworks. For this reason, the work being done by the ALPC in mainstreaming land governance into National Agricultural Investment Plans at country level is particularly relevant for IFAD investments, as it provides a high-level framework supporting programme implementation on the ground.
@UNECA 2019
Building on the experience and the encouraging results of the piloting phase, IFAD looks forward to supporting the next steps of the initiative, replicating the approach of mainstreaming land governance in the agricultural investments plans and expand it to other countries in Africa. The experience obtained in the six pilot countries can help shape future country-level engagement and contribute to the documenting and sharing of promising practices and innovative approaches that address Africa-wide land governance challenges. IFAD’s support also presents opportunities for strengthening the engagement in land policy processes of government ministries and agencies that may have a substantial interest in good land and natural resource governance, in particular ministries dealing with agriculture, natural resource management and environment, finance and local government. Further, IFAD plays a key role in creating space for CSO engagement in land and natural resource governance through its involvement as one of the more active intergovernmental organizations in the ILC, as well as through the financial and technical support it provides to CSOs, including in particular farmer organizations.