The Earth is in a state of emergency. The past three years have seen the ever-worsening climate crisis, environmental destruction, competition for resources, conflict, social unrest — and now a global pandemic.

With all of these issues clamouring for immediate attention, it is easy to miss the common theme: LAND.

Many of the solutions to the world’s problems lie right before us, in how land is governed and managed. Sustainable and equitable land use elevates ecosystems and communities. It builds democracy, justice, sustainability and resilience.

HOME ON THE RANGELANDS SECURING LAND RIGHTS FOR THE PROTECTORS OF ONE OF EARTH’S MOST PRECIOUS ECOSYSTEMS

For centuries they have been the custodians of this land, but increasingly, pastoral communities are under pressure from climate change, land grabbing and urban expansion. In East Africa, rangelands are where stock herders and small-scale farmers exist alongside wildlife, yet they are seldom involved in the decisions about how to protect and manage this land. In the last triennium, through the Participatory Rangelands Management Project (PRM), ILC has helped secure more than 246,773.4 hectares of rangelands in the region: 85,629 ha in Kenya and 161,144 ha in Tanzania.

Facts and figures

9 COUNTRIES HAVE CHANGED 16 POLICIES TO SECURE COMMUNITY LAND RIGHTS
AFRICA (10) Cameroon, Kenya, Tanzania, Liberia, South Africa
LAC (3) Argentina, Ecuador
EMENA (1) Moldova
ASIA (2) Nepal

16 COUNTRIES HAVE CHANGED 34 PRACTICES TO SECURE COMMUNITY LAND RIGHTS
AFRICA (17) South Africa, Cameroon, DRC, Kenya, Togo, Tanzania, Senegal
LAC (4) Venezuela, Argentina, Belize
EMENA (1) Moldova
ASIA (12) Afghanistan, India, Mongolia, Nepal

Revealing the shocking state of land inequality
Uneven Ground report, released in 2020, showed the scale of global inequality in land and grabbed media attention across the world. The study finds that land inequality directly threatens the livelihoods of an estimated 2.5 billion people involved in smallholder agriculture. The trends are only growing starker.

There is much work to do. New measurements show that the top 10 percent of the rural population captures 60 percent of agricultural land value, while the bottom 50 percent of the rural population controls just 3 percent of land value .

The study finds that land inequality directly threatens the livelihoods of an estimated 2.5 billion people involved in smallholder agriculture, as well the world’s poorest 1.4 billion people, most of whom depend largely on agriculture for their livelihoods. And the trend is upward.

Global inequality experts blame the upward trend of land inequality partly on the increased interest from corporate and financial actors, such as investment funds, in agricultural land investments. As corporate and financial investments grow, ownership and control of land becomes more concentrated and increasingly opaque.

Today, the largest 1 percent of farms operate more than 70 percent of the world’s farmland and are integrated into the corporate food system, while over 80 percent are smallholdings of less than two hectares that are generally excluded from global food chains. This phenomenon has even reached European shores with less than 3 percent of farms now accounting for more than half of the farmed land in the EU
Secure land rights for women and girls is linked to increased women’s leadership and autonomy, enhanced economic opportunities, better security, safety, and standing in society.

This helps build thriving and resilient households and communities with improved incomes, better child nutrition, greater educational attainment for girls and more sustainable use of natural resources. Women‑led organisations in ILC have been actively engaged in leadership training and mentoring, cross-regional exchanges, and have made their voices heard on a regional and global level. Notable successes include drives to recognise wives alongside their husbands on land registrations, increased awareness of women’s land rights and new reporting methodologies to measure progress in women’s rights.

Fcats and figures
3 COUNTRIES HAVE CHANGED 6 POLICIES TO SECURE WOMEN’S LAND RIGHTS
AFRICA (3) Ghana, Zambia
LAC (3) Peru
5 COUNTRIES HAVE CHANGED 12 PRACTICES TO SECURE WOMEN’S LAND RIGHTS
LAC (10) Guatemala, Brazil, Argentina
ASIA (2) Afghanistan, Mongolia