Traditional authorities in Zambia complain that the government does not consult them when land is allocated for investment projects, while communities say chiefs are neglecting their interests. Jesinta Kunda of Zambia Land Alliance says more clarity is needed on the role of traditional authorities, in law and practice, to ensure large-scale investments in agriculture, mining and other sectors are governed better – particularly in light of the rising demand for critical minerals found in Zambia. She urges the government, traditional leaders and citizens to seize the opportunities presented by current legal reforms in Zambia to create change.

Aujourd'hui, je suis à bord du navire Arctic Sunrise de Greenpeace, alors que nous confrontons la compagnie de combustibles fossiles, Shell, pour son rôle dans la dévastation du climat dans le monde entier - tout en ne payant rien pour cette destruction. C'est maintenant une tendance presque partout dans le monde, le combustible fossile et l'extraction du pétrole deviennent la nouvelle tendance et un véritable trésor, pour quelques élus. Il est vrai que les gouvernements ont besoin d'argent, et il semble plus facile et plus rapide pour eux de l'avoir grâce à l'exploitation des combustibles fossiles.

L'industrie extractive ougandaise connaît une croissance exponentielle et attire les sociétés minières étrangères et nationales. Mais trop souvent, les communautés riches en minéraux n'en profitent pas. Ici, Kevin Bakulumpagi d'ANARDE, Ouganda, discute de la manière dont les accords de développement communautaire peuvent garantir que les communautés affectées bénéficient des opérations minières et qu'elles sont engagées de manière significative dans les accords réglementant les activités minières.

WHY REJECT CUSTOMARY LAND PRIVATISATION 

Most of the world’s land is still stewarded by communities under customary systems. Billions of people rely on communally managed farmland, pasture, forests and savannahs for their livelihoods. 

This collective management of resources is viewed in the colonial or capitalist economic model as an obstacle to individual wealth creation and private profit. 

There is an underlying tension in the land rights movement that is rarely addressed head on, which is the perception that securing women’s land rights threatens community land rights. Community land rights are typically held by indigenous people, small-scale and subsistence farmers, pastoralists, herders and many other groups who are directly dependent on land for their livelihoods but whose land tenure is often the most precarious.

This blog was written by Barbara Fraser and published by EarthBeat at: https://www.ncronline.org/earthbeat/politics/indigenous-peoples-lives-depend-their-lands-threats-are-growing-worldwide

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Oil companies are paying billions towards development in the Niger Delta, but it’s having little impact on the ground, say Tijah Bolton-Akpan and Miles Litvinoff.

By David Matsinhe for the Daily Maverick. 

Originally posted at: https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-04-25-recipe-for-conflict-n...

During the recent Conference on Land Policy in Africa, we had a chance to sit down and speak with Professor Howard Stein of the University of Michigan. Scroll below to read more.  

1) Can you tell us a little bit about your research, work and background? 

The failure to secure the property rights of rural communities shows a clear policy gap between citizens and rights to land as per the Constitution and the attitude and practices of the state, traditional leaders, white farmers and mining companies in relation to such rights. 

Absent from the discourse spurred by the motion passed in the National Assembly on 27 February is what could be achieved in the interim for land reform programme using existing legislation while the country awaits a verdict on the constitutional amendment to determine whether is possible to expropriate land w

Date: 9 avril 2018

Source: Farmlandgrab, Le Quotidien

Par: Fabien Grasser

La multinationale luxembourgeoise Socfin poursuit en justice de nombreux médias et ONG rendant compte des conflits l’opposant aux salariés et riverains de ses plantations en Afrique et en Asie. Face aux critiques, elle s’engage à mettre en œuvre une politique de «responsabilité sociale». Mais des doutes subsistent sur sa mise en application concrète.