Land rights defenders from 29 countries call for greater vigilance in ensuring governments comply with laws

MUMBAI, Sept 22 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Dozens of land rights defenders from 29 countries have written to the United Nations to draw attention to the increasing violence they face from states and corporations, and calling for greater vigilance in ensuring governments comply with laws.

Monrovia – The Civil Society Organization (CSO) working group on Land Rights in Liberia, in collaboration with the National Civil Society Council of Liberia has alarmed that the current Land Rights Act passed by the House of Representatives and currently before the Senate is not in the interest of ordinary Liberians.

YAOUNDE — 

Leaders of Cameroon's indigenous forest peoples say their survival is at risk if they are further deprived of access to the lands that are the source of their livelihoods.

Speaking in Cameroon's capital, Yaoundé, indigenous representatives said they had experienced increasingly serious violations of their land rights by palm oil and other agro-industries, mining firms and timber concessions, as well as the process of creating protected areas on their ancestral lands.

As land becomes less productive and people are forced to migrate to cities or abroad, there is greater likelihood of conflict over dwindling resources

ROME, Sept 12 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - More than 1.3 billion people live on agricultural land that is deteriorating, putting them at risk of worsening hunger, water shortages and poverty, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) said on Tuesday.

Barbudans will get the opportunity to own the lands they previously occupied as the island seeks to rebuild following the devastation caused by the passage of Hurricane Irma last week.

Prime Minister Gaston Browne made the disclosure yesterday during a special sitting of Parliament.

He said Barbudans would be given a crown grant of one dollar to obtain legal ownership of the lands on the 62-square mile island.

Currently, land ownership is prohibited on the island of Barbuda; all lands in Barbuda are vested in the crown on behalf of the people on the sister island.

The project is part of a cross country pilot being implemented by the LPI with support from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the European Union (EU)

The current scenario of global land scarcity is only expected to become bleaker given the increase of urbanization rates across the world accompanied by an increase in the demand for agricultural produce. This is expected to cause a multiplicative increase in the complexities associated with land use patterns. Gender aspects concerning equitable land access also become important from a poverty reduction standpoint.

Mr Aliyu Bananda, Director, Drought and Desertification Amelioration Department, Federal Ministry of Environment says the Federal Government is committed to achieving land degradation neutrality by 2030.

Bananda said this at a workshop on Endorsement of Nigeria Voluntary Target to Achieve Land Degradation Neutrality, (LDN) organised by the ministry in Abuja on Thursday.

He said that government set up some working committee on March 9, 2017 to work out a report aimed at achieving land degradation neutrality in the country by 2030.

Post-colonial land reforms in Uganda leave many issues unresolved, while evictions, land conflicts and dispossession remain common 

Land is an essential asset to the people of Uganda. With a rural population constituting over 83% of the total population and an economy dominated by smallholder farming, Uganda must prioritize responsible land governance to achieve sustainable development.

Whilst rural areas are dynamic and vibrant communities, they are chronically under-invested in. Poverty rates tend to be at least double than that of urban centres. Subsistence farming and small-scale farming is key to achieving sustainable development and a key source of livelihood for most of rural communities in South Africa. By MTHANDAZO NDLOVU

Pressure to sell their homes to the government has divided families, friends and neighbors, fueling distrust and the stigmatization of those who do sell

TEMACAPULÍN, Mexico, Aug 22 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Abigail Agredano fears her 96-year-old mother would not survive being uprooted from their hometown in the highlands of western Mexico, where its 400 mostly elderly residents are battling a  government plan to dam the nearby Río Verde.