In a rapidly urbanizing Arab region facing pressing challenges such as climate change, land scarcity, forced displacement, and governance gaps, the Third Arab Land Conference convened in Morocco to chart a path forward. Ministers, international experts, and key stakeholders gathered to discuss sustainable land governance, investment-driven solutions, and inclusive policies to foster stability, economic growth, and social equity.

Has land formalization - as a type of land reform - delivered on the promises of improving tenure security, agricultural productivity and women's land access? Learn more in this data story.

Rather than scaling up, I think we should be talking about scaling out and scaling over time when it comes to inclusive, community-led land governance. I tried these ideas out with some success two weeks ago at the annual LANDac Conference in the Netherlands, specifically during a Round Table which asked “(how) can we scale bottom-up or community-based initiatives towards fair and inclusive land governance”?

Ido Lekota is a former Sowetan political editor. 

Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Minister Thoko Didiza tabled a R17, 3 billion budget in the past week to help support food security in the country.

Didiza said the money will be distributed through a range of programmes, including the commercialisation of black farmers through land development support.

"If you look at the R17.3bn of our budget, the majority of that is transferred to provinces dealing with food security," she said.

Nick Vink and Johann Kirsten

Most countries in both the rich and the developing world have some sort of programme to help early career farmers (mostly, but not exclusively young people) to get established in a farming or agribusiness enterprise. South Africa sticks out like a sore thumb, even against many African countries, in not having such a programme.

In our view, subsidies for black farmers in South Africa are justified. This is because they would help deliver a more inclusive agricultural sector and correct past racial biases.

Submission Deadline: All manuscripts should be submitted for consideration by December 31, 2021.

The global environmental crisis is intertwined with the crisis of social and economic inequality. From coal plants to palm oil plantations, economic activities that threaten the planet are concentrated in communities with less power and wealth. “You can’t have climate change without sacrifice zones,” writes Hop Hopkins, “and you can’t have sacrifice zones without disposable people.”1

By Allan Cain, Development Workshop Angola

* This article was originally published as part of the online discussion on customary law in Southern Africa

By Phillan Zamchiya, Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS)

* This article was originally published as part of the online discussion on customary law in Southern Africa

Although land reform has been a priority area of the government, land use planning has always remained under the shadow of revenue collection and land distribution.

By Ben Cousins, Emeritus Professor, Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS), University of the Western Cape

* This article originally appeared in the The Conversation on 22 June 2021