When finalizing the New Urban Agenda, United Nations Member States should address land as a key focus area and give attention to all types of human settlements: urban, peri-urban and rural, rich and poor. Members States should confirm and build on existing international instruments that promote the following: secure tenure for all, the public control of land use, the generation of land-based revenue to benefit everyone, and responsible land governance.

In 2014-2015, the Asian Farmers Association for Sustainable Rural Development (AFA) implemented a project entitled “Popularizing the VGGT Among Small Scale Farmers Organizations, Relevant National Government and Inter-governmental Organizations” with the support of the International Land Coalition (ILC).

The Voluntary Guidelines for the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (or VGGT) is the first global document that addresses policy, legal and organizational frameworks that regulate tenure rights. Adopted by the Committee on World Food Security1 (CFS) last May 2012, the VGGT provide guidance on responsible governance of tenure on land, fisheries and forests as a means to alleviate hunger and poverty, enhance the environment, support national and local development and reform public administration.

INTRODUCTION: Large-scale land acquisitions are a reality in most regions worldwide. Vast areas of land are leased to foreign as well as national investors on a long term basis of 30-99 years. A growing number of reports, referring to this practice as ‘land grabbing’, show that these mostly very intransparent deals tend to go along with corruption, forced evictions and other human rights violations as well as enhanced competition over water.

With a view to operationalizing the recently adopted Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Forests and Fisheries, this paper identifies gaps in existing World Bank safeguard policies with respect to tenure.

Following the financial and food crisis in 2008 the phenomenon of land grabbing through large-scale investments in land leading to forcible displacement of rural population, increasing their food insecurity and disregarding Human Rights became a hot topic on the global agenda. At the same time it became clear, that more investments were needed into the agricultural sector to increase food security and secure agricultural productivity.

“It is paradoxical but hardly surprising that the right to food has been endorsed more often and with greater unanimity and urgency than most other human rights, while at the same time being violated more comprehensively and systematically than probably any other.”

Richard Cohen, in Causes of Hunger, 1994

In setting out principles and internationally agreed standards, the “Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land and Other Natural Resources” intend to provide practical guidance to states, civil society and the private sector on responsible governance of tenure. The Voluntary Guidelines (VG) will constitute a framework for policies, legislation and programs, but will not establish legally binding obligations nor replace existing national or international laws, treaties or agreements (FAO 2009c).

This issue brief is an abridged version of the VGGT discussion paper, “The Voluntary Guidelines on the Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries, and Forests in the context of National Food Security (VGGT) and the Proposed National Land Use and Management Act (NLUA)” that analyzes to what extent the salient principles and recommendations of the VGGT are substantially reflected in the National Land Use Act/NLUA (House Bill 108). 

This paper examines Philippine policies on land and resource tenure as embodied in the 1987 Constitution and ten major laws on tenure, and then analyzes these policies in comparison to the Voluntary Guidelines, in order to identify areas of policy convergence, divergence and gaps. 

The voluntary guidelines do not create an absolute obligation. They are a basic tool that can be used to bring about changes in governance policies and practices associated with the tenure regimes applicable to land, fisheries and forests. The recommendations they contain are highly legitimate insofar as they were signed in late 2012 by the member states of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) following a drafting process that placed significant emphasis on the views of civil society around the world.

Sierra Leone is one of the least developed countries in the world and is still recovering from a civil war that ended in 2002. Increasingly, the Sierra Leonean government seeks to attract foreign investors through providing opportunities for large-scale land leases for the development of agribusiness. This has triggered a rapid transformation process that poses a considerable threat to food security and social stability. Despite being a pilot country for the implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure, there is no real change on the ground as yet.