News on Land

The Namibian Government has put in motion plans to change the Local Authorities Act and to ban town councils from selling land through auctions or tender processes that prevent many low-income earners from owning properties due to inflated prices. The proposal is to change the sections of the Act which gives town councils the power to sell and lease urban land without consulting the line ministry. Read more. http://allafrica.com/stories/201209070989.html

Date: March 3rd 2016

Source: TeleSUR

Several unknown assailants broke into Caceres' home early Thursday and killed her. She was a prominent Indigenous and social movement leader.

Berta Caceres, the coordinator and co-founder of the Council of Indigenous Peoples of Honduras or COPIHN, was killed by unknown assailants early Thursday morning.

Sharing knowledge and increasing accessibility to land-related information and data is critical to increase transparency. Information on land governance disaggregated by gender is crucial for enabling developing and emerging economies to ensure a more equitable access to and control over land to women and men.

Publicado a 09/02/2016 às 16:45 por Ana Teresa Vaz

Este conjunto de seminários tem como objectivo apresentar as recentes reconfigurações da divisão internacional da produção alimentar e de comodities, as formas de penetração do capital nos países em desenvolvimento e os processos de resistência/integração dos sistemas de produção locais, em particular dos camponeses, bem como os conflitos políticos e sociais associados.

By: Nita Bhalla

Date: March 18th 2016

Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation

NEW DELHI, March 18 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - For as long as she can remember, Panchi Sahariya and those in her tribal community in central India have been threatened, harassed, beaten and even arrested for living on land which does not legally belong to them.

Two-thirds of South Africa's population now lives in urban areas, according to the most recent survey of the country released by the South African Institute of Race Relations in Johannesburg on Tuesday 22 January. The data in the survey comes from the World Bank.
Read more: http://www.southafrica.info/news/urbanisation-240113.htm#ixzz2Iy018kk3

By: Sophie Mbugua

Source: BRACED

SESIMWANI, Kenya – Birds sing, feet shuffle, as women and men of all ages emerge from spreading canopies of green.

Dressed in gumboots and carrying umbrellas, they hurry towards the Olodomut Nursery School in Sesimwani village, in Kenya’s Mau Forest. The community land mobiliser has called a meeting for the entire Ogiek community to discuss its by-laws.  

By: WIC
Date: March 22nd 2016
Source: Walta Info

Addis Ababa, March 22, 2016 (WIC) – The Ethiopian Agriculture Investment and Land Administration Agency (EAILAA) has given up offering land for large scale agricultural investments for an unspecified time.

FAO and the international Slow Food organization agreed today to develop joint actions to improve the livelihoods of smallholders and others working in rural areas. 

Under a three-year Memorandum of Agreement signed here the two organizations will  join forces  to promote more inclusive food and agriculture systems at local, national and international levels. 

Actions will focus mainly on joint advocacy campaigns, strengthening local, regional and  global networks and raising awareness of global initiatives such as the International Year Family Farming in 2014.

Source: Global Research

Over the past few days, Feronia Inc., a Canadian-based company majority-owned by European and US development banks, has been pressuring local communities to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that would endorse the company’s continued operation and expansion of oil palm plantations within their territories.

By: Andrea Reyes Blanco and Tim Shenk 

Date: April 5th 2016

Source: TeleSUR

OPINION & ANALYSIS

Berta Caceres' killing was a symptom, not an isolated incident.