Promoting Inclusive Land Governance Through Multi-Stakeholder Platforms For Successful Land Policy Reforms In Africa

Context and background:
Multi-stakeholder platforms (MSP) for inclusive people-centred land governance are increasingly recognized as central mechanisms for countries to find sustainable solutions to complex land tenure issues. MSPs create an inclusive forum where actors can discuss problems and propose solutions to improve governance of tenure and provide better access to natural resources. The establishment of MSPs to address land tenure issues are also key recommendations expressed in normative frameworks on land tenure at regional, continental or international levels. These include the Framework and Guidelines on Land Policy in Africa (F&G) adopted in 2009, and the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (VGGT) adopted in 2012. Over the past decade, several countries in the continent have successfully adopted new land legislation.
Goal and Objectives:
The goal of this paper is to demonstrate how MSPs can contribute to inclusive and participatory land reforms processes in view of securing tenure rights especially for the most vulnerable. It also contributes to address the challenges faced by these platforms in engaging key actors including the government, private sector and the most vulnerable constituencies at community level, towards addressing land issues systemically and achieve transformative change.
Methodology:
This paper is the result of a light qualitative ex-post evaluation of the approaches developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Land Coalition (ILC) and other partners in the field of land governance over the last 15 years.  The paper also builds on desk/literature review that helped gathering needed information on land policy issues and processes.
Results:
MSPs have contributed to the adoption and implementation of ground-breaking policies and laws, including the National Land Policy of DRC (2021), the Community Land Rights Act (2022) and the National Land Commission Act (2022) in Sierra Leone; the Land Code (2018) in Togo, the Land Rights Act in Liberia (2018). MSPs provide a constructive space for dialogue, coordination, capacity building and collective action to link up efforts from grassroots to national level. They also contribute to addressing power imbalances and strengthening capacities and accountability of government and private actors.