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Issues VGGT Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure (VGGT)
Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure (VGGT)
Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure (VGGT)

 

The VGGT are the internationally negotiated framework to improve land governance. Drafted by over 1000 stakeholders with different cultural backgrounds from all regions of the world, the VGGT were negotiated by Member States of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) and endorsed on 11 May 2012.   

Putting the VGGT into practice
Putting the VGGT into practice
What does implementation mean? Who can Implement? How is implementation monitored?
Understanding the VGGT
Understanding the VGGT

Purpose, stakeholders, content
and history of VGGT

Key resources

Putting the Voluntary Guidelines on Tenure and the Voluntary Guidelines on Small-Scale Fisheries into practice

Manuals & Guidelines
April, 2022
Global

This learning guide provides civil society organizations (CSOs) with a methodology and a set of materials to undertake training on the VGGT and SSF Guidelines with civil society actors from the grassroots to the national level. Trainees will learn how to apply the VGGT to actual tenure governance challenges. They will also learn to use the SSF Guidelines, which reinforce the principles of the VGGT specifically in the context of small-scale fisheries.

FAO - Land and Gender
FAO - Land and Gender

The Global Agenda for Sustainable Development spotlights land as a critical driver, and regional efforts reflect growing political support for women’s land rights. Indicators contained within the FAO Gender and Land Rights Database inform about the number and gender of agricultural land holders and owners, its value and area in female hands.

Multimedia

Organisations

Solutions for Open Land Administration

Solutions for Open Land Administration
SOLA

Solutions for Open Land Administration (SOLA)

In December 2012, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) successfully concluded the Solutions for Open Land Administration (SOLA) project. The 2.5 year project was funded by the Government of Finland and dedicated to implementing an open source computerised cadastre and registration system that is both affordable and sustainable in the context of developing countries.

Zambia Land Alliance

Zambia Land Alliance
Established in 1997, Zambia Land Alliance (ZLA) is a network of Non-Governmental Organizations promoting fair land policies, laws and land administration which takes into account the needs of the poor.

Library

Putting the Voluntary Guidelines on Tenure and the Voluntary Guidelines on Small-Scale Fisheries into practice

Manuals & Guidelines
April, 2022
Global

This learning guide provides civil society organizations (CSOs) with a methodology and a set of materials to undertake training on the VGGT and SSF Guidelines with civil society actors from the grassroots to the national level. Trainees will learn how to apply the VGGT to actual tenure governance challenges. They will also learn to use the SSF Guidelines, which reinforce the principles of the VGGT specifically in the context of small-scale fisheries.

A Toolkit for Participatory Action Research

Policy Papers & Briefs
September, 2017
Africa

This Guide is drawn from experience in the action research project “Bottom-up accountability initiatives and large-scale land acquisitions in Africa”. The project aimed to bring the international soft law instrument, the Voluntary Guidelines on Responsible Governance of the Tenure of Land, Fisheries, and Forests (the Tenure Guidelines or TGs), to rural communities and, together with them, to use the Guidelines to strengthen their tenure of land, fisheries and forests.

REDD+ Conflict: Understanding the Pathways between Forest Projects and Social Conflict

Journal Articles & Books
May, 2021
Global

: A growing body of literature analyses the conflict implications of REDD+ (Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries). However, the way these conflicts unfold is little understood. We address this research gap through the following question: What are the pathways that connect REDD+ projects and conflicts between local communities and other actors? We review 242 scientific articles, selecting eight that allow us to trace how the conflict pathways unfolded.

Tenure reform for better forestry: An unfinished policy agenda

Journal Articles & Books
January, 2021
Uganda

The global community is currently grappling with multiple and overlapping social and environmental threats. These include the climate emergency, COVID-19 and the threat of widespread hunger, and the accelerating loss of biodiversity. All of these threats point to an urgent need to restore and sustainably manage land and forests.

Fair compensation in large-scale land acquisitions: Fair or fail?

Journal Articles & Books
May, 2023
Global

Despite the existence of a legal framework defining the right to fair compensation, and notwithstanding the vast literature on transnational and domestic land deals, no theory has been developed so far to allow for a specific analysis of the economics of fair compensation in large-scale land acquisitions (LSLAs), limiting our understanding of the underlying reasons of success or failure of this important legal protection mechanism.

Data

FAO - Land and Gender
FAO - Land and Gender

The Global Agenda for Sustainable Development spotlights land as a critical driver, and regional efforts reflect growing political support for women’s land rights. Indicators contained within the FAO Gender and Land Rights Database inform about the number and gender of agricultural land holders and owners, its value and area in female hands.

Land governance Programme Map

The original dataset - Land governance Programme Map & Database by Global Donor Platform For Rural Development - retains more than 800 projects which are being implemented in 140+ countries. The Map & Database contains information about the location, duration, funding and scope of each programme, as well as on the specific aspects of the Voluntary Guidelines it supports.

RRI - Forest Tenure Data
RRI - Forest Tenure Data

The quantitative dataset on forest tenure data by RRI currently covers 58 countries. The data covers the period 2002-2017. RRI monitors spatial forest tenure data - that is, who owns how many hectares of a given forest - and recognizes four categories of land ownership:

I) Forestland Owned by Indigenous Peoples and local communities
II) Forestland Designated for Indigenous Peoples and local communities
III) Forestland Administered by governments
IV) Forestland by individuals and private firms

Voluntary Guidelines - Section
VGGT Expropriation, Compensation, Resettlement

This qualitative dataset shows how national laws measure up against the international standards on expropriation, compensation, and resettlement as established in Section 16 of the UN Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (VGGTs).

Events

Tenure security for all: the case for local and global action to advance implementation of the VGGT

Tenure security for all: the case for local and global action to advance implementation of the VGGT
26 October 2023
FAO Headquarters
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla
Rome
Italy

This event will bring together a wide range of CFS actors to present the case for more coordinated global action to advance tenure security. It will present proposals for a multistakeholder global campaign and draft Framework for Action. It will show how a focus on human rights compliance in land governance through systematic monitoring and policy dialogue can promote VGGT implementation and increase accountability.

Danish Institute for Human Rights
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
International Land Coalition
Land Portal Foundation
Netherlands Enterprise & Development Agency
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
TMG-ThinkTank for Sustainability
Forum of Struggles for Land and Natural Resources

Commemorating the 10th Anniversary of the CFS VGGT- Reflection on 10 years of VGGT Application

Commemorating the 10th Anniversary of the CFS VGGT- Reflection on 10 years of VGGT Application
06 October 2022 - 07 October 2022
Rome, online
Italy

Open discussion between partners and the audience  on the impact of the VGGT 10 years later: what have we learned, what can we  do better, where are the evident needs, gaps, and unmet expectations.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Land Portal Foundation

Unlocking the potential of the VGGT through Land Degradation Neutrality

Unlocking the potential of the VGGT through Land Degradation Neutrality
13 October 2022
Virtual
Italy

This event will launch the technical guide on integrating the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forest in the context of National Food Security (VGGT) into land degradation neutrality (LDN) in all 6 UN languages, produced jointly by UNCCD and FAO.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Land Portal Foundation
United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
TMG-ThinkTank for Sustainability

Latest news

Guidance for Agricultural Investments towards enhanced responsibility

Guidance for Agricultural Investments towards enhanced responsibility
18 December 2023
A project of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, co-funded by the EU and implemented through the Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH has been striving to ensure that investments in land are productive, contribute to sustainable land management, and respect the land access rights and needs of the local population, vulnerable groups and women. After continuous engagement in respective activities, the Responsible Governance of Investments in Land (RGIL) project will phase out by the end of 2023 and is handed over to the government of Ethiopia.

Public Debate on the Implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests (TGs[1]) in Europe and Central Asia

Public Debate on the Implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests (TGs[1]) in Europe and Central Asia

 

Today, different farmers’ organizations of the European Coordination of La Via Campesina (ECVC) from the EU and Central Asia[2] took part in a public debate on access to land at the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) in Brussels[3].

Blogs

10th anniversary of the CFS VGGT

10th anniversary of the CFS VGGT
12 October 2022
Dr. Paolo Groppo

Once again International Development organizations (World Bank, IFAD, FAO, USAID, GIZ and others) came together to discuss the Voluntary Guidelines, which were approved in May2012. An indisputable success of this was to have also associated the largest peasant movement, La Via Campesina, which from the day of approval enthusiastically applauded this process.

Data Compatibility in Linking Land Degradation and Tenure Security

Data Compatibility in Linking Land Degradation and Tenure Security
11 October 2022
Daniel Hayward

In the Three Rivers gazetted forest of northern Benin, the start of the agricultural season is a frequent hotspot of conflict between local communities and forest officials. 

It is at this moment when demands are made for forest fees giving permission for residents to cultivate fields or graze their livestock. Yet this is exactly when farmers experience a financial squeeze in preparing their land and obtaining inputs to start the new season.