The LAND Project is a five year program supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Its primary goal is strengthening the resilience of Rwandan citizens, communities and institutions and their ability to adapt to land-related economic, environmental and social changes.
Resilience is defined as “the ability to withstand or recover from difficult conditions.” It also comprises the ability of human and ecological systems to recover from shocks or difficult changes, and to transform to a better condition by responding flexibly and creatively to stress factors. In Rwanda, land tends to be one of the primary assets citizens rely on to buffer against difficult conditions and rapid change.
The project’s central objectives are twofold:
1.Increased capacity of local Rwandan institutions to generate high quality, evidence-based research on land-related issues that can be used by the Government, civil society organizations, and Rwandan citizens.
2. Increased understanding of land laws, policies, regulations, and legal judgments on land-related issues by GOR officials, local civil society organizations, research institutes and citizens.
Key outcomes of the project include:
- Holding annual National Land Research Agenda workshops to establish the research priorities of land sector stakeholders that the LAND Project will support. These workshops bring together multiple stakeholders from government, civil society and the research community;
- Supporting research on land-related issues through competitive awards to Rwandan research institutions, universities, and civil society organizations, and providing tailored capacity building assistance to improve research and advocacy capabilities;
- Offering training and other support to legal assistance providers to enhance their capacity to support women and vulnerable populations in understanding and realizing their land rights;
- Training local land authorities on the implementation of the land law and regulations.
- Carrying out research on critical land issues, including gendered land rights in practice, community rights to resources in and around protected areas, and expropriation.
- Managing a land-focused website to improve research, communications, and policy advocacy efforts that are focused on land, and to act as a vehicle for enhancing collaboration between actors working in the land sector;
- Providing organizational development support to civil society organizations supporting women’s land rights.
- Supporting innovative and coordinated communications approaches by civil society and government that enhance the knowledge of Rwandan citizens about research findings and their land rights.
Because the LAND Project is a five year endeavor, we are seeking an institution that has the interest, capacity, skills and resources to eventually take over hosting and maintenance of the website, ensuring it stays up-to-date and relevant to the land sector stakeholder community. If your organization is potentially interested in assuming management of this site, please contact us and tell us why you believe your institution would be an ideal candidate.
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Resources
Displaying 111 - 115 of 149Land in Rwanda: Winnowing Out the Chaff
Faced with a serious land crisis, the Rwandan government adopted a new national land law and policy. These measures are part of a long historical process of expansion of state control over property, including land and cows. The Government cites security of tenure as the primary objective of the new policy and law. The rigor and speed of implementation of these measures will vary from one community to another. This paper argues that some feel threatened by the new law and will act as they find necessary to protect their interests.
Human Capital, Natural Resource Scarcity, and the Rwandan Genocide
Many authors contend that ethnic extremism coupled with political manipulation were the primary factors behind the Rwandan genocide. Yet, to oversimplify the cause of this tragedy makes one blind to the complicated nexus that generated the outcome. Even though this genocide was quick in its execution, the events that lead to this massacre took years to unfold. We argue that the evolution of human capital and the competition for scarce resources contributed to the genocide.
A Thousand Hills for 9 Million People: Land Reform in Rwanda: Restoration of Feudal Order or Genuine Transformation?
More than eleven years after the 1994 genocide, Rwanda might be an internally pacified, but by far not unified nation. There are different factors, which threaten the fragile social equilibrium. The issue of land is one of them. Land has long been a scarce and disputed resource in Rwanda. Ongoing shortages due to decreasing soil quality, growing population pressure and unequal distribution, as well as a lack of income generating alternatives beyond agriculture create an extremely precarious future to the national economy of the small, landlocked country.
A Case Study on Implications of the Ongoing Land Reform on Sustainable Rural Development and Poverty Reduction in Rwanda
The paper is a product of a short term consultancy work offered by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) for the Ministry of Lands, Environment Forestry, Water and Mines of Rwanda. The paper focuses on the relationship between land reform, poverty reduction and sustainable development. It is grounded in the current process of implementing a land law and policy in Rwanda. The thrust of the discussion is pillared on a number of interrelated arguments.
A Case Study on the Implications of the Ongoing Land Reform on Sustainable Rural Development and Poverty Reduction in Rwanda
The paper is a product of a short term consultancy work offered by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) for the Ministry of Lands, Environment Forestry, Water and Mines of Rwanda. The paper focuses on the relationship between land reform, poverty reduction and sustainable development. It is grounded in the current process of implementing a land law and policy in Rwanda. The thrust of the discussion is pillared on a number of interrelated arguments.