As part of a scoping study titled Land Governance for Climate Resilience: A review and case studies from LAND-at-scale projects headed by Richard Sliuzas, Emeritus Professor, University of Twente, IOM explored how climate plays a role in the UN-led Saameynta Joint Programme in Somalia. In this context, climate change is increasingly recognized as a multiplier of insecurity and fragility, where climate-related sudden and slow-onset disasters are driving people to leave their land and migrate. While migrating allows people to find alternative livelihoods and enhance their climate resilience, it can also be associated with instances of maladaptation to climate change. As such, this case highlights durable solutions in climate-driven urban sprawl in Baidoa.  

As part of a scoping study titled Land Governance for Climate Resilience: A review and case studies from LAND-at-scale projects headed by Richard Sliuzas, Emeritus Professor, University of Twente, GLTN dove into the links between climate and land governance in the ‘’Scaling up community-based land registration and land use planning on customary land in Uganda’’ project. This case study highlights experiences from the community-based wetland management planning approach in Butaleja, Uganda, focusing on how the approach is addressing land governance issues and contributing to community climate resilience.

Burundi has the world’s highest hunger score and around 45 percent of the population is affected by food insecurity. The country copes with increasing scarcity of land as a result of increasing population size, returnees and IDPs and climate change. With the majority of Burundians depending on agriculture for their food and livelihoods, land scarcity makes this reliance on agriculture precarious. This pressure on land causes elevated levels of land disputes with over 55% of all court cases being related to conflicts over land.

Scaling is at the heart of both the name as well as the strategy of LAND-at-scale. Scaling and scaling potential are key in the way the program was designed and is reflected in the three pillars chosen to realize the aim of the program. The first pillar is about scaling successful initiatives and projects; the second pillar focuses on land governance innovations with scaling potential; and the third pillar covers knowledge management, with a focus on gaining a deeper understanding on the conditions required to make scaling successful.

1) Prof. Ngana, why did you launch this training unit on land issues at the University of Bangui? What needs does the training meet?

It was NELGA that motivated us. I am the Focal Point for NELGA in the Central African Republic. As part of the implementation of its structure in Central African universities, NELGA had launched a survey to revise the curriculum of land governance.

The 15th session of the Conference of Parties (COP15) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), is taking place in Abidjan Côte d’Ivoire, from 9 to 20 May 2022. The theme: “Land, Life. Legacy: From scarcity to prosperity.” “We are faced with a crucial choice,” Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed told participants: “We can either reap the benefits of land restoration now or continue on the disastrous path that has led us to the triple planetary crisis of climate, biodiversity and pollution”

This op-ed by Katlego Ramantsina, a researcher at the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies first appeared in the Daily Maverick

Developing land tenure legislation is a difficult job to get right — especially given the legacy of intractable problems inherited from apartheid. The Gauteng consultation did not seem genuine: it lasted only three hours.

By Sean Johnson, land administration specialist at COWI, Swaziland

* This piece was originally published as part of the online discussion on customary law in Southern Africa

By Allan Cain, Development Workshop Angola

* This article was originally published as part of the online discussion on customary law in Southern Africa

WHY REJECT CUSTOMARY LAND PRIVATISATION 

Most of the world’s land is still stewarded by communities under customary systems. Billions of people rely on communally managed farmland, pasture, forests and savannahs for their livelihoods. 

This collective management of resources is viewed in the colonial or capitalist economic model as an obstacle to individual wealth creation and private profit. 

Summaries and selected replays from the 3rd Mekong Regional Land Forum are available below. Full replays of the plenary sessions will be posted shortly -- check back soon!