Making their voices count: the African women protecting their land rights

New public policies and changing economic fundamentals have spurred private sector investment in commercial agriculture in low- and middle-income countries. Growing numbers of policies and programmes aim to integrate small-scale rural producers into agricultural value chains;based on concepts such as ‘inclusive businessand ‘shared value’. But significant questions remain over how best to: recognise the possibly divergent visions;interests and constraints of various actors;and the risks and trade-offs that can arise; address often substantial power imbalances that affect value chain relations; and ultimately support genuine agency among rural producers and their communities – that is;their ability to make choices;take action and influence realities around them. This report explores whether socio-legal empowerment might help address these issues. It develops a conceptual framework to further understand;test and strengthen the contribution of socio-legal empowerment to enhancing the agency of rural actors as they engage with;or are affected by;commercial agriculture.