New study portrays women’s disadvantageous position due to deprivation in land ownership, wage discrimination and non-recognition of unpaid works 

Women constitute nearly 65% of farm labour force in Bangladesh, yet they have very limited land ownership, making them mostly work under the supervisions of their male counterparts.

Most of the tasks they deliver in agriculture production value chain are unpaid work, and when it comes to earning wages for farm labour, women receive far less compared to what men earn for the same jobs.

Despite recent advancements in land reforms across Africa, women and girls are still hugely disadvantaged, according to a recent meeting of experts. The 2020 Africa Land Forum (ALC), which took place online between 15 and 17 September, brought together 500 participants to explore the theme ‘Delivering on the African Union Agenda 2063 by Promoting People-Centered Land Governance in Africa’.

The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) on Thursday launched the P24.625 billion World Bank-funded Support to Parcelization of Lands for Individual Titling (SPLIT) project, which aims to improve land tenure security and stabilize property rights of 1,140,735  agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) nationwide.

Following the development, the community leaders have asked the company to vacate their land for the interest of peace, alleging that it was illegally acquired.

Indigenes of Illushi community in Esan South-East Local Government Area of Edo State have disagreed with a rice farming company, Skaff International Agro Farms Limited, over the acquisition of a vast portion of land for agricultural purpose.

A Recent Victory

In September 2020, President Mokgweetsi Masisi amended the 2015 Land Policy to give married women in Botswana the right to own land. Previously, married women were only eligible to own land if their husbands did not. The policy excluded not only married women but widows and single mothers as well, which left millions of women affected.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has assured the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs that he will set up a committee to take a comprehensive look into the issue of the compulsory acquisition of lands by the government in the region.

The committee, which would be established to start work next year, would look at the possibility of restoring lands to their allodial owners, he said.

President Akufo-Addo gave the assurance when he addressed the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs in Dodowa yesterday as part of his working tour of the region.

The Dutch LAND-at-scale program was launched in March last year and since then, two rounds for land intervention ideas have been released. The program seeks ideas that contribute to improving land governance in developing countries, and that ultimately support better food and nutrition security, economic development, peace and stability in these countries. At this moment, projects for 16 countries are actively being formulated in close collaboration with embassies and other in country stakeholders.

The federal government, through its Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, FMARD has concluded arrangements to clear 400 hectares of farmlands at Iyemero Ekiti axis of the State’s agricultural processing zone as part of its intervention programmes code-named ‘Agriculture Jobs Plan’.

The information was disclosed at a meeting of the State Coordinator of the FMARD, Mr Olufemi Daramola with the Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Dr Olabode Adetoyi in his office in Ado Ekiti.

New Report delves into the State of Land Information (SOLI) in South Africa

Land governance in South Africa is a significant and complex political issue. The land information landscape reflects diversity of actors involved and extends from sophisticated statistical datasets and satellite imagery to local arguments for restitution based on oral records. 

Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth (ERA/FoEN) and other stakeholders have said practice of gender inequality in land governance has increased poverty and deprivation among women in the society.
 
The Executive Director, ERA/FoEN, Dr. Godwin Ojo, who was represented by a lecturer at the University of Calabar (UNICAL), Dr. Ralph Offiong, said this at the weekend, during a validation workshop on review of Land Use Act 1978, yesterday, in Calabar, the Cross River State capital.

A group of families in Banteay Meanchey province filed a lawsuit on August 5 against four officials and 13 local businessmen alleging they used forged documents to claim ownership of more than 100 hectares of land in a long-running conflict dating back nearly two decades.

Binit Agrawal analyses the global impact of a Thai court judgement, which provides a judicial forum to farmers from Cambodia, who were victims of transnational land grabbing.