Secure tenure rights and control over land for women and men farmers are key to boosting smallholder productivity, rural development and food security. However, in many parts of the world, men and women have inadequate access to secure property rights over land. Women are particularly disadvantaged: even though they constitute on average 43 percent of the agricultural labour force in developing countries, women’s ownership of agricultural land remains significantly lower than that of men.
Land, fisheries, forests and other natural resources provide a basis for livelihoods and social, cultural and religious practices. However, most people in rural areas in developing countries do not have any form of documentation to protect their land and natural resources rights, which puts their livelihoods and consequently their food and nutrition security are at risk. Secure tenure rights promote responsible investment in agriculture that could increase productivity and enhance food security and nutrition.
Sustainable Development Goal 1, ending poverty in all its forms, everywhere, is the most ambitious goal set by the 2030 Agenda. This Goal includes eradicating extreme poverty in the next 12 years, which will require more focused actions in addition to broad-based interventions. The question is: How can we achieve target 1.1 and overcome the many challenges that lie ahead? By gaining a deeper understanding of poverty, and the characteristics of the extreme rural poor in particular, the right policies can be put in place to reach those most in need.
إن القوانين الوطنية حيوية لحوكمة الحيازة للجميع، وخاصة بالنسبة للشرائح الأكثر ضعفا في المجتمع. يستعرض هذا الدليل الفني الأبعاد القانونية للخطوط التوجيهية الطوعية بشأن الحوكمة المسؤولة لحيازة الأراضي، ومصايد الأسماك والغابات في سياق الأمن الغذائي الوطني وأوجه الترابط بالقانون الدولي الملزم. ويوفّر المشورة للمهنيين القانونيين الذين يعملون مع المؤسسات الحكومية، أو المجتمع المدني أو القطاع الخاص على تقييم التشريعات الوطنية، ودعم الإصلاح القانوني وتحسين التنفيذ وكذلك على تسوية المنازعات.
The guidelines are the first comprehensive, global instrument on tenure and its administration to be prepared through intergovernmental negotiations. The guidelines set out principles and internationally accepted standards of responsible practices for the use and control of land, fisheries and forests.
Land Tenure Working Paper 15. This publication brings to light the existing linkages between land tenure and the realization of the right to food. It points out that responsible governance of land requires the adoption of human rights-based approach in order to develop coherent and long term solutions to improve people’s livelihoods. The document presents the legal implications of the right to food at national level and provides a series of examples on the implementation of human rights principles and obligations into land tenure systems, policies, and institutional frameworks.
Right to Food Handbooks 7. This handbook provides practical information and tools for conducting a right to food assessment as a first step in a strategy to ensure this right and to take the appropriate measures accordingly with the obligation of progressive realization of this right. The content of this handbook is based on the FAO's “Guide to Conducting a Right to Food Assessment”. An assessment of the right to food should include an analysis of the causes of food and nutritional insecurity and should answer the following questions: who suffers food insecurity and vulnerability?
This thematic study explores the links between the right to food and natural resources governance. It covers a range of issues of which access to resources and assets, land, water, and the recommendation to protect ecological sustainability for sustainable management of natural resources are primary.
Through a conceptual analysis based on international treaties and instruments and through two country studies, this study explores the relationship between human rights, particularly the right to adequate food, and access to natural resources with specific focus on land.
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