Assisting communities to seek legal redress for land rights violations

A recent wave of large-scale commercial investments in agriculture, extractive industries and other land-based sectors has compounded the ‘global resource squeeze’ in low- and middle-income countries. But many communities affected by land rights violations struggle to assert their rights.

Demand for legal support outstrips resources, and what is available is not always appropriate. Pursuing litigation often presents significant obstacles, major costs and risks to the communities involved without offering any certain outcomes.

To complement existing accountability efforts, IIED’s legal tools team is participating in various initiatives to help communities seeking redress after falling victim to land rights violations.

What is IIED doing?

Supporting communities affected by large-scale land acquisitions:

• We conduct legal analysis and promote dialogue between communities and governments. For example, along with the Tanzania Natural Resource Forum and the International Land Coalition, we convened dialogue sessions between the government of Tanzania and four villages whose land had been allocated to a now-failed biofuel project in Tanzania’s Kilwa District.

Providing policy support to national civil society on compulsory land acquisition:

• In Guinea, where the government is preparing a new regulation on land acquisition for private investment, we are providing technical input to a national coalition of civil society organisations with the goal of strengthening the rights of communities.
• In Cameroon, where large-scale land acquisitions have been a source of conflict, we are developing law reform proposals through the LandCam project on how the country should adapt its compulsory land acquisition framework.

Assisting advocates in seeking redress for communities:

• We develop concepts and methodologies to help practitioners support communities whose livelihoods have been negatively impacted by agricultural investments. For example, we’ve developed the concept of ‘investment chains’, and the ‘pressure points’ they offer for holding companies to account.

Convening peer-to-peer learning between grassroots organisations:

• In partnership with Namati and the International Land Coalition, we convene the Community Land Protection Initiative (CLPI), which brings together grassroots organisations to share new ideas for security community land tenure. Watch a video presenting the initiative and others from the workshops in the YouTube playlist below.