Strengthening land governance, local to global

Land governance is an increasingly prominent issue in international policy agendas, cutting across public concerns about economic development, ecological integrity, social justice and cultural identity. 

Socioeconomic change has compounded pressures on land and natural resources in many parts of the world. This includes commercial investments but also deep-seated transformations in local societies. Land is often at the centre of complex disputes presenting political, emotive connotations.

While not legally binding, recently developed international soft-law instruments provide detailed guidance on improving land governance and securing local land rights, including in the context of land-based investments. 

Examples include the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (VGGT) (PDF), endorsed by the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) in 2012; and the Framework and Guidelines on Land Policy in Africa , adopted by the African Union in 2009. 

A key challenge ahead is to translate this international guidance into national law reforms and into real change ‘on the ground’. There is a need to develop practical approaches for securing local land rights, and to feed insights into policy processes at national and international levels.

What is IIED doing?

We support global efforts to secure local land rights, implement soft-law instruments at local, national and regional levels, and feed insights into global policy processes. 

Over the years, we have worked with: 

• Governments and regional-level intergovernmental institutions, to develop national and regional-level policies related to land and land-based investment
• National civil society, to support advocacy on land law reform, for example in Guinea and Cameroon
• The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, to develop learning materials for governments, civil society and legal professionals
• The International Land Coalition and its members, to support peer-to-peer learning, participatory trends monitoring and public reflection on land governance issues
• Donors and development finance institutions, to develop tools and analysis for integrating VGGT guidance in their work, and
• The UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), the Natural Resources Institute (NRI) and the Land Portal, to sustain thinking and action among land governance practitioners, as part of DFID’s Land: Enhancing Governance for Economic Development (LEGEND) programme.