资源环境科技发展态势分析平台

To increase awareness and strengthen capacity on integrating responsible governance of tenure in issues related to land degradation, between September- October 2021 a series of four virtual webinars were organized jointly by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and the Resilient Food Systems program (RFS), for 17 selected Sub-Saharan African countries.

To mark the importance of tenure security, the 197 Parties of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) took a landmark decision to integrate the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of land, fisheries, and forests in the context of national food security (VGGT) into achieving Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN), at the 14th Conference of the Parties (COP14) in 2019.

Following this decision, the UNCCD Secretariat together with the Food and Agriculture Organization is developing a technical policy guide for decision makers to address the commonly encountered land tenure challenges in implementing LDN.

The webinar series was  an opportunity to discuss the technical guide and action oriented pathways with stakeholders.

More than 50 participants including UNCCD national focal points, accredited civil society representatives, project managers and technical advisors from FAO, RFS and the European Union Land governance programs participated in the webinar series, with nearly 30% women representation including as speakers and panellist.

Interactive exchanges highlighted the common challenges and the solutions. Experiences fromongoing programs supported by FAO in the region as the Resilient Food Systems and the European Union Land Governance Program were shared.

Highlights:

• In the opening remarks Mr. Lifeng Li, Director of the Land and Water Division atFAO, Ms. Tina Birmpili, Deputy Executive Secretary of UNCCD and Hon. Farida Karoney, Cabinet Secretary of the Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning of Kenya highlighted the importance of secure tenure rights for improved natural resource management, particularly in Africa. 
• Several countries shared their experiences on a range of issues. To name a few: the improved pastoral land rights in face of climate change; the relevance of community land management in Kenya, Burkina Faso, Uganda and Tanzania; the mechanisms for grievance and dispute resolution in Eswatini and Malawi; the land-use planning in eco-sensitive zones in Zambia and Ghana; the inventory of public lands to reduce land disputes and land use conflicts and to improve security of tenure in Burundi; the role of multi-stakeholder platforms in Sierra Leone, Senegal and Niger; and the need for capacity building for local communities on VGGT and gender issues in Malawi.
• The technical guide puts forwards pathways, grounded in the principles of the VGGT, that can be tailored to the national context. Nearly three fourth of participants found that the pathways, that are included in the technical guide which is under preparation, are significantly relevant to address or reinforce tenure security in the context of LDN and sustainable land management in their respective country.

For more information on the nexus of land tenure and land degradation, contact Ms. Aurelie Bres ([email protected]) or Ms. Yasmeen Telwala ([email protected]), Land and Water Division, FAO.

For more information, check out the following publications:

Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security >>>

Creating an Enabling Environment for Land Degradation Neutrality and its Potential Contribution to Enhancing Well-being, Livelihoods and the Environment. A Report of the Science-Policy Interface