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Land Policy in Africa: A framework of action to secure land rights, enhance productivity and secure livelihoods AUC-ADB-ECA Consultative Workshop Opening Statement By Abdoulie Janneh, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ECA Delivered by Josue Dione, Director, Sustainable Development Division 27
March 2006 I am pleased to welcome you to this consultative workshop on land policy in Africa, which the Economic Commission for Africa is hosting in partnership with the African Union Commission and the African Development Bank at a time of our renewed commitment to work together in a seamless relationship that enhances our collective impact on Africa’s political, economic and social development. This workshop is intended to spearhead a process that will lead to the development of a framework for guidelines and procedures for land policy in Africa. It is the result of extensive work, carried out by our three institutions in the realization of the central role that the governance of land and Africa’s natural resources plays in the socio-economic development of the continent. Indeed, in order to achieve development targets such as those set out in the MDGs, Africa must urgently address the constraints to the management of land and other resources, including farmlands, rangelands, forests, wildlife, water, oil and minerals. Ladies and Gentlemen, For the majority of our people, land is vital for survival. Therefore, a meaningful structural economic transformation that results in employment and improved living standards for the majority of Africans will partly depend on securing land rights to millions of our people. We must also take steps to reduce the cost of doing business for the corporate sector in the farming, agribusiness and agro-industrial spheres by reducing the transaction costs associated with attaining these rights. But, while secured rights to land can help transform these sectors, we should remember that other complementary elements such as technologies, credit, markets and transport infrastructure are also vital for a structural transformation. Ladies and Gentlemen, Many factors, such as the transformation of rural areas (into towns); rapid population growth; globalization and market development are already resulting in increasing populations in our towns and cities. Indeed, as a result of these factors, it is estimated that Africa’s urban population will increase from 38% in 2000 to 55% in 2030. Consider this, Africa’s most populous country, Nigeria, is expected to have 134 million people residing in urban areas by 2030. This figure was only about 50 million in 2000. This is bound to put more pressure on urban and peri-urban areas, raising land values and increasing the vulnerability of livelihoods of informal settlers. We, therefore, urgently need to take steps to recognize the land rights of slum dwellers and squatters, and provide low cost methods for acquiring, documenting and managing these rights. If we do this, we will have gone a long way in reducing the vulnerability of those living in urban and peri-urban areas as well as decreasing the occurrence of disputes and conflicts, which sometimes lead to evictions and homelessness. Ladies and Gentlemen, The majority of conflicts in Africa, and indeed around the world, including the recent wars in Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Cote d’Ivoire, are associated with failures in systems related to the governance, control and use of land and natural resources. In some parts of Southern Africa, the inability to address a history of unequal land distribution has led to racial and political tensions, and hampered economic development. In South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe, the minority population still owns a disproportionately high percentage of the land, usually relegating the indigenous black population to marginal lands. Conflicts are undoubtedly one of the major impediments to economic development, sound environmental management, and human survival. They do not only impede development, but they also contribute to human rights violations, adversely affecting the most vulnerable members of society. Indeed, the most gruesome breaches to human rights occur during times of conflicts. Therefore, we must take steps to reduce these conflicts by addressing their underlying causes - insecurity of land rights, bad governance, and bad management of land and natural resources. Since poor governance of land and natural resources is a major source of conflict, these issues should be part and parcel of any post-conflict recovery and peace building efforts in Africa. We need to examine the processes aimed at land redistribution, and catalyze equal access to land. We must address the resettlement of displaced families, claims to land, property rights, dysfunctional and inaccessible land administration, and redress for crimes related to land grabbing and land invasions. Ladies and Gentlemen, It is an irony that the most marginalized members of our society are the same people tasked with harnessing land for food security and development. They are also expected to be the ‘keepers of the environment.’ In Africa, women constitute 70% of the agricultural labor force and 90% of the labor for collecting firewood and water. They are largely rural dwellers. For instance, 93% of Malawi’s female population and 80% of Mozambique’s women live in rural areas. Of the 65% of Zimbabweans who live in communal areas, 85% are women. The majority of these women, like other African women in general, do not own or control land and other natural resources. Indeed many of them only gain access to land through a male relative. This means that women in Africa cannot participate and contribute adequately to development. And they do not fully benefit from the wealth created by the use of land and its resources. Yet, if women, who comprise more than 50% of Africa’s population, lose out on development, African families lose, and indeed, the continent loses. In order for Africa to realize the full potential of all members of society, more must be done to ensure that land policy reforms are accompanied by the appropriate mechanisms that allow for the implementation of laws and programs to guarantee women’s rights to land. Ladies and Gentlemen, These challenges will require that our laws and legislation adequately deal with the pluralistic systems of land tenure, which are mainly a result of our colonial legacy. It is well acknowledged that customary systems govern the majority of land in Africa, as is the case in Ghana where customary authorities still hold considerable responsibilities and influence in managing land. These systems are however under pressure from population growth and competing land uses, including urbanization. Unfortunately, the law, in most cases, does not provide adequate protection for customary rights holders due to multiple, and at times, conflicting legislation relating to land acquisition and management. As a result, there is insecurity of tenure and disputes which continue to hamper investment and development. In the next few days, I urge you to think seriously about these issues and help to provide guidance to our governments on legal and institutional mechanisms of ensuring an effective co-existence of formal and customary systems of land tenure. The good news, ladies and gentlemen, is that African governments, with the help of the institutions represented in this room, are already instituting the needed reforms. Some African countries have made remarkable progress in policy formulation, law, legislative, and even institutional reforms, while others are in the process of doing so. The work that we have done here at ECA, however points to the need to catalyze these reforms through increased political will, resource mobilization, peer learning and review of progress made, in order to avoid losing the gains that have been realized. This is why the AU Commission, ECA and ADB, spearheaded this workshop. It is the beginning of a very important process. I hope that at the end of this first step, you would have developed a skeleton of the guidelines and principles, which will then be strengthened at various sub regional forums where regional specificities will be reflected and taken aboard. Once this is done, we hope that the framework will be adopted at the highest level of government in Africa, starting a process that will lead to the incorporation of these guidelines and principles into national systems across Africa. Ladies and Gentlemen, Let me end by assuring you of ECA’s commitment to work in close partnership with the AU, ADB, the Regional Economic Communities in Africa and other partners, to ensure that the outcomes of this workshop guide our work as we assist Africa governments to improve the governance of land and other natural resources for poverty reduction, wealth creation and employment for all Africans. I thank you for your attention,
and wish you a fruitful workshop. |