1. ILC lunchtime seminar at Irish Aid
Prepared by ILC Secretariat, September 24th 2012

2. International Land Coalition:
A global alliance
•A global alliance to promote secure and equitable
access to and control over land for women and men
•Global Secretariat hosted at IFAD (Rome, Italy), with
regional nodes in Manila (Asia), Kigali (Africa), Lima
(Latin America)
•Focus on dialogue, knowledge sharing, capacity
building and advocacy
Vision:
Secure and equitable access to and control over land
reduces poverty, promotes sustainable development
and contributes to identity, dignity and inclusion

3. 116 members, including intergovernmental organisations, farmers’
organisations, research institutes, NGOs and CBOs – In more than 40
countries

4. At the root of ILC: eradicating
poverty
A bit of history
and key
underlying
assumptions
•Established as a result of the 1995 Conference on Poverty and Hunger
(Brussels) as Popular Coalition to Eradicate Hunger and Poverty (PCEHP)
•In 2003, the PCEHP became the International Land Coalition
•Land reform leading to broadened access to secure land rights is a critical
factor (if not a pre-requisite) for fighting hunger and eradicating poverty
•The linkage between land governance (secure access to land) and food
security is therefore at the root of the establishment of the ILC

5. 1. Linkages between
land tenure security and food

6. Why land matters in addressing
hunger and poverty?
• Poverty is a predominantly rural
phenomenon
• It is estimated that 75% of the
poor, hungry people live in rural
areas (2008 WDR)
Incidence of poverty in rural areas:
•In Sub-Saharan Africa 51% of the
rural population are poor
•In South-East Asia 40% of the rural
population are poor

7. Why land matters in addressing
hunger and poverty?
Profile of the rural poor
62% 25% 13%
Small farmers Landless Pastoralists, forest-
dwellers, fisherfolk
Securing land rights for the poor men and women helps
combat poverty in rural areas and globally

8. Identifying linkages
Secure and equitable access to land enhances the supply of food
1 Tenure security as promoting investment and sustainable management
2 What sort of tenure?
3 Land as collateral
4 Land distribution and productivity

9. Identifying linkages
Secure and equitable access to land
enhances entitlements to food
1 Tenure insecurity as food access insecurity
2 Land and entitlements to food at local level
3 Land and entitlements to food at the household level
4 Land and entitlements to food at national and global levels
Food security, empowerment
and people-centred land governance

10. Increasingly recognised linkages
Framework and The HLTF Updated The Voluntary Guidelines on
guidelines on land Comprehensive the Responsible Governance of
policy in Africa (2009) Framework for Action Tenure of Land, Fisheries and
(2010) Forests in the Context of
National Food Security (2012)

11. Women’s land rights
and food security
A very large body of evidence
on the linkages between women’s land
rights and women’s empowerment, and
between women’s empowerment and both
increased productivity and “other social and
economic benefits” i.e. greater bargaining
position within the household; improved
child nutritional status, which in turns
influences health and education attainment
(SOFA Report 2011)
“If women had the same access to productive resources as men, they could
increase yields on their farms by 20-30 percent. This could raise total
agricultural output in developing countries by 2.5-4 percent, which could in turn
reduce the number of hungry people in the world by 12-17 percent” (FAO, 2011:
5)

12. Women’s land rights
and food security
A very large body of research on
linkages between women’s land rights and women’s
empowerment, and between women’s empowerment
and both improved agricultural productivity and
reduced “other dimensions of human poverty” (i.e.
greater bargaining position within the household;
improved child nutritional status, which in turns
influences health outcomes and education
attainment) (FAO, 2011)
2. Current challenges and priorities
If women had the same access to productive resources as men, they could
increase yields on their farms by 20-30 percent. This could raise total agricultural
in promoting women’s land rights
output in developing countries by 2.5-4 percent, which in turn could reduce the
number of hungry people in the world by 12-17 percent (FAO, 2011: 5)

13. Why women’s land rights?
1 Women’s human rights are violated
2 Women’s key role in food security and natural resource management is not recognised

14. Challenges and priorities in
advancing
women’s land rights
Challenges
1 Discriminatory/gender-blind laws or poor implementation
2 Cultural and social norms discriminate against women and delay/contain social change
3 Increasing threats to land security disproportionally affect women
Priorities
1 Understanding rights: the importance of information
2 Claiming rights: the importance of monitoring, mobilisation, and legal empowerment
3 Guaranteeing rights: the importance of enabling environments and implementation

15. Understanding rights:
The importance of information
1 Increase women’s awareness, literacy and education
2 Work with women and men in communities
3 Inform men of the benefits of securing women’s rights
4 Engage with customary authorities to build acceptance for WLR at community level
5 Target public officials responsible for land administration, especially on inheritance
6 Engage with media to raise visibility on WLR and inform

16. CINEP, Colombia, Women’s empowerment to exercise tribal land rights in
SARRA, India, Women’s empowerment in their communities
the Cauca Valley

17. Claiming rights:
The importance of mobilisation
1 Place women at the centre and support grassroots mobilisation
2 Strengthen women’s representation in decision-making processes
3 Build the capacity of women’s organisations

18. Claiming rights:
The importance of monitoring
1 Strengthen women and organisations’ ability to monitor WLR
2 Monitor gendered impacts of programmes and laws (e.g. allocation, food security….)
3 Monitor gendered impacts of new threats (e.g. commercial pressures, contract farming…)

19. Claiming rights:
The importance of legal
empowerment
Provide paralegal services and legal aid, particularly for the resolution of disputes over
1
inheritance, demarcation, and titling

20. Claiming rights:
The importance of enabling
environments and implementation
Identify and document good practices for replication and scaling-up (how to reach rural
1 women; how to ensure women’s participation; how to ensure fair allocation; what works
and what does not… )
2 Work on national policy dialogue and advocacy
3 Use/monitor CEDAW and VGGT at national level

21. 3. Land rights and the rush for land

22. 3. Land Voluntary Guidelines land
4. The rights and the rush for

23. The Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible
Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and
Forests in the Context of National Food
Security
2 year-long consultation process
1 year-long negotiations
Endorsed in May 2012 by the CFS
Endorsed in July 2012 by the FAO Council
Strong legitimacy and political momentum
Provide a global benchmark for the governance of tenure
Human rights framework; food security and poverty
eradication; significance of small-scale food production;
participation and consultation in land governance; reference to
territorial development
Access to justice and transparent information; women’s land
rights and gender equality; ancestral domains; non-state actors
responsibilities; markets; investments

24. Summary of the VGGT
Preface and General Matters

25. Summary of the VGGT
Legal recognition
and allocation of tenure
rights and duties

26. Summary of the VGGT
Transfers and other changes
to tenure rights and duties

27. Summary of the VGGT
Administration of tenure

28. Summary of the VGGT
Responses to climate change
and emergencies

29. Summary of the VGGT
Promotion, implementation,
monitoring and evaluation

30. Thank you!
l.miggiano@landcoalition.org
If you want to know more about ILC, please visit www.landcoalition.org