The Wilson Center’s Africa Program and Asia Program present:
So-Called Land Grabs in the Global South:
Reality and Repercussions?
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
2:00 – 4:00pm
6th Floor Flom Auditorium
The Challenges
of Large-Scale Land Acquisitions
Karol Boudreaux
USAID Africa Land Tenure Specialist
Recent Headlines
• “CAMBODIA: Rural poor lose out in land deals”
• “Multinationals grab African land”
• “FOOD: Land-grabbing linked with hunger”
• “Report: 'Unbridled' Rush for Land Grabs Leaving a Billion
Hungry”
• “Biofuels, food speculation pushing further land grabs”
• “The great green land grab: "Land grabbing" is rarely out
of the headlines”
Sources of concern
• Rising demand/competing uses
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Biofuel
Agriculture
Timber/forestry
Extractives
Conservation
Urban expansion
• Weak consultative
process/poor engagement
• Weak land governance systems/rent seeking
Where is land being purchased?
Weak land governance is at the heart of
large-scale land acquisitions
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Legal pluralism contributes to ambiguous rights
Limited capacity/limited resources
Overwhelmed customary systems
Vested interests/corruption
Compounded problems for women
Women are triply vulnerable
Some of the gender impacts
• Loss of land and resource
rights
• Lost livelihoods
• Costs to gather
wood/water
• Displacements from social
networks
• Increased vulnerability
Source: jonhaylett.co.uk
Recent responses
VGGT
G8’s New Alliance
Farmland Principles
ISO 26000
RAI
Voluntary Guidelines on the
Responsible Governance of Tenure
(VGGTs)
• Soft Int’l Law
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Participatory process
Recognize/Respect
Safeguard
Facilitate
Access to Justice/Services
Prevent Dispute/Conflict
VGGTs are a response to:
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Rising food prices, food insecurity
Large-scale acquisitions
Harms to communities
Increasing recognition of need to address
customary/informal tenure concerns
• Desire for more integrated/participatory approach
• Need to protect & empower all users
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Encouraging Government Actions
• VGGTs provide guidance to states to:
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Improve service provision
Increase access to justice
Reduce corruption
Improve transparency & accountability
Recognize customary & informal rights, rights of IPs
Eliminate discrimination
Promote responsible investment
Address expropriation, redistribution, consolidation
Address valuation, taxation
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Implementing the VGGTs
• Adopted May 2012
• G8/New Alliance commitments, including
funding/implementation commitments
• Efforts to implement will be bilateral/multilateral
• New facility at FAO
• What will it look like on the ground?
– For communities
– For private sector
– For governments
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How can the private sector help?
• Recognize & respect
legitimate rights
• Advocate for joint
rights/women’s rights
• Increased focus on
collaborative contracting
• Partnering with producer
groups – men & women
• What’s exciting?
– B-20 Task Force
Recommendations
– Farmland Principles
– ISO Standards
– Impact Investing
– New Alliance
What else is needed?
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Technology
Expanded legal education
Expanded access to justice
Resources to implement commitments
Continued CSO/NGO support
Spotlight on this issue
What is USAID doing?
• Assisting efforts to secure land & resource rights in
worldwide programming
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Legal/policy reform
Building host capacity, public awareness
Engaging with customary authorities
Supporting NGOs/CSOs
• Supporting New Alliance efforts
• Supporting implementation of VGGT
Secure land and property rights:
stronger communities, more productive economies
Source: Gregory Myers, USAID
THANK YOU
For more information please visit:
www.usaidlandtenure.net
The Wilson Center’s Africa Program and Asia Program present:
So-Called Land Grabs in the Global South:
Reality and Repercussions?
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
2:00 – 4:00pm
6th Floor Flom Auditorium