MEDIA ADVISORY
FAO and ECA join efforts in fighting hunger and poverty
WHAT: Signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)
WHEN: 27 June 2014
The LPI has produced and distributed various study documents and advocacy materials to raise awareness of the LPI program among its stakeholders and partners; the distribution of these documents are targeted at member states, RECs, civil society and farmer’s organizations, research and academia, private sector and development partners.
For your reference and use some of the LPI documents that aim to raise awareness of its stakeholders and partners on land policy commitments, tools and evidence that is relevant to policy development, implementation and monitoring are listed below:
The African Union’s (AU) perspective is that agriculture and land are central in the social and economic development of the continent and that rights to land are fundamental to the participation of all people including women and disadvantaged sections of society in the development process. Africa’s development remains dependent on agriculture and exploitation of natural resources, yet agriculture and livestock production are largely carried out by smallholder farmers under increasing pressure of scarce land resources managed under unsecured customary land ownership.
The Framework and Guidelines on Land Policy is a joint product of the partnership and collaborative effort of the African Union Commission (AUC), the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) to promote Africa’s socioeconomic development, through inter alia, agricultural transformation and modernisation. Initiated in 2006, the aim of the Land Policy Initiative (LPI) was to examine land policy issues and challenges in Africa with a view to developing a framework to strengthen land rights, enhance productivity and improve livelihoods.
Cognizant of the centrality of land policy issues in Africa, a joint initiative was undertaken by the African Union Commission (AUC), United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) in 2006, forming the genesis of the Land Policy Initiative (LPI). Through the LPI important actions and measures have been launched including a series of regional studies on land issues across Africa accompanied by rigorous consultations and discussions at regional and continental levels.