Niamey, 5 March 2015 (ECA) – Land governance is a prerequisite for hunger and poverty alleviation, and sustainable development, and it requires urgent attention by African governments to improve the livelihoods of populations that live on land. This statement was made by Mr. Joseph Foumbi of the Subregional Office for West Africa of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), representing the Land Policy Initiative (LPI) consortium of the African Union Commission (AUC), ECA, and the African Development Bank (AfDB), during the closing session of the series of events organized last week in Niger, that marked the launch of the “EU-SDC-FAO-LPI Transversal Support Programme on Land Governance in Africa”. Mr. Foumbi urged African governments to attach the importance needed to the implementation of the AU Declaration on Land Issues and Challenges, which represents the African agenda for dealing with land issues on the continent.
Mr. Alhou Abey Bazou, the Permanent Secretary of Rural Code of Niger,in his closing statement reminded African governments that land governance is highly complex and needs to be aligned with country’s development priorities. He urged African governments to apply the Framework and Guidelines on Land Policy in Africa (F&G), a useful tool for land governance that can help address challenges faced in many countries, such as pastoral rights, gender, land administration, and land use.
The ten countries benefiting from the EU-SDC-FAO-LPI continental programme appraised their projects with the transversal support, during a coordination meeting which agreed to use five pillars for reporting on the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance ofTenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (VGGT) and the F&G implementation in the projects. These pillars are: awareness raising, capacity development, transversal support to country-level projects, partnerships, and monitoring and evaluation. The meeting enabled experience sharing and lesson learning discussions among countries. Other events of the launch included a multi-stakeholder workshop and in-depth training on the VGGT and F&G.
Participants agreed that country-level coordination platforms are necessary for dealing with land issues holistically. They also agreed that successful implementation of land policies require participation, inclusiveness, and accountability with a focus on processes that touch people. Participants further emphasized the importance of understanding and considering each country’s context with regard to the implementation of the project.
The Land Policy Initiative is a joint programme of the tripartite consortium consisting of the African Union Commission (AUC), the African Development Bank (AfDB), and United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). Its mandate is to facilitate the implementation of the AU Declaration on Land Issues and Challenges in Africa.
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