It is essential to ensure that the curricula for the Land Resource Planning and Management  Programme provides a basis for training professionals who can positively influence the land governance policy space in Kenya and indeed Africa– Dr Joan Kagwanja

Online, May 20, 2021: The AU -UNECA- AfDB African Land Policy Center (ALPC) collaborated with Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) in an inception workshop for the curriculum review and development of the Land Resource Planning and Management Programme (LRPMP). The inception workshop was aimed at building consensus on the methodology and roadmap for reviewing the LRPMP curriculum, applying the African Union (AU) endorsed Guidelines for Curricula Development on Land Governance in Africa.

UNECA’s Director of Private Sector Development and Finance Division, Mr. William Lugemwa, commended the initiative saying, “Governance of land tenure is a fundamental component for achieving inclusive and sustainable development in Africa, and the initiative by ALPC and JKUAT to strengthen human and institutional capacities will greatly enhance the implementation of the AU Land Agenda.” He lauded the stakeholders for coming together to address the gaps in the Land Resource Planning and Management bachelors program using the AU endorsed tools such as the Guidelines for the Development of Curricula on Land Governance in Africa. “As ECA, we are especially encouraged by the great efforts the University has made to make this review a reality despite restrictions brought about by COVID-19.” He further indicated that ECA, AUC and AfDB in the auspices of ALPC, are committed to this partnership and hope to walk with the university towards a successful Land Resource Planning and Management Programme.

In his welcome remarks, JKUAT Deputy Vice-Chancellor, represented by Prof. Okong’o, also noted that the workshop was timely, observing that the review process is well-aligned with the related needs identified by the institution in meeting the land governance industry needs.  “ JKUAT hosts almost 385 programmes which are carefully developed to address developmental challenges. We welcome this review to ensure that programmes remain consistent to address our unique land issues of Africa,” He noted.  “It is essential to develop dynamic programmes which support innovative ways, especially teaching and learning, in bridging land-themed capacity gaps for our students.”

Kenya’s Commission of University Education (CUE) recommends review of degree programs every four years. The review will ensure academic curricula adheres to industry needs, supporting real-time solutions with local, regional, and global land trends like the Africa agenda 2063, emphasizing Sustainable Development Goals. JKUAT Land Resource Planning and Management undergraduate programme faces the stage of its review, which provides an opportunity to align its curricula to the AU land agenda. The AU Agenda on land, which is defined in key AU commitments, including the Declaration on Land Issues and Challenges in Africa,  underline the importance of building human and institutional capacity for sustainable land governance in Africa. 

The inception workshop for the curriculum review of the JKUAT Land Resource Planning and Management Programmefamiliarizedparticipants with land governance industry gaps nationally, regionally and globally; regional commitments and tools; CUE guidelines. The workshop further enhanced consensus on the curriculum review roadmap, including the drafting and accreditation of the graduate programmes in Land Resource Planning and Management, and short courses on land governance.

The workshop also provided an opportunity to introduce the Network of Excellence on Land Governance in Africa (NELGA) welcoming the University to be part of the membership. ALPC and the Government of Germany (through BMZ and GIZ) have partnered to strengthen human and institutional capacities under NELGA to enhance training, research and technical assistance on land governance in Africa.

The half day virtual workshop targeted a diverse group of stakeholders from NELGA, Land Resources Planning and Management Department, Directorate for Academic Quality Assurance (DAQA), School of Natural Resource and Animal Sciences, College of agriculture and natural resources, land governance experts and other representatives of the academic and land governance industry, among others.

NOTE TO EDITORS:

The African Land Policy Centre (ALPC), formerly called the Land Policy Initiative (LPI) Secretariat, coordinates the implementation of the AU Agenda under the tripartite strategic leadership of  the African Union Commission (AUC), the African Development Bank (AfDB), and United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). Its programmes aim at improving land governance to facilitate sustainable economic development as defined by Agenda 2063 and SDG 2030.

Africa requires significant capacity-building efforts to adopt and implement all available good land governance practices, policies and instruments. The capacity building needs encompass staff training within national lands ministries, academic institutions, development agencies and the private sector on land governance in Africa.

The Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST), which coordinates the NELGA Southern Africa Hub is putting in place an open-source online course on land governance and corruption in Africa to meet these needs.

According to NELGA Southern Africa Coordinator and the Head of Department for land and Property Sciences at NUST, Prof. Mutjinde Katjiua, “The course is mainly intended to increase access to land governance education and training in Africa. It is expected to raise awareness of the complex causes and effects of corruption, particularly in Africa’s land sector. Doing so will strengthen the integrity, public accountability, and responsibility within the land industry.” He opined that land professionals in various stages of their career will benefit from this course as it equips them with the tools, tactics and networks that help tackle land corruption issues. They would also be provided with an accessible platform to reflect on their personal moral and the development of their collective professional ethics.

Professionals working both in the private and public land sector are expected beneficiaries of the online course. This includes National Anti-Corruption Commission officials, academia in land-related practices and town planning, officials of Ministry of Lands, private land surveyor, valuation surveyors, property developers, urban and rural planners, and non-governmental organisations land sector as well as development agencies working with national governments.

The course is based on a blended learning format consisting of two phases: an online course and a masterclass follow up phase. The online course will consist of videos, reading material and quizzes to fully engage with course participants. It is designed to be taken at any time of the year, and it will be accessible via NUST NELGA Southern Africa hub website (http://nelga.nust.na/). Participants will need to spend 4-6 hours per week on the online course up to a total of 36 hours in 4 weeks.

The masterclass will be delivered in the format of the trainer of trainers, which will provide course participants with thorough knowledge of the principles of good land governance and the adverse effects of corruption in both the private and public sector. This format will allow for deeper interaction with tutors and for the participants to share their experiences in a 3-days seminar set-up.

Further details like registration links and course materials for the online course and application requirements for the masterclass will be shared as the launch date approaches.

The Tanzanian agrarian economy is predominantly dependent on land. In rural Tanzania, the land is an important factor of production for both men and women. Although the country’s legal framework advocates equal rights and opportunities to resources, most women can neither inherit nor own land due to gender-discriminatory customary practices. Studies revealed that some traditional belief systems work against women’s rights to land in Tanzania.

Despite the Land Acts passed in 1999, which began implementation in May 2001, major challenges are still present, as evidenced by the impressive number of reports that have since been produced on the persistent institutional weaknesses of the land rights system and land administration, and several partial reforms that have attempted to improve the situation. The Land Governance Assessment Framework (LGAF) (2009 and 2015) pointing major institutional challenges and called for a systematic review of the National Land Policy of 1995 to explore the extent to which expected gains had materialized and what could be done to improve the performance of land management.

The most challenge aggressively touched upon was the affirmative action to address gender issues on land governance followed by land surveying, mapping, and registration; redefining institutional mandates; strengthening of decentralization; making land-use planning more participatory; changing expropriation practices; and improving conflict resolution mechanisms through dispute machinery. However, little has been done on awareness creation on dispute machinery towards land laws, land acts, and policies, especially those promoting gender equity. 

To address the challenge on women land rights, the NELGA South African node will embark on an outreach programme from May 3rd to 8th, 2021 to ward chancellors, member of ward tribunals, head of departments and district land conflict committee in three districts, namely Kilwa, Songwe and Lindi of Tanzania. These three districts were purposely chosen as discriminations with harsh consequences prevail when women try to claim their rights to land.

The outreach programme will address land challenges from the gender perspective and their related bundle of rights, and highlight land rights, land acts, and policies in Tanzania as instruments against gender discrimination to land, and develop a system to create common solutions. Such instruments are key to empower women and reduce related land conflicts at the grassroots level before seeking resolution for land disputes through other means.

Studies and evaluations that guide the African Union’s (AU)land intervention and policy have shown that African universities’ training and education in the specific area of land governance are often ‘imported’, thereby producing land professionals who are not equipped to meet Africa’s realities. Curriculums also tend to be too technical and have flaws in the social, cultural, political, economic and environmental aspects essential to the continent’s land governance and administration systems. To address the above, the AU developed the Guidelines for Curricula Development on Land Governance tailored to meet the continent’s realities.

NELGA Francophone West Africa node hosted by the University of Gaston Berger node organized a sensitization workshop on the Guidelines for Curricula Development on Land Governance in Africa from the 14th to 15th of April 2021 for university representatives and land governance academic and research stakeholders located in Francophone West Africa. The workshop which was held virtually provided the opportunity to clarify how the revision of land education programs can be made in line with the AU guidelines while remaining firmly entrenched in the West African context. The sensitization was necessary due to the limited attention given to land education in Francophone West Africa and the gap between education and the labour market and policy-making needs in most countries.

The meeting that UNECA’s Africa Land Policy Center coordinated with support from GIZ focused on creating a collective understanding of the guidelines and how this can be mainstreamed within current education programs or creating standalone academic programs. Land experts, specialists, policymakers, researchers from Senegal, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Niger, Togo, Mauritania, Congo, and Madagascar, attended this event. The two days’ workshop enclosed presentations and discussions on topics like Evolution of Land Governance in Africa, The Land Governance Industry, Land Governance in Rural, Urban and Peri-urban Areas, Gender, Women and Land, Environment, Climate Change and Land, Conflicts and Land Governance as well as Research and innovation.

Discussions at the meeting explained that the current education on land Governance in Africa is influenced by the outside world and is not reflective of our reality with influences from the pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial perspectives. The current situations are important reminders of the need to develop realistic land governance curricula which takes the best of the past and the present to bridge capacity gaps that will create the Africa we want in the land governance space. The guidelines are supposed to help shape our curriculum in a way that recognizes our historical context.

African universities play a key role in assisting the Member States in implementing the AU Agenda on Land and forming tailor-made land governance policies in Africa’s context. Participants discussed the African Union’s vision for revising land curricula with reflections from participants on their common understanding of the content of the framework of the guidelines. The meeting ended with an agreement to discuss how this can be applied and tailored to university specifications, and the respective country needs moving forward. They stressed how the workshop was necessary to expand their knowledge and grasp the tools and methodology that assist universities in reviewing land training programs. 

The Network of Excellence on Land Governance in Africa (NELGA) and its regional and technical nodes held its semiannual technical planning meeting virtually on Tuesday, 30th of March 2021, under the African Land Policy’s Center (ALPC) coordination. The meeting convenes NELGA coordinating and implementing partners to look at the experience of the past months of working together, identify lessons learned, and tag areas for strategic intervention towards meeting the AU land agenda towards 2063.

The recent planning meeting brought together the NELGA Nodes from the University of Western Cape (Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS), Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST), Université Gaston Berger (UGB), Hassan II Institute of Agronomy and Veterinary Sciences (IAV), ARDHI University and University of Yaoundé I. Other partners include the  GIZ and German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD),

The meeting reviewed 2021 Work Plans and discussed areas for synergy, amplification, dialogue, and intervention, especially as the continent tackles the Covid19 pandemic. Dr. Joan Kagwanja, Chief of the African Land Policy Centre and chair of the technical meeting, said, “I am grateful for all the achievements we have made so far in such a difficult year. So much work has been done despite all difficulties the pandemic has brought to our table. It is great to see our advisors, coordinators, and other stakeholders making headways and moving the dial on the continent’s land governance landscape. We may be a young network; however, this platform provides areas of synergy and cooperation towards reaching our goals while celebrating our intermediate achievements.”

Participants shared and spoke to the outcome of activities from research, training, and networking while documenting logical next steps towards bridging capacity gaps and strengthening the land governance space with data and empirical research findings for policy recommendations. To engage in the various platforms and enhance linkages with different stakeholders for NELGA to grow as a continental program. “We should continue contributing to the policy development processes in the different regions. And as a network, we can do a lot more. We should keep examining whether the indicators we have put for ourselves are helping us to measure how much we have achieved in terms of the gaps.” Said Dr. Kagwanja as a reminder to continue the hard work. Some areas of work identified include introducing e-learning platforms, policy recommendations in the various national agriculture investment plans, developing road maps, institutionalizing new land governance academic programs, publishing new research findings, insight on DAAD/NELGA scholarships, reviewing land legal frameworks, and impacting women’s rights, youth, and climate change, among others.

Following the presentation made by the secretariat, the stakeholders appreciated how far NELGA came in the knowledge management and dissemination as well as the communications area. They assured to contribute their part into achieving what is planned for the year 2021. Prof. Paul Tchawa, coordinator for the Central Africa Node, in appreciation, said, “We truly see areas of improvement in our journey as NELGA as we share common contribution and attribution in the evolving land governance space. Together, we can ensure we continue to build on our work for our continent, our economy, and our future.” He stated that he believes in working together as it makes it even more possible to achieve the AU Agenda on Land

The African Journal on Land Policy and Geospatial Sciences (AJLP & GS) publishes research articles in Land Policy and Geospatial Sciences thematic areas. The main intention of encouraging innovation, promoting the exchange of knowledge and scientific outcomes, released its first issue in May 2018. The journal has since released four volumes and 12 issues, including the most recent edition for 2021.

The new issue is the first edition of the year 2021, and it has nine articles published. The articles cover land administration, land governance, land corruption, land conflicts, and technical and digital solutions to land-related problems.

The AJLP & GS encourages researchers, professors, and professionals to publish and promote their research findings at the African, regional and global levels. The research piece in the journal improves the land governance sector, inspire future researchers to dig more and back up policymakers’ decisions with actual evidence.

To access the journal, click on the link below.

https://revues.imist.ma/index.php/AJLP-GS

Le gouvernement guinéen a récemment identifié la nécessité de former des professionnels pour relever les défis du pays dans le secteur de la gouvernance foncière. Ces défis entravent la mise en œuvre des politiques publiques de développement en Guinée, qui dépendent de ses ressources naturelles pour le développement du pays.

Il est évident qu’en raison du contrôle illégal des terres, du pluralisme des normes foncières entre l’État et les individus, des stratégies qui se chevauchent des acteurs internes et externes, ainsi que des codes fonciers et étatiques dépassés, le gouvernement a perdu le contrôle d’une grande partie de ses biens fonciers et immobiliers publics. Il est devenu difficile de trouver ou de récupérer des terres pour simuler des développements urbains et ruraux.

Afin de renforcer la capacité des professionnels à combler ces lacunes, le Réseau d’excellence sur la gouvernance foncière en Afrique, nœud francophone d’Afrique de l’Ouest, travaille avec l’Université de Kindia, en Guinée, pour mettre en place un programme de maîtrise sur la gouvernance foncière. Le nouveau programme tirera parti des Lignes directrices de l’Union africaine pour l’élaboration de programmes d’études sur la gouvernance foncière en Afrique. Un atelier sous-régional de quatre jours, du 12 au 16 janvier 2021, s’est tenu à l’Université Kindia dans le but de finaliser et de valider le programme universitaire de gouvernance foncière.

Au cours de l’atelier, le contexte du programme de diplôme et le processus de mise en place ont été présentés avec les objectifs des cours. Elle a été suivie par l’accréditation des cours, l’organisation de cours par semestre, la définition de la concentration du programme et du soutien aux ressources humaines, et enfin la production d’un document finalisé. L’atelier s’est terminé par un aperçu d’un plan de mise en œuvre du programme de maîtrise et d’autres domaines de collaboration.

The Network of Excellence on Land Governance in Africa (NELGA) held a panel discussion at the just concluded GIZ LandHub 2020 Meeting to highlight evidence-based best practices on how research can influence policy development and reforms.

The 90minute online panel discussion on December 15, 2020, demonstrated the crucial relationship between research and good policy advice in the land sector. The lively discussion, with panelists from Landportal, World Bank, GIZ, GIGA, policymakers, and the land governance community, discussed the theme: Research-Policy Linkages: How to improve Evidence-based Policy Advise in the Land Sector.  

For those who could not make it, find a summary of the discussion below.

 

Researchers and Policymakers Collaboration Benefits the Land Governance Space

Land Commissions consisting of policymakers, researchers, private sectors, and CSOs can identify important research areas and integrate data and research results into decision making – Willi Zimmermann

A point that cuts across all panelists was the call for increased collaboration between policymakers and researchers as this benefits everyone involved in the policy reform landscape. There should be a deliberate way for researchers, decision-makers, and policy writers to collaborate. The promotion of strategy, policy ownership, and transparency within governmental institutions are equally important.  Researchers need to get policymakers involved in research work as it is vital for promoting the research findings in policy recommendations.

If policymakers collaborate with researchers, it will be easier for governments to make evidence-based policy advice. This starts with formulating relevant research questions together. Researchers need to understand the different timeframes and logic that is available to the policymaker to make decisions. Both sides, the researcher and policymaker, should listen to one another and collaborate in solving identified problems. The policymaker should be open enough to listen to what the science (data and research) say.

Research policy forums could be useful means of discussing opportunities offered by both researchers and policymakers – Desire Tchigankong

Regardless of this inclusive collaboration, the policymakers should remain objective and encourage freedom of research as this helps produce the desired data for evidence-based decision making. Furthermore, encouraging private sectors and CSO’s involvement can provide innovative ways to promote a high level of advocacy, useful to back up policies with science.

The discussion acknowledged how the COVID situation gave an excellent lesson to politicians and policymakers worldwide. It was said the pandemic enhanced the importance of collaborations between policymakers and researchers not only in the health sector but also in other sectors such as agriculture and land tenure.

The Need for More Capacity Building

This leads to another point raised by both the policymakers and participants on capacity building as both groups agreed that research and training are inseparable, especially for young people. Capacity building for young researchers, academics, land experts, and potential policymakers goes a long way to create the future we want to see in the land governance space. There is a need to enhance researchers’ capacities in producing policy briefs and opinion pieces as the researcher should have the ability to make these. Policymakers should build their capacity to learn and truly understand the change that research could bring in the policy sector.

Presenting and Communicating Data is Crucial

Though data can be powerful to shape decisions, unfortunately, availability and access to land data remain low as ranked by the open data barometer. Data needs to remain accessible and available to a wide range of stakeholders. These stakeholders leverage this data to present evidence-based agile approaches that respond to policymakers’ circumstances. For instance, the coronavirus pandemic showed how vital data and information are to policymaking. The rise in digital platforms played a crucial role in data sharing inclusively during the health crisis.  Such inclusive communication ensures an increased understanding of the policymakers, bringing them into the discussion space and presenting data in a simple format for ease of understanding and action.  The academia must turn lengthy evidence-based research into a call for action, policy briefs, opinion pieces, and cooperate with international organizations for increased synergy, dissemination and implementation.

Discussions like these are of high relevance because they conduct a reality check to see if we are on the right track and what else we need. Both the scientific community and policymakers should work on their perceptions towards evidence-based decision making and learn to truly understand the change that research could bring in the policy sector. Under the directive of ALPC, NELGA participated in the meeting by the support of GIZ’s Strengthening Advisory Capacities for Land Governance in Africa program.

From September 9th to 10th, 2020, the Government of Cameroon, with the support of FAO and other partners, convened a multi-sectoral workshop to review, validate, and appropriate the Rural Sectarian Development Strategy and the National Agricultural Investment Plan (SDSR/PNIA) for 2020-2030, in Yaounde, Cameroon.

Since 2019, Cameroon has committed to making the rural sector one of the critical sectors contributing to its development. The SDSR/PNIA serves as the benchmark and framework for developing and investing in Cameroon’s rural areas. The policy documents play an integral part in the country’s commitment to the Malabo Declaration.

The meeting heard opening remarks from  FAO Representative on behalf of the Technical and Financial Partners (PTFs) for the development of the rural sector; a representative of the African Union (AU);  and a keynote address by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development that was followed by a brief presentation of the SDSR/PNIA 2020-2030 by the Coordinator of the Technical Secretariat of the SDSR/PNIA.

The SDSR/PNIA strategic directions consist of four main axes: 1) sustainable growth in production in the plant and forestry sectors, animal and fishing; 2) improving the collective infrastructure environment and access to factors of production; 3) strengthening the resilience of production systems, sustainable management of natural resources and food and nutrition security of vulnerable populations in the face of climate change; 4) Improving governance and human capital in the sector.

GIZ, through the Strengthening Advisory Capacities for Land Governance in Africa Program, carried out a study on the evaluation of land governance in Cameroon to make a significant contribution to the revision process of the SDSR/PNIA.

The Results of this study were submitted to the Technical Secretariat in charge of coordinating the review process. During the validation workshop, it was observed with great satisfaction that most of the actions and recommendations concerning land tenure were considered in the revised version of the SDRS/PNIA document.

These main actions and recommendations are the following:

• Involve decentralized local authorities, local communities, and indigenous peoples in the review process and implementation of the new PNIA.
• Finalize the implementation of land reforms that consider women’s rights, young people and indigenous people to land,  and the adoption of relevant compensation systems.  
• Finalize the implementation of forest reform, taking into account the guidelines of land reforms on securing rights, improving regulations on the sustainability of exploitation in the DFNP (Non-permanent forest estate), taking into account emerging factors such as climate change and other unpredictable social phenomena, internal displacement, and others.
• Finalize the implementation of  the pastoral code with consideration for the sustainability of operating systems, securing rights and arbitration of conflicts;
• The Law Framework on Environmental Management should be updated with allowances made for the sustainability of production systems, the vulnerability related to unpredictable social or natural phenomena, and international commitments to sustainable management sectors.
• Promoting the implementation of community consultation platforms for all initiatives.
• Institutionalization of independent land observation that will serve as collective vigilance.
• Digitization of the land registry and sharing information /communication on land operations.
• Monitoring and evaluating land governance issues by the Rural Sector Monitoring Committee (COS) and Strengthening COS in monitoring land governance issues.
• Support for mapping communities and promoting innovative approaches to community security (participatory mapping, mapping of community land rights, etc.).
• Awareness and information on land operations and the implementation of major development projects.
• Protection of watercourses and watersheds.
• Sensitization and accompaniment of women, youth and IPs in accessing land for agriculture.

Participants at the workshop include representatives from technical committees on SDSR, rural departmental programs, and ministries, civil society space, National Youth Council, the Chamber of Agriculture, Fisheries, Livestock and Forestry, including some regional representatives; the private sector, universities, other public administrative institutions,  consumer unions, and SDSR/PNIA Technical Secretariat. The applauded the use of the multi-sector approach for policy reviews and recommended that such actions be strengthened for ongoing sector policy development and review processes.

Following this meeting, the validated document will be shared with AUDA-NEPAD for an independent external technical journal. Subsequently, a bilingual edition of the SDSR/PNIA 2020-2030 document will be publicized and a business meeting scheduled to discuss stakeholders’ financial commitments towards implementing the SDSR/PNIA 2020-2030 plan.

Click the link below to read the full report of the study on evaluation of land governance in Cameroon.