Landesa in Africa

Targeting the root cause of poverty

Landesa and its partners are designing and implementing policies and laws that provide rural communities with secure and equitable rights to land and other natural resources. Secure land and resource rights provide a critical foundation for improving income, nutrition, education, health, even school enrollment- paving the way for more prosperous and peaceful communities.

With most of sub-Saharan Africa’s population living in rural areas and depending on agriculture to survive—secure  access and rights to land are critical for the stable and sustainable development of the continent. Landesa is working to ensure that Africa’s farming families have secure land rights which will allow them to invest in their land and build a better future for themselves and their communities.

Landesa’s work in Africa targets some of the root causes of poverty and insecurity in sub-Saharan’s Africa: contradictions between customary and formal law, failures to recognize and protect the land rights of rural communities, women’s lack of control over land assets, and weak land registration and conflict resolution institutions.

Active Projects in Africa

• Ethiopia
• Kenya
• Liberia
• Rwanda
• Uganda

Our Goals

• Strengthen women’s property and inheritance rights in law and practice
• Bridge customary and statutory laws governing land and natural resources
• Support community efforts to secure and defend formal collective land rights
• Reduce land-related conflict
• Assist displaced people to obtain secure land rights following conflict
• Safeguard communities’ land rights in the face of commercial pressures
• Help governments design conservation strategies based on secure property rights

Read More: Landesa in Africa Fact Sheet