Empowering millions of women and men with a powerful tool they can use to improve their lives:

LAND RIGHTS

WHY DO LAND RIGHTS MATTER?

Most of the world’s poor share three traits: they live in rural areas, rely on agriculture and forests to survive, and don’t have legal control over the land on which they depend. We can help them escape this poverty trap. Stronger rights to land have the power to reduce poverty and conflict, increase economic activity, empower women, strengthen food security, and improve environmental stewardship — for an individual, a family, a community, and an entire country.

WHO WE ARE

ENGAGE

Landesa partners with progressive governments and civil society to develop pro-poor and gender-sensitive laws, policies, and programs that strengthen land rights for the poorest people. In Africa and Asia, our land rights experts work shoulder to shoulder with government officials, local leaders, and rural residents developing scalable, practical, and innovative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing problems – food insecurity, conflict, climate change, women’s lack of empowerment.

WHAT WE DO

EXPLORE

Strong, legal rights to land can provide the rural poor with the opportunity, security, and incentive they need to invest in their land to improve their harvests and their lives. Learn more about the connection between land rights and the most significant challenges of our time, from nutrition to climate change, from inclusive economic development to gender equality.

RESOURCES

JOIN

In an era defined by concerns over food security, environmental sustainability, stubborn cycles of poverty, and conflict over land, strong land rights for the world’s poorest citizens are critical. Landesa champions the power of land rights for rural women, men, and communities as a fundamental building block for a safer and more prosperous future. Join the global land rights movement—make your gift to Landesa today.

GIVE

RECENT NEWS

Event

Global WA Goalmakers Conference | SDG 13: The Climate Action Imperative

December 08, 2021

The panel will discuss overall trends to tackle the climate imperative in development work, as well as several specific efforts: addressing deforestation through protection of Indigenous community tenure rights, climate smart agriculture initiatives, and government commitments to safeguard coastal mangroves areas.

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Event

The Power of Communities: Girls’ education and women’s leadership as drivers of climate resilience

November 30, 2021

This virtual event, hosted by Devex in partnership with the Hilton Foundation, will explore how investing in girl’s education can help increase their resilience to climate change, but also how it can play a key role in fostering girls’ and women's climate leadership and climate action.

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Field Focus Blog

If We Are Not Talking About a Daughter’s Right to Inherit Land, We Are Missing Something Foundational

November 25, 2021

It is time to include equal inheritance for girls as an integral part of our solutions towards their equal self-worth, dignity and opportunity.

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What's New

Announcing the Community-Smart Consultation and Consent Project

November 18, 2021

The CSCC Project will strengthen natural resource governance by improving understanding, capacity, and implementation of good consultation and consent practices for the benefit of all stakeholders, including Indigenous Peoples, local communities, civil society, government, and the private sector.

What's New

November Plotlines: Engaging in climate justice

November 10, 2021

Building climate resilience through land rights; New blogs on land expropriation in China and women's & youth land rights; How we engage in climate justice.

Field Focus Blog

We Must Listen to Women to Tackle Our Changing Climate

November 09, 2021

Women are underrepresented in climate leadership but hold the solutions for both people and planet.