For the one billion people around the world who live without secure rights to the land they depend on, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. The keys to stronger land rights are as varied as the geographies themselves.
No one knows this better than Landesa. We work with governments and civil society to change laws and policies, and to overcome persistent social barriers to strengthen land rights. From the rubber farms in Liberia to the paddy fields in Myanmar and China, Landesa’s programs are securing futures for families who depend on land to survive.
Every context requires a localized approach, and Landesa has established offices around the globe with local staff and partners rooted in their communities, buoyed by Landesa’s fifty years of experience, research, and knowledge.
This year alone, across three continents, we have strengthened the land rights for 76 million people.
We realize that partnering with local groups and governments is not enough. We are also advocating at the UN and working with companies to include land rights in their agendas. And importantly, Landesa is helping to launch a global campaign to close the gap between policy and practice – a gap that prevents women around the world from realizing their legal rights to own land.
This is only possible because we have dedicated partners, donors, staff, volunteers, and friends who believe when people have rights to the land they depend on to survive, powerful things happen: families benefit, communities thrive, and individuals have the opportunity to invest in their futures.
Thank you for your partnership in this important work.
Chris Jochnick
President & CEO
Scroll through the map to learn more about a few of the places where we’ve worked in the past year.
Through our decades of work in more than 50 countries, Landesa has learned that women and men often use land differently, and experience different barriers and benefits when it comes to secure land rights. Research shows that strengthening women’s rights to land and productive assets has powerful continued ripple effects, including:
After working together for over a decade, I am more convinced of the need for an organization like Landesa. It’s rare for an organization to work at the issue of property rights from both the top down and the bottom up, and that’s exactly what Landesa does, partnering with governments, foreign aid agencies, and local legal resources to directly help marginalized populations in developing countries to help secure their property rights. The more than $20 million USD Omidyar Network has granted to Landesa continues to be a rewarding investment in helping the world’s rural poor achieve greater security, stability, and wealth through property rights.
Thank you to all of the individual donors, foundations, corporations, and partners who made contributions in Fiscal Year 2018 (July 1, 2017–June 30, 2018). Your support makes our work possible.
It has been my privilege to work for FORTY years to help spread the democratic land tenure laws formulated by Dr. Roy Prosterman to developing countries.
From its inception as The Rural Development Institute (RDI), up to its brilliant present-day incarnation as Landesa, Roy’s ideas, leadership and tireless hard work have resulted in the NGO which today is ranked ninth in the world in its effectiveness.
It is very rare to find a cause so completely worthy and exciting as Landesa has been for me and for others.
I support Landesa because they're making real sustainable change! I like to give monthly because I know that my consistency will help Landesa focus on their mission.