Modern land reforms remain indispensable to tackle gender inequality in areas where customary discriminatory practices are dominant. Landesa intern Joy Imbuye examines positive practices and challenges in advancing women’s land rights in select countries in Francophone Africa.
A discriminatory land governance system coupled with gendered social norms result in violence and oppression of women in Jharkhand, India.
Although Indigenous and rural communities are vital to the fight against climate change, in many countries these populations struggle to obtain formal rights over their land. Securing land rights for rightful landholders addresses poverty and climate change together.
Gender-responsive land tenure and property rights interventions can be an important catalyst in bringing the kind of revolutionary change necessary to correct the existing bias against women and girls, and forge more resilient societies in a post-pandemic world.
Secure land tenure is key to eradicating poverty, increasing agricultural investment and ensuring food security, and is an essential element of climate action and climate resilience. Yet women have far weaker rights to land than men.