Women should have a right over land - land expert

By Deusdedit Ruhangariyo
In Addis Ababa

 Africa cannot afford to exclude half of its rural producers from access to an important production factor because it is not only undemocratic but also ant-economic, Dr. Hubert Ouedraogo, a senior land expert at the Land Policy Initiative has said.

He was on Monday presenting a paper entitled: ‘Strengthening Women’s Land Rights in Africa’ at a one-day journalists training workshop on Land Policy in Africa at the African Union Conference Centre in Addis Ababa.

The Land Policy Initiative is a joint programme of the tripartite consortium consisting of the African Union Commission (AUC), the African Development Bank (AfDB) and United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). Its purpose is to enable the use of land to lend impetus to the process of African development.

Acknowledging the complexity and the sensitivity of the issue, Dr. Ouedraogo added that the time is now to move women’s land rights from the private sphere of marriage to place it on the public domain of human rights.

 “30% of land should be allocated by the state to women, 30% of women should have documented land rights and 30% of women should be in land professions by 2025,” he added.

Earlier, Dr. Janet Edema in her opening remarks  on behalf of the tripartite consortium AUC-AfDB-ECA, said some of the key achievements of the Land Policy Initiative include the development of a Framework and Guidelines on Land Policy in Africa (F&G), adopted by the African Ministers responsible for land in April 2009, and further endorsed by African Heads of State and Government through a Declaration on Land Issues and Challenges in Africa during the Thirteenth Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union, in July 2009.

The F&G is facilitating the development and implementation of national land policies that foster economic growth and secure livelihoods of African people. The LPI is currently in the second phase of its activities, which focus on assisting member states in the implementation of the AU Declaration on Land in accordance with the F&G.

While closing the workshop which was intended to prepare journalists from across the continent to cover the inaugural land conference in Africa from 11 – 14th November 2014, Prof. KImani Njogu, a consultant with the African Union, challenged journalists to put a human face on land stories and also called upon media training institutions of higher learning to develop curricula about land journalism.