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You are here: Home1 / agricultural commodities

Tag Archive for: agricultural commodities

Securing land rights: one stone, three birds

30 November 2022/by Alice Bisiaux

Land tenure defines who owns land and its resources and under what conditions. Roughly 65% of the world’s total land area is managed under local, customary or communal tenure systems, but Indigenous Peoples and local communities have formal legal ownership of only 10% of the land.

These numbers are all the more sobering when the top climate scientists recognise that strengthening land tenure security is central to transition to a green economy. Similarly, biodiversity scientists have found that deforestation is lower on land managed by Indigenous Peoples. Securing land rights also increases sustainable productivity, securing livelihoods and fighting poverty. All in all, tenure security comes with significant climate, biodiversity and development benefits: three birds with one stone. However, when looking at the national climate plans of major forest countries, more could be done to foster the securing of land rights.

Why does land tenure security matter? 

Land tenure insecurity is a key driver of deforestation and land degradation. In various African countries, farmers burn down forests as a means to secure more farmable land. Without land security, farmers and local communities have no incentive to protect valuable tree species that take years to mature into marketable timber resources.

In contrast, the Working Group II contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) finds that strengthening the land and resource rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities is:

  • A precondition for good land governance
  • A unique opportunity to combat climate change and safeguard biodiversity, including by preventing deforestation and forest degradation
  • One of the best nature-based solutions, able to unleash numerous sustainable development benefits

This is in part because securing land rights, including through customary systems, can incentivise farmers to adopt long-term climate-smart practices. These practices:

  • Increase sustainable productivity, thereby strengthening food security
  • Enhance farmers’ resilience
  • Reduce agriculture’s greenhouse gas emissions
  • Increase carbon sequestration – the process of capturing and storing atmospheric carbon dioxide, thereby reducing climate change
Ivorian couple holds their land certificate
Ivorian couple holds their land certificate. Source: Nitidae

In Ghana for example, cocoa farmers that hold a land certificate have an income per hectare that is on average 15.5% higher than those without. Being a legal landowner increases productivity by 21.9% on average, all other variables being equal. Knowing that poverty is a key deforestation driver, securing land rights, and thus farmers’ income, can play a significant role in fighting forest loss.

Furthermore, having documentary evidence of legal land ownership will enable operators in increasingly regulated markets to carry out their due diligence obligations. It will also enable smallholders and farmers to demonstrate legal compliance, thereby helping them access sustainable supply chains and international markets. This access typically means they will be able to sell their products at a higher price than on domestic markets, thereby increasing their income and rewarding their sustainable and legal practices.

The multiple benefits of secure land tenure are not only well known among the international community. An EFI-led project in the Republic of the Congo found that 100% of women and youth identify the need for legally securing their access to land as their number one priority. The strong link between land tenure and the fight against climate change calls for assessing whether national climate plans have given land tenure security the attention it deserves in their national climate plans.

Land tenure in climate plans

Ahead of the Paris Climate Change Conference in 2015, countries were invited to submit their ‘intended’ post-2020 climate plans, known as their intended nationally determined contributions (NDCs). A brief by the Rights and Resources Initiative, “Indigenous Peoples and Local Community Tenure in the INDCS,” reviewed 130 or so intended NDCs. It found that only 21 countries, representing 13% of tropical and subtropical forest area, had made a clear commitment to implement Indigenous Peoples and local communities tenure security or community-based natural resource management.

In 2022, ahead of the Glasgow Climate Change Conference or COP26, Parties to the Paris Agreement on climate change were invited to review their NDCs. This provided them with an opportunity to address tenure security or strengthen their existing pledges. In a 2021 blog post, “Taking stock of national climate plans: what’s in it for forests?”, we reviewed 19 NDCs of forest-rich countries in 2021 and found that limited progress has been made:

  • Four mention land tenure
  • The Democratic Republic of the Congo is the only one to mention land tenure of Indigenous Peoples
  • Côte d’Ivoire is the only one to mention land tenure of local communities
  • Nine include a vague reference to Indigenous Peoples and local communities’ rights: Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Canada, Côte d’Ivoire, Ecuador, Indonesia, Liberia and the Republic of the Congo

Among the 19 countries analysed in 2021, six submitted updated NDCs in 2022. But only one of these, Gabon, added a reference to land tenure to its NDC.

How to accelerate the securing of tenure

To foster the securing of land rights and “kill the three birds” (address climate change, protect biodiversity and unleash development benefits):

  • Concerned countries should engage in reflections to offer legal alternatives to land titling through some more affordable and speedier process that provides legal certainty (read more on how the EU REDD Facility supports local communities’ land tenure in Côte d’Ivoire) 
  • Bilateral and multilateral climate financing mechanisms should ensure the USD 1.7 billion promised at COP 26 in Glasgow to recognise indigenous and local community land rights is disbursed and spent.
  • Countries should be encouraged to include specific and measurable tenure and natural resource rights goals for Indigenous Peoples and local communities in revising their NDCs in 2023 and/or in their implementation plans.

Parties should monitor the development and resulting climate benefits of community-based tenure systems and share their experiences and lessons learnt.

Romuald Vaudry

Romuald Vaudry

Romuald leads the Facility’s work on sustainable land-use policies in Côte d’Ivoire and Cameroon. He also contributes to the Facility’s work on public-private partnerships promoting sustainable agricultural production, landscapes and supply chains in Central and West Africa.

Romuald was previously based in Africa, coordinating REDD+ projects for the French NGO Nitidæ. He has also served as a forest technician for the Regional Office for Private Woodland in Normandy, France. He has a background in forestry and integrated land-use planning.

https://euredd.efi.int/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/secure-land-tenure-cote-ivoire.jpg 628 1200 Alice Bisiaux https://euredd.efi.int/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/EU-REDD-Facility-logo-tagline.svg Alice Bisiaux2022-11-30 10:58:572022-11-30 12:00:15Securing land rights: one stone, three birds

Tackling deforestation through sustainable land use and agricultural commodity production

17 February 2020/by EU REDD Facility

The EU imports and consumes more than a third of internationally traded crops and livestock products associated with deforestation in tropical countries. This briefing presents some approaches and initiatives led by the EU REDD Facility to tackle deforestation in tropical countries associated with agricultural commodity production.

Read more
https://euredd.efi.int/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Aerial-views-Buluq-Sen-village-East-Kalimantan-Indonesia-CIFOR.jpg 628 1200 EU REDD Facility https://euredd.efi.int/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/EU-REDD-Facility-logo-tagline.svg EU REDD Facility2020-02-17 15:37:002022-08-24 13:55:47Tackling deforestation through sustainable land use and agricultural commodity production

Engaging with smallholder cocoa farmers to develop deforestation-free supply chains in Côte d’Ivoire

10 December 2015/by EU REDD Facility

The EU REDD Facility engages with the Government of Côte d’Ivoire, the private sector and smallholders to support development of deforestation-free cocoa production. The ultimate aim is deforestation-free agricultural production.

Read more
https://euredd.efi.int/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/engaging-smallholders-cocoa-famers-cote-ivoire.jpg 628 1200 EU REDD Facility https://euredd.efi.int/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/EU-REDD-Facility-logo-tagline.svg EU REDD Facility2015-12-10 07:52:002022-08-29 08:39:44Engaging with smallholder cocoa farmers to develop deforestation-free supply chains in Côte d’Ivoire

Latest blog posts

  • A stakeholder mapping exercise with representatives of oil palm smallholders from Bunga Karang Village, Banyuasin District, South Sumatra Province, Indonesia, where EFI and partners support the implementation of social forestry policy.WRI IndonesiaEnhancing land security: lessons from Côte d’Ivoire and Indonesia30 November 2022 - 11:46 am

    In many parts of the world, Indigenous Peoples and local communities have no legal recognition of their rights over the forest land they live on. At the EU REDD Facility, we have gathered experience in Côte d’Ivoire and Indonesia to find innovative solutions to enhance local communities’ and smallholders’ legal security over their lands.

  • Ivorian couple holds their land certificateNitidaeSecuring land rights: one stone, three birds30 November 2022 - 10:58 am

    Land tenure insecurity is a key driver of deforestation and land degradation. In contrast, tenure security comes with significant climate, biodiversity and development benefits: three birds with one stone. However, when looking at the national climate plans of major forest countries, more could be done to foster the securing of land rights.

  • Palm oil plantations in IndonesiaSatrio Wicaksono, EFITraining land-use planners for sustainable landscapes13 July 2022 - 5:59 pm

    Landscapes around the world have experienced dramatic transformations in recent decades. Global supply chains link smallholder palm oil farmers in Indonesia with major retailers, like Lidl, Carrefour and Tesco, in Europe or cocoa growers in Ghana to chocolatiers in Belgium. The growing population of our globalised world has intensified pressure on land, soils, water and forests. Ensuring the health of these ecosystems is essential to address climate change, biodiversity loss and land degradation to achieve sustainable development.

  • Reducing the bitterness of coffee from Vietnam’s Central Highlands20 June 2022 - 3:00 pm

    I love coffee in the morning, its taste, its aroma and the boost of energy it gives me to start the day. While enjoying a fresh brew some years ago, I began to think about what was behind my morning cup – where do the beans come from? What are the landscapes where they are produced like? And who are the people that harvest this coffee?

  • Six ingredients of successful partnerships for legal and sustainable forest-risk commodities20 June 2022 - 1:46 pm

    How can we ensure legal and sustainable value chains that unleash local wellbeing and protect forest and biodiversity without excluding smallholders? The answer may be in the mixing of six ingredients to whip up successful multistakeholder partnerships that can support legal and sustainable supply chains of forest-risk commodities.

  • 10 years 10 lessonsSeason’s greetings and 2021 in review31 December 2021 - 4:34 pm

    As 2021 draws to a close, I’d like to take this opportunity to share some highlights from this year’s work by the EU REDD Facility. This year we celebrated the 10th anniversary of our founding, taking the opportunity to reflect on the lessons we learned over the last decade. We’re working to ensure these insights help to shape and accelerate action for protecting and restoring the world’s forests.

About the EU REDD Facility

The EU REDD Facility supports countries in improving land-use governance as part of their efforts to slow, halt and reverse deforestation. It also supports the overall EU effort to reduce its contribution to deforestation in developing countries. The Facility focuses on countries that are engaged in REDD+, an international mechanism that incentivises developing countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from their forest and land-use sectors. The Facility is hosted by the European Forest Institute and was established in 2010.

Disclaimer

This website has been produced with the assistance of the European Union and the Governments Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands. The contents of this site are the sole responsibility of the European Forest Institute’s EU REDD Facility and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of funding organisations.

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Except where otherwise noted, content on this site is licensed under Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0. Credit information: European Forest Institute, www.efi.int
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