Bringing Land back to the Agenda
In a new position paper, Anna Schreiber from Welthungerhilfe discusses why land reforms and their implementation are crucial for sustainable development in Africa and beyond.
Climate change, food insecurity, biodiversity loss, and conflict rightly command global urgency. Yet land policy reform – fundamental to addressing these crises – remains sidelined. Weak land governance can fuel conflict, undermines climate action, and limits agricultural productivity. For billions across Africa and the Global South, land is more than a resource: it is livelihood, cultural identity, and economic security. Without equitable and secure land rights, many of the Sustainable Development Goals – from ending hunger to tackling climate change – will remain out of reach. Despite this, land governance is still treated as a niche issue: underfunded, siloed, and abandoned before reforms move from paper to practice.
From 10–13 November, the Sixth Conference on Land Policy in Africa (CLPA) will convene in Addis Ababa, hosted by the African Union Commission, the African Development Bank, and the UN Economic Commission for Africa. Under the theme “Land Governance, Justice and Reparations for Africans and Descendants of the African Diaspora,” it centers land in justice, equity, and sustainable futures and calls on the global community to rethink its role.
Land policy reforms in the past decade have driven important progress – from stronger legal recognition of community and women’s land rights to clearer safeguards for responsible investments. Yet, evidence from the Land for Life Initiative shows that legal reforms are only the first step. Weak implementation, limited resources, low public awareness, and insufficient involvement of local actors continue to undermine lasting impact. Land governance remains underfunded and siloed, often disconnected from climate, biodiversity, and food-systems agendas despite being fundamental to their success. Coordination among international actors is still fragmented, and the potential of the private sector to act as a constructive partner is largely untapped. The core lesson is clear: only long-term, coordinated, locally led, and cross-sector approaches can ensure that land reforms move from paper into practice and that land rights are truly protected.
It is time to treat land governance as a cornerstone of sustainable development. Shifting from fragmented, prescriptive interventions to catalytic support can empower local institutions and communities to lead in turning policies into food security, peace, and a just transition.
Our Call to Action
Addressing these issues requires governments, regional bodies, donors, and the private sector to prioritize land governance, align support, and shift power to local actors. Therefore, the position paper recommends: Therefore, the position paper recommends:
- Invest in land reform as a long-term, holistic process
- Integrate land governance into other international and national processes
- Strengthen coordination and put local actors in the lead
- Support and scale multi-stakeholder partnerships
- Advance human-rights due diligence and constructive private-sector engagement
Find the full position paper here.