Land, Legacy, and the Power of a Generation
A growing number of youth in Africa are landless or possess only informal land rights. However, a new generation is helping to shape change. They are demanding a say, advocating for justice and opportunities, and demonstrating that land rights mean more than just ownership. They open up prospects, secure livelihoods and strengthen scope for action. John World Bonoua, member of the Youth Initiative for Land in Africa (YILAA), talks about how young people's perspectives are changing the debate on land policy.
The future of the African continent is young. It is ambitious, determined – and it demands its place. Millions of young people look to a continent rich in land, resources, and knowledge, yet marked by unequal access, a lack of transparency, and limited opportunities. Land is far more than an economic resource – it is origin and promise. It carries the memories and stories of generations. Land is identity, community, and continuity. Those who have access to it hold the power to shape the future. And yet, for many, this possibility remains out of reach.
Youth as the Force Behind a New Land Vision
Traditional power structures, opaque ownership systems, the influence of local elites and foreign investors, as well as deeply rooted mechanisms of discrimination and exclusion against marginalized groups, have made access to land one of the central social conflicts of our time. While older generations often feel compelled to sell land in order to finance short-term ambitions or other opportunities, young people are losing their connection to a resource that has provided prosperity and dignity for generations. Some migrate, others seek their fortune in informal gold mining or in the precarious structures of rapidly growing cities. What remains is a structural vacuum: a lack of perspectives and hardly any space for integration – economically or socially.
Yet land itself could be the key. For Africa’s youth, it is not an inheritance to be managed but an investment that enables the future.
They dream of a continent where access to land is a right, not a privilege; where women and young people take part in decisions on how land is used and protected; and where land governance is not a tool of power but an expression of justice, prosperity, and peace.
Out of this conviction emerged the Youth Initiative for Land in Africa (YILAA) – a pan-African network of young people who see good governance as a precondition for emancipation. YILAA operates in over 30 countries, promoting education, research, and exchange, and amplifying voices long unheard. Every two years, the network organizes the International Conference on Youth Land Governance in Africa (CIGOFA), where young professionals, activists, and decision-makers come together to discuss and shape ideas for fairer land policies. The next edition will take place in 2026 in Cape Town – another step towards recognising Africa’s youth as equal actors in questions of land and development.
Knowledge, Networks, and the Power of New Initiatives
But political spaces alone are not enough. Knowledge is the foundation of every transformation. The Network of Excellence on Land Governance in Africa (NELGA) has, in recent years, trained a new generation of land experts who now teach at universities, develop strategies, and help shape public discourse. Many of them are part of a broader paradigm shift: away from the mere administration of the status quo towards inclusive and adaptive land governance. The fact that NELGA is due to end in 2026 would be a loss reaching far beyond the programme itself.
Alongside academia, civil society is a driving force behind this transformation. Organisations and local initiatives train young people, raise awareness, and build bridges between communities and state institutions. In Côte d’Ivoire, for example, young people were trained to use simple GPS devices to document land boundaries and prevent conflicts – today, they are indispensable partners in their communities. In places where women, through initiatives such as Les Amazones du Foncier, have been informed about their rights, new forms of local authority have emerged: women who not only cultivate land but protect it.
These experiences show what becomes possible when participation is taken seriously. Where young people and women are involved in decision-making, land governance becomes more transparent, fair, and peaceful. They also show that structural change requires not grand gestures but consistent political and financial support. For a long time, agriculture was seen as the last resort for those who had failed in the education system. Today, a different picture emerges. Projects in Benin demonstrate that modern, agroecological approaches can not only secure income but also strengthen ecological responsibility. Young people learn to link sustainable agriculture with the circular economy and resource protection. They produce more sustainably and, in doing so, shape an economy that thinks ahead. Yet without access to land, even the best training remains ineffective. State-owned land is often unused or managed without transparency. Here lies enormous potential. Technical and financial partners – including international organisations – can, through targeted programmes, encourage governments to make land available to young people.
This would send a powerful signal beyond agriculture: a commitment to see youth as an investment, not a risk.
Innovation, Responsibility, and the Future of Land Policy
Technology also plays a central role. Digitalization is no longer an option but a prerequisite for fair land governance. Across the continent, young Africans are developing digital tools that bring transparency: apps that register land titles, track ownership, prevent conflicts, and make data accessible. They use drones, blockchain, and artificial intelligence – and show that innovation is not an imported idea but deeply rooted in Africa’s own ingenuity.
But technology alone is not enough. Without education, without values, without intergenerational dialogue, it loses direction. Africa’s future will emerge from the connection between experience and courage, between tradition and renewal. In many communities, knowledge about how humans and nature live in balance has been passed down for generations. This cultural intelligence is as valuable as any digital solution. The land governance of the future must arise from this dialogue – between those who remember and those who create.
Africa’s youth is not afraid, and it lacks neither ideas nor energy. What it lacks are trust, resources, and space to act. Access to land must be rethought, ownership clarified, and digital innovation encouraged. Above all, youth must no longer be the target of political programmes but become their co-creators. The Africa of tomorrow will not be built in strategy papers but in the hands of those ready to take responsibility today. Land is more than property – it is the foundation of self-determination. When young people have access to land, they invest not only in their own future but in peace, food security, and sovereignty. Africa’s youth is not the problem – it is the resource we must activate. Give them the means to act, research, and create – and land will once again become what it has always been: the foundation of life, community, and hope.