The Assembly in Ten Points
Bruce H. Moore

1. Situate access to land in a socio-political framework - Secure access to land is a necessary, but not a sufficient, condition for overcoming rural poverty. Land issues must be pursued in a framework that links together people, and the social, cultural, political and economic processes of a given territory.

2. Creating multi-stakeholder spaces for dialogue can result in a shared public vision of the benefits of more equitable patterns of land access. It can build up alliances for a reform agenda and bring about agreement on how to address interests that are resistant to change.

3. Strengthen the role of communities in policy making - Strengthening the capacity of community-based organizations and their networks can build up the collective power of poor rural people to represent their interests in policy-making and to negotiate and defend their rights with decision-makers.

4. Promote a precautionary principle for the use of land as collateral - Farmland, being a hard won asset by the poor, should not be put at risk. When used as collateral to finance production, the risks may outweigh the opportunities. The gains in income required to service the debt may be more risky than when collateral takes the form of crops, livestock, implements or other moveable household assets. If these assets are claimed by lenders, they can be re-acquired providing that the basic income producing asset, the land, is protected. Also, the farmland as collateral model is based on individual land holdings which may attract small producers away from the group securities provided by collective management and sharing of resources.

5. Support and protect common property and group rights to land - Common property systems, group user rights, common pool resources, and collective rights are all viable ways to provide asset security for the poor. These systems are fundamental to the well-being of large numbers of people and are increasingly important where growing populations depend on the same scarce resources.

6. Advocate for the legal protection of the resource-rights of poor households - Land reform beneficiaries need the legal security of an effective land administration system that can protect them from challenges to their rights and prevent "ill-gotten" land or land that has been grabbed, from being legalized. The risk of illegally obtained land becoming regularized is at its highest when land administration is separate from, or comes before, land reform.

7. Encourage government compliance with international commitments to land reform - World summits and ratified conventions have committed governments to land reform. Compliance frequently falls short. While government capacity may need to be improved, it is equally necessary to strengthen the institutions of the rural poor to help them become more powerful advocates for compliance through public policies and decision-making processes.

8. Support strategies to prevent and resolve resource-based conflicts - Resource-based conflicts are increasing in frequency and severity, often being linked to overlapping tenure; ancestral claims; extractive industries; landless farm workers; former landowners; or, land grabbing during civil conflict. Most organizations experience a gap in their capacity to conduct conflict analysis, intervention, mediation and negotiation. The Land Coalition may act as a broker of information, sharing experiences and lessons learned and providing training opportunities.

9. Encourage countries to establish inclusive decision-making processes - Transforming land relationships is most likely to produce lasting effects if all parties effecting and being affected by policy changes, take an active part in the decision-making processes. Public consultations, including those promoted by the Land Coalition, should be pro-active in encouraging the participation of social movements and private sector organizations.

10. Use unformation technology to strengthen collective action - Information technology has transformed the world from being organized into communities sharing the same geographic frame of reference, into communities of common interest. As a community concerned with land rights, it is possible to use technology to instantly identify and debate issues, seek agreements for common action and to then intervene in processes that, in the past, would either have remained unknown, or decided upon, before action could have been taken in solidarity with like-minded organizations.