Advocacy Events Ministerial Roundtable Breakfast

FINAL REPORT
LAND USE PRACTICES AND THEIR IMPACT ON RURAL DEVELOPMENT
1 July 2003, Geneva

Hosted by International Land Coalition in Conjunction with IFAD

Land Use Practices and their impact on Rural Development

ECOSOC Ministerial Breakfast Roundtable Discussion
Hosted by International Land Coalition in conjunction with IFAD
ECOSOC, 1 July 2003
8:00 a.m. - 9:45 a.m.

Eight ministerial level government representatives, three inter-governmental and three non-governmental representatives attended the ECOSOC High-Level Ministerial Breakfast Roundtable Discussion on Land Use Practices and their Impact on Rural Development organised by the International Land Coalition. (Please see participants list).  The Roundtable provided an opportunity for the participants to deliberate in-depth the topic of land use practices, land access and their importance to rural development.  The exchange of experiences and perspectives to these topics provided a valuable contribution to the promotion of an integrated approach to rural development for poverty eradication and sustainable land use which was a critical consideration for the 2003 Substantive Session of ECOSOC.

The Issues Paper for this Roundtable prepared by the International Land Coalition served as the discussion guide to the participants (please see text box 1).  Mr. Koos Richelle, Director-General for Development of the European Commission co-chaired the Roundtable with Mr. Bruce Moore, Coordinator of International Land Coalition.

In the context of the integrated and multi-sectoral dimension of access to land and rural development, as well as its importance to economic growth, the need for a common approach among institutions on access to land was highlighted.  The impact of globalisation, access to markets and food security by the rural poor also brought to the discussion the roles and needs of small farmers.   Capacity of local communities and their participation in decision-making, as well as working together among those with differing viewpoints, all are challenging but necessary pre-conditions to resolving land issues.   There are lessons from which we can learn from the past to build new approaches.  There is a need to use mechanisms that look beyond stakeholder differences in order to formulate a common platform for joint action.

Issues Paper

Secure Access to Land: A Key to Sustainable Rural Development

The World Food Summit (WFS) in 1996, and the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in 2002 each affirmed that improving secure access by the rural poor to land is basic to eradicating poverty and promoting development.  Access to land is an essential first step, but not a sufficient condition for sustainable rural development.  It must be linked with access to water, financial services, technology, capacity- building and markets.  Furthermore, the question of access to land must be addressed within the local territorial realities and relationships where decisions on resources will be made.

The already vast numbers of landless or near-landless people are growing as more and more farmers, woman-headed households, pastoralists and indigenous peoples are being deprived of land as a consequence of a multitude of factors, including land degradation; expropriation or privatization; demographic pressures; conflicts over natural resources; natural disasters;  expansion of commercial farming with its reduced use of labour; and, actions of extractive industries.   Most often, those using a parcel of land today have little, if any, assurance that they will have the right to use that land tomorrow.  Understandably, when property rights are lacking or insecure, poor rural people cannot be sure they will receive the benefits if they invest in restoring or preserving the long-term productivity of the land.

Studies, most recently reported in the World Bank's Policy Research Report "Land Policy for Growth and Poverty Reduction" provide compelling evidence of the overall benefits arising from more equitable land distribution. Democracy has usually occurred much later in countries dominated by owners of large parcels of land compared with those that relied on smallholder production. Communities with more egalitarian land access are characterised by higher levels of participation and collective action.  High land concentrations also reduce incentives for the provision of public goods and services.  Public provision of property rights prevent resource dissipation by providing both security (less resources required to protect rights) and incentives to invest in its productive potential. The total surplus production to be derived from land and associated public goods tends to increase with greater equality in the asset distribution.

Revived Commitments Equal New Opportunities

The revival of the rural agenda emphasizes resource rights and institutions. It draws attention to the need to strengthen the capacity of those organizations that mediate the access of the poor to land (i.e. community-based organisations, rural workers, women's groups, indigenous peoples, fisher folk, producer associations).   How can the institutions of the poor be strengthened?

  The new approach also highlights the need to support governments in providing the legislative, regulatory and judicial structures to provide and moderate the rules (laws, customs and administrative practices) that determine whether the poor benefit from improved access to land and related factors.  How can the capacity of governments be built so they may advance those normative reforms?  

 Within civil-society organizations, governments, and intergovernmental institutions there are often people striving to build broad-based political and economic support to improve land access and tenure security. These stakeholders can make important contributions by evaluating classical and emerging land access practices, experiences, concepts and methodologies.  There is a need to strengthen the capacity of multi-stakeholder coalitions and systems to collect, analyse and share knowledge on the new and innovative approaches for improving land access in order to overcome the constraints experienced in earlier models.  How can we strengthen the capacity of those coalitions and build on their experience?

  It is also important to test the viability of scaling up the experiences of civil society into national initiatives and to build on the strength of earlier agrarian reform programmes including the lessons for effective redistribution, restitution and resettlement. There is also a need to evaluate the potential of emerging land tenure markets; inter-alia negotiated or market-assisted, sharecropping, leasing, and corporate farming to determine if, and how, they can benefit the rural poor.  Can land markets help the rural poor, especially the landless, to gain and maintain access to land and related assets? If so, under what conditions and how?

 Achieving the MDGs and the goals of the WFS and WSSD requires partnerships at multiple levels and implies a political will and commitment.  This is of the utmost importance since the history of land use policies and access programmes has shown that civil society movements without the enabling policy and public support of government, and government-led initiatives undertaken without the support of civil society, rarely succeed. In many cases, civil society, governmental and intergovernmental organizations are pursuing what seem to be parallel paths and objectives, but, due to historical events, there are differences that are difficult to bridge.  What are the best ways and means to bridge those differences?

How can the institutions of the poor be strengthened?

First, it is crucial to identify institutions and organizations that are rooted in and directly reflect the priorities of the rural communities. This is the only way the needs and the knowledge of the poor can be shared and heard.

Second, it is important to examine the decision-making structure of NGOs to determine whether they are reflecting the priorities of the rural communities or whether a strong influence from for instance northern donors or NGOs is too dominant.

Third, resources should be allocated, at the local level, to ensure that women are involved in decision-making on access to land and that women and men have equal access to land.

Further, capacity-building should be provided to:

• Traditional leaders
• NGOs - to strengthen their policy advocacy and negotiation skills so they would be more influential in policy and reform processes
• Rural poor people - as opposed to their institutions - to improve their access to both land and tenure support mechanisms
• Related rural institutions and organizations, i.e. cooperatives

The capacity-building should, whenever possible, be provided to institutions, organizations and groups that already have some existing capacity.

How can the capacity of governments be built so they may advance those normative reforms?

Normative land reforms encompass two basic political questions, namely equity and access to productive resources. In many countries land ownership reflects political power, and this situation makes it difficult for NGOs and civil society organizations to advance the land agenda. As such, an important political decision regards how inclusive the decision-making process will be.

Existing development reforms have not been following the same or related methodologies or even similar direction. The lack of a common approach to access to land is causing further problems and so the need for practical guidelines was discussed. The question is very complex, since the recommendations must be tailored to the specific country context. 

Sector planning is crucial to the issue of land and therefore governments need capacity-building, involving i.e. technical, sociological and anthropological aspects, on how to take a holistic approach to land planning and land use.

The small-holder versus large-holder perspective must also be addressed and government's attention must be brought to consider the evidence, from both FAO and World Bank studies, that there is an inverse relationship between farm size and productivity. A study on the best combination of small and large farms for the optimal use of resources would be very useful.

It is essential to develop monitoring guidelines and to examine whether land reforms are having the expected effects and whether access to land by the poor is actually increased.

It is also important to raise government awareness of good experiences by governments and NGOs working together. The International Land Coalition is a mechanism that can assist governments to engage in participatory processes and to help governments open more space for stakeholder dialogue.

How can we strengthen the capacity of those coalitions and build on their experience?

One of the significant strengths of the International Land Coalition and other coalitions lies in the wide range of perspectives, provided by the different stakeholders. Furthermore, a coalition involving various stakeholders is a forum to share experiences, knowledge and practical ideas. When working together it is essential to focus on the common ground among the stakeholders, instead of differences. Confidence can be built among the stakeholders when working together.

The International Land Coalition has lessons learned from the experiences with two of its programmes: (i) Land Alliances for National Development; and (ii) Towards a Common Platform for Access to Land on creating spaces for dialogue and collaboration and suggesting alternative ways to deal with access to land.

Guidelines on how to scale up successful grassroots level experiences are being developed.

Can land markets help the rural poor, especially the landless, to gain and maintain access to land and related assets? If so, under what conditions and how?

It is essential to understand that the issue of access to land is a very challenging political issue involving issues of democratization of access to land.

Globalization means opening of markets and poses the questions of how to secure access to land for the poor, guarantee their competitiveness and allow them to generate revenue.

It is essential to establish indicators to assess how much land is needed by different groups and for different purposes so that the land can become the basis to improve rural incomes and also contribute to the overall economy.

What are the best ways and means to bridge the differences between governments, inter-governmental organizations and civil society organizations?

It is essential to create spaces for the exchange of the experiences of governments, inter-governmental organizations and civil society organizations and for participation by the poor in decision-making relating to the various aspects of access to land.

There is a growing awareness, that neither civil society nor government initiatives stand good chances of succeeding without involvement by the other. However, there is often a lack of trust between the two.

One of the most important lessons learned by the International Land Coalition is that by creating a space for interaction and facilitating the exchange of information it is possible to build confidence among stakeholders which adds to their willingness to work together.

Donors also have an important role in supporting the participatory process, providing they do not make their support conditional on short term results.

Prepared by the International Land Coalition, Via del Serafico 107, 00142 Rome, Italy, Tel. +39-0654592445, info@landcoalition.org