After a ten-year revision process, the Land Rights Act (LRA) was passed in 2018 in Liberia with major improvements like the recognition of customary tenure, the establishment of a process by which customary land tenure could be recognised within two years, and stronger women’s land rights, including spousal land rights. The act proved to be unprecedented progress as under the previous land tenure system, 80% of Liberians lived without legally recognised land rights. However, room for improvement remains, particularly as related to processes related to land use planning and survey services. Especially in the context of unsustainable food systems, biodiversity loss and climate change, securing land rights for local communities plays a critical role in reversing the curve.

That's where NLC Liberia comes in. Officially known as the Multi-Actor Platform on Land Governance and Responsible Agricultural Investment in Liberia (MAP Liberia Land Platform), NLC Liberia was founded in February 2018 by the Liberia Land Authority (LLA) and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs). The platform provides a dialogic forum bringing together 40 institutions from the Government, CSOs, POs, Academia, the Private Sector and International Development Partners, with the overall aim of contributing to improved land governance and food security, especially for women, youths, and vulnerable populations, through promoting policies and practices around land, environment and responsible agricultural investment. The full implementation of equal access to land for women, youth, and other vulnerable groups is a key priority of the platform. The NLC also works towards ensuring the conformity of agricultural investments to basic human rights standards, especially the right to food and improved livelihoods for vulnerable populations.

Platform members organise in thematic working groups around land rights formalisation, land rights for women, youth and people with disabilities, responsible land-based agricultural investment, climate change, and nature. In addition, the platform has a governing structure, a secretariat and an evolving plan to consolidate the ongoing establishment of two sub-national chapters in Western Liberia and Southeast Liberia. Members of NLC Liberia advocated effectively for Liberia's new land law and remain mobilised to ensure that -- beyond the policies and laws -- land governance practices are people-centred. In this regard, members have also accompanied the enactment of secondary legislation to implement the new land law and are accompanying the implementation of the law.