LAND GRABBING & CONFLICT
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Practises changed
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The global rush for land exacerbates inequality, fueling conflicts
What is land grabbing, exactly?
- Land grabbing happens when big companies, governments, or powerful people take control of large areas of land—often much more than what local farmers usually own
- When land is grabbed, it is always done without the Free, Prior, or Informed Consent of Indigenous Peoples or local communities who live on and from it
- Land grabbers might buy, rent, or claim the land in ways that are illegal, technically legal (according to local and regional laws), or in a legal grey area in which traditional land rights clash with modern property laws
- Land grabbing is usually done to profit off of the land's agricultural potential, extract resources, or -- more recently -- for 'green energy' projects and fortress conservation processes
- Land grabbing almost always affects the ability of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, to steward their land, protect its biodiversity, practise sustainable agriculture, achieve food sovereignty
For more on what land grabbing is, see FAO's publication, "What is Land grabbing?"
Our research shows that since 2010, over 26.7 million hectares of land have been claimed by private interests.
These interests are often backed by domestic elites. The land rush exploits historical inequalities from colonial and commercial land exploitation.
Indigenous Peoples and local communities who live on and from the world’s remaining biodiversity hotspots are the most affected by land grabs. Many affected communities lack legal land titles, undermining their ability to defend their rights. As of 2021, only 15% of the 250 large-scale land acquisitions for which Land Matrix had relevant data, report that free prior and informed consent was given.
Driven by large-scale agriculture, tourism, infrastructure, and increasingly climate mitigation projects, the land rush can displace communities entirely. Other times, it restricts their access to lands.
When communities lose access to communal grazing grounds, traditional farming areas, or when their lands are rendered infertile or unfit for cultivation, their ways of life become untennable.
The impacts ripple across entire regions. Ecosystems degrade due to unsustainable use, food systems fragment, poverty and inequality deepen, and social and cultural structures fall apart. In this way, the land rush not only exacerbates inequality, but often escalates already existing conflicts or leads to new ones– between and among communities, private entities, and in bigger geopolitical contexts.
In fact, World Bank data indicates that 56% of global conflicts are land-related.
We push for people-centred land governance-- championing the dignity of communities living on and from the land -- to address the root causes of the land rush.
Resisting Land Grabs in Argentina
Tackling the Issues
Our network has compiled a series of regionally-adaptable tools to prevent land grabbing and land grabs: from evidence-based advocacy and legal actions to the development of community land registries through participatory mapping. Explore some case studies below.
Taking on land grabs
A data-based approach
Land Matrix is promoting transparency & accountability in decisions over large-scale land acquisitions, by capturing and sharing data about these deals on its online open-access platform. Since 2012, the Land Matrix has captured 7,117 concluded deals, covering over 50 million hectares of land. This is data that can be used to support evidence-based decision-making and facilitate more meaningful and inclusive participation in decisions over land investments and governance, thereby reducing land grabs and conflict over land.
To Land Matrix
Reducing land conflicts
We work with members to develop and implement practical skills to document and protect their lands, including land use planning and participatory mapping skills. Often, mapping lands is the first step to getting a land title.
Always, when communities have clearly delineated lands, risk of conflicts dramatically decrease.
These three stories of how participatory mapping has changed lives in three communities in Togo, Indonesia, and Uganda:
The community land protection initiative
Together with Namati, and the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), the Community Land Protection Initiative is equipping ILC members with the practical skills to support communities to document and protect their indigenous and customary lands.
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