Strengthening Africa’s land rights for climate-resilient agriculture

BY FREDRICK OTIENO & AMY G THORP 

Farming cannot make Africans rich, food secure and climate resilient if ownership of their land is uncertain. Farmers cannot thrive when they live in constant fear of eviction from their land. Or when they dread being stopped from working on it altogether. 

Effective land governance is not only essential for securing tenure but to enhance food security and ecological restoration as well. This, effectively, makes land rights a climate adaptation imperative. 

But what does the terrain of land ownership look like in Africa?  

Africa’s land governance faces legal uncertainty, tenure insecurity and weak enforcement mechanisms. Outdated or poorly enforced land laws have led to fragmented tenure systems, creating legal ambiguity.  

Challenges with land rights in Africa  

With a substantial portion of land owned by governments or agribusinesses, smallholders face a high risk of dispossession, land grabs and disinheritance, undermining their social rights and economic incentives to invest in sustainable land use.  

Women, while making up nearly half of Africa’s agricultural workforce, remain among the most vulnerable, with little to no access to, control over or ownership of land.  

Meanwhile, the youth in Africa struggle to secure land due to restrictive inheritance laws and the high attendant costs involved.  

Even in countries with gender-neutral inheritance laws like Kenya, where the constitution recognizes the right of men and women to inherit land, women often do not receive an equitable share of land.  

In Swaziland, women are considered minors under the law and, therefore, cannot own land, according to the United Nations. 

In rural Africa, cases of women being forcibly evicted from their inherited land are common. In the majority of these cases, their late husband's relatives are responsible for perpetrating this dispossession. In other instances, the family limits the widow’s access to the land. 

Insecure land rights not only deter much needed investments in agriculture but also prevents communities and farmers – especially women – from adopting long-term, sustainable strategies such as agroecology, which are critical for enhancing climate adaptation and resilience. 

Even so, some African countries have made progressive steps to strengthen land rights. 

The Land Tenure Regularization Program (LTRP) in Rwanda, for instance, showcases the benefits of formalized and secured land rights. When the LTRP regularized land rights and registered land ownership, security of tenure for landowners increased, leading to greater investment and improved land use. 

The role of secure land rights in climate adaptation for agriculture 

Agriculture - a primary livelihood for most African communities - is widely recognized as a critical pillar for climate adaptation, food sovereignty and economic development on the continent. As climate impacts intensify, there are renewed efforts to enhance agriculture’s productivity, profitability and nutritional contributions. 

However, realizing the full potential of agriculture requires equitable land rights that promote equitable and productive access to land. Transformational agriculture that builds resilience depends on security of tenure to enable both small-scale farmers and large investors to make sustainable, forward-looking investments.  

Without this surety, the development of self-sustaining food systems and adoption of agroecological farming practices remain out of reach.  

A-fit-for purpose land tenure system must not only ensure inclusive access to land but also maximize its productive potential to support climate adaptation and long-term sustainability.  

Pathways to climate resilient agriculture 

As a foundation for sustainable agriculture that ultimately boosts the adaptive capacity and resilience of farmers and climate vulnerable communities, African countries must reassess existing land tenure systems to promote secure land rights through several interventions.  

Foremost, governments must strengthen legal frameworks and secure community land rights. This could be done by enforcing existing land rights, preventing dispossession and establishing strong legal protections for community and Indigenous lands.  

Where laws fail to protect farmers and communities’ land rights, reforms should target legal recognition, protection and less strenuous procedures to register land. 

Secondly, governments should promote participatory and sustainable land use planning to ensure equitable land allocation and long-term sustainability. For land transactions affecting communities, free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) processes must be enforced. Corporate interests should not override community land rights or claims. 

Equally, authorities must integrate land tenure security into climate and development policies through the National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), both due this year. It's vital that these nationally focused plans recognize secure land rights as essential for climate resilience, sustainable agriculture and food sovereignty. 

Similarly, mobilizing climate and development financing to support land reform is crucial. Public and private financing, including climate adaptation funds, should be utilized to support land tenure reforms and provide incentives for sustainable and agroecological farming practices that enhance resilience. 

Ultimately, stable and secure land rights for farmers encourage investments in long-term adaptive strategies such as agroecology, which promotes soil health, reduces dependency on agrochemicals and manages water sustainably.