Good governance crucial to resolving land tenure rights in Africa

Abstract

The sixth Capitalization Meeting began with presentations, which focused on addressing the tenure of fisheries, a mid-term review of the European Union Land Governance Program, and addressing disputes and conflicts related to tenure rights on the continent. In his presentation, Yaw Ansah of the Food and Agriculture Organization discussed the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Small Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication. He spoke on the important use of the guidelines to redistribute marine lands efficiently and equitably to protect the livelihood and industry of small-scale fishermen. The predominant theme that came out of all the presentations that addressed tenured rights disputes was the importance of good governance and the duty of the State to implement practices that have the best interests of the community.