New EU programme to strengthen land governance in ten African countries
A new programme worth €33 million to improve land governance and help improve the food and nutrition security of family farmers and vulnerable communities in Sub Saharan Africa, will be announced today by Development Commissioner, Andris Piebalgs.
Roughly 1.2 billion people worldwide live without permanent homes, land access or formal property rights, a reason which is often used for their land to be attributed to large scale land investors. Therefore, land governance issues are strongly linked to key challenges such as food scarcity, water shortages or urban and population growth.More than two million people in poor rural areas of Africa will benefit from access to modern, affordable and sustainable energy services thanks to new EU support, announced by EU Commissioner for Development, Andris Piebalgs. This initiative also shows that the EU has been a leader in the campaign to provide Sustainable Energy for All.
Speaking ahead of the high level conference on land tenure, due to take place today at the European Parliament in the presence of President Blaise Comparoe of Burkina Faso, Commissioner Piebalgs said: "I am convinced that these land tenure guidelines, which recognise farmers’ ownership and access rights, are essential to achieve efficient, sustainable and inclusive agriculture, and to promoting human rights and peace in society. This new programme will help farmers, and specially women, to make a living and feed their families, without fear of losing their property."
The programme will be rolled out across ten African countries: Angola, Burundi, Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Niger, Somalia, South Sudan and Swaziland.
The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) contributes to the in-country implementation of the programme: in Somalia, it will carry out an in-depth assessment on territorial rights and will set up strategies on land management. In Kenya it will review and harmonise the national strategies, policies and legislation required for strengthening of institutions and for the building up of future strategies.
To read more: http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-14-397_en.htm
Today’s event marks ten years of strategic cooperation between the EU and the FAO. To read more about this cooperation: http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-14-273_en.htm
