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A testimony from an EU-funded project in Angola: "Strengthened capacity for improved governance of land tenure and natural resources by local government in partnership with Non State Actors in the Central Highlands".
"My name is Joana Jukila, I’m 58 years old, I’m a native from the village of Cassoco in the Commune of Cangote. I’m a mother of four children. I have lived in the community of Cacande since 1976, when I moved to the land that my husband received from his family.
Over the years, the population in the region has increased greatly and conflicts began to arise with the neighbouring community of Canhanga, which has been gradually occupying our lands. The conflict escalated, and things got worse when the land began to be very valuable and so many people became interested in buying it up. The conflict became really violent in 2013, when a discussion between people from the communities ended up in an open confrontation.
The conflict that we were confronted with was avoided thanks to this project. The project staff helped us in the definition of the boundaries that delineate neighbouring communities, and in the administrative process to obtain the land recognition titles.
Together with other community leaders (Maria Silepo and Josefina Navangu), we learned about the Angola Land Law during the project meetings, and we understood that some traditional rule is not fair. We transmitted this information to the rest of the women in the community. We have a farmers’ association, named ''Tuamako '', which includes 27 women and some men, and now we talk often about our rights to land, discussing about what we learned in the informative meetings. The existence of the title of recognition will facilitate our association in the defence of community lands."