Objectives
This project explores the different dimensions of women’s right to communal lands in the context of the climate crisis in East and West Africa. It draws lessons from and scales up efforts to advance women’s right to land in 4 target countries: Kenya, Tanzania, Mali and Guinea. It is a collaborative action research action with different components: capacity building, participatory research, community dialogues, and action for social change.
From 2020-2023, this project focused on 5 key aspects: recognizing and protecting communal land ownership; ensuring women and youth participation in communal land governance; defending women’s right to own and inherit land; securing women’s individual and collective access to and control over the land; and eliminating gender-based violence.
Moving forward (2023-25), this project will explore the land, gender and climate nexus. It will look at the various impacts of climate change on women’s right to land and key responses by farmer and pastoralist organisations; and it will identify ways to support women’s participation in climate governance i.e. in climate mitigation and adaptation policies and projects at different levels.
Videos with Four Key Messages
Recognizing And Protecting Community Lands
Securing Land for Women and Youth
This video features Alimata Traoré from COFERSA, a rural women’s organisation in Mali. It insists on the importance of ensuring access to and control over land for women and youth as a way to foster autonomy, food security, livelihood opportunities at family and village level and avoid rural exodus. It highlights that women collectives are an efficient strategy for women to secure their access to land over long periods of time and that local authorities and village chiefs should work hand in hand to promote women’s right to land.
Women and Youth Participation in Communal Land Governance
This video features Grace Scorey and Thadeus Clamian from PWC, a pastoralist women’s organisation in Tanzania. It highlights that one of the key challenges facing women and youth is their participation in communal land management. Women and youth are very few in numbers within land management structures and this limits their ability to participate and make decisions. It is important that traditional leaders, policy makers and communities use the laws that encourage women’s participation, notably through quotas. The video also explores the impact of gender based violence (GBV) on women’s participation.
Women’s Right to Own and Inherit Land
Local Organisations
KPL, Kenyan Peasants League, small-scale farmers’ organisation, Kenya
PWC, Pastoral Women’s Council, Maasai pastoralist women’s organisation, Tanzania
CNOP-G, Confédération nationale des organisations paysannes de Guinée, small-scale farmers’ platform, Guinea
COFERSA, Convergence des femmes rurales pour la souveraineté alimentaire, a women farmers’ organisation, Mali
Academic Organisations
CAWR, Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience, Coventry University, UK
IDR, Institute for Development Research, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU)
Contact information
Priscilla Claeys, priscilla.claeys[at]coventry.ac.uk
Stefanie Lemke, stefanie.lemke[at]boku.ac.at
Key Outcomes and Multimedia Resources
PHASE 3: Exploring the gender, land and climate nexus
October 2023-April 2025
COUNTRY REPORTS
Exploring the Land Implications of Climate Projects
We are excited to launch four groundbreaking reports that explore the vital intersection of land and climate in Africa. Despite contributing just 3.4% of global greenhouse gas emissions, Africa is disproportionately affected by the climate crisis, facing intensifying droughts, desertification, floods, and soil erosion. These environmental challenges threaten livelihoods and exacerbate food insecurity across the continent.
As agriculture and land use take center stage in climate discussions—once dominated by energy, transport, and waste—the reports, focused on Kenya, Tanzania, Guinea, and Mali, investigate key trends in climate mitigation and adaptation efforts within each country. They analyze national and regional climate commitments aimed at reducing emissions and tackling emerging climate threats. They delve into the types of climate projects being funded, the actors involved, and the distribution of climate finance—highlighting who benefits and who drives the climate action agenda.
Additionally, the reports address the growing concern of land grabbing associated with carbon offsetting projects under the guise of “nature-based solutions.” As big polluters are making net zero emission pledges but are not moving away from fossil fuels, carbon farming and afforestation/reforestation are developing at a fast rate in Africa. These initiatives, while presented as climate-friendly, often displace local communities and undermine their livelihoods, particularly affecting women and youth. Africa is unfortunately attracting a high proportion of these projects as its land is vast, its land governance institutions are weak and appropriation of land appears easier than in other parts of the world. Local communities are ill prepared for this new wave of land grabs and their expected impacts on women and youth are yet unexplored. The reports show climate finance and land-based climate projects are targeting East African countries at a fast rate while developments in West Africa are much slower.
Together, these reports offer essential insights into how climate projects are reshaping land governance in Africa—and provide a crucial foundation for policymakers, civil society, and communities striving for climate justice and equitable solutions.
Access reports here: Kenya, Tanzania, Guinea, Mali
RESEARCH AGENDA
In October 2023, we met for 2 weeks in Tanzania to develop a joint research agenda on women, land and climate. We decided that the following three priorities will be our focus:
TOPIC 1 – What are some of the key impacts of climate change on women’s right to land? And what would be adequate responses to those?
TOPIC 2 – To what extent are women participating in climate governance i.e. in climate mitigation and adaptation policies and projects at different levels?
TOPIC 3 – What are some of the impacts of large-scale climate projects on women’s right to land?
Here is the link to the full document highlighting some specific research questions under each topic.
PHASE 2: Sharing knowledge across the 4 countries
April 2022- July 2023
COUNTRY REPORTS
Guinea
La question de la sécurisation foncière est un enjeu crucial pour les femmes en Guinée, qui rencontrent de nombreux obstacles pour conserver leurs terres. L’insécurité foncière freine leur autonomisation économique et contribue à la précarité alimentaire et sociale. Cette étude analyse les réalités diverses liées 1) aux modes d’accès au foncier, 2) aux procédures et outils utilisés par les femmes pour sécuriser les terres qu’elles ont acquises et 3) aux obstacles qu’elles rencontrent.
La recherche a couvert deux régions naturelles — la Basse Guinée et la Haute Guinée — et s’est appuyée sur des focus groupes (avec 300+ participants) et entretiens individuels (auprès de 324 femmes). Elle ouvre des pistes de solution et de plaidoyer.
Securing land tenure is a crucial issue for women in Guinea, who face numerous obstacles in retaining their land. Land tenure insecurity hinders their economic empowerment and contributes to food and social insecurity. This study analyzes the diverse realities linked to 1) modes of access to land, 2) the procedures and tools used by women to secure the land they have acquired and 3) the obstacles they face.
The research covered two natural regions — Lower Guinea and Upper Guinea — and was based on focus groups (with 300+ participants) and individual interviews (with 324 women). It provides solutions and evidence for advocacy.
Download report in French here / Télécharger le rapport en français ici.
Tanzania
Women in Maasai communities in Tanzania face significant challenges in securing land ownership and control over land, with cultural practices and legal frameworks limiting their access to resources. This study provides an in-depth exploration into the participation of women in land management structures, investigating the factors that motivate and facilitate women’s participation, the barriers hindering their participation, and the role male partners can play in supporting women to obtain leadership positions.
The research was conducted in two districts, Longido and Ngorongoro, and is based on interviews with 20 women who serve or have served on land management committees and 6 male partners, and four focus group discussions (25 women and 14 men). The report offers recommendations to create a more inclusive and equitable land governance.
Les femmes des communautés Massaï de Tanzanie sont confrontées à d’importantes difficultés pour obtenir la propriété et le contrôle des terres, les pratiques culturelles et les cadres juridiques limitant leur accès aux ressources. Cette étude explore en profondeur la participation des femmes aux structures de gestion foncière, en examinant les facteurs qui motivent et facilitent la participation des femmes, les obstacles qui entravent leur participation et le rôle que les partenaires masculins peuvent jouer pour aider les femmes à obtenir des postes de direction.
La recherche a été menée dans deux districts, Longido et Ngorongoro, et elle est basée sur des entretiens avec 20 femmes qui siègent ou ont siégé dans des comités de gestion foncière et 6 partenaires masculins, ainsi que sur quatre discussions de groupe (25 femmes et 14 hommes). Le rapport propose des recommandations pour créer une gouvernance foncière plus inclusive et plus équitable.
Download report in English here/ Télécharger le rapport en anglais ici.
PHASE 1: Identifying key dimensions of women’s right to land
September 2020 – February 2022
Special Issue and Editorial on Women’s Right to Communal Land
This Special Issue explores challenges women face in their efforts to realize their right to land, with a focus on communal land. It analyses the complex web of state, civil society and private actors that are shaping the rapidly changing field of women’s right to, and governance of, communal land. Its 5 articles cover a variety of legal, policy and socio-cultural contexts, from Latin America to Africa and Asia. In our Editorial we present some common but contrasted trends emerging from these articles, as well as avenues for future research.
COUNTRY REPORTS
Kenya
In this report, the Kenyan Peasants’ League (KPL) explores some key dimensions of women’s right to land: their right to participate in land governance, their right to inherit land, their access to land ownership and joint titling with their husbands, and their right to be free from gender-based violence. The research involved 300 peasant farmers across 10 counties, and adopted an intersectional lens: it explored the specific situation of married, single, and divorced women as well as widows facing evictions and family land grabbing. It also looked into men’s perspectives on women and land. Click here to download report.
Also, watch KPL videos on community dialogues held in Kenya to break the taboo around women and land (Kithoni village) and testimonies of widows evicted by their relatives (Sara’s testimony, Community Dialogue at Peasant Agroecology Summer School).
Tanzania
In this report, the Pastoral Women’s Council (PWC) explores 3 important dimensions of women’s right to land: their right to participate in land governance, their access to individual land ownership, and their right to be free from gender-based violence. The research involved 186 pastoralist women, men, boys and girls as well as traditional leaders and government leaders in 2 villages of Longido and Ngorongoro districts. It shows that pastoralist women have increasing community roles including participation in land management structures (LMS) and increased access to individual land titles demarcated for settlement on village land. However, women continue to face challenges to fully participate in land governance and enjoy their right to land, due to domination of men. Click here to download report.
Also, watch PWC videos with insights from women and traditional leaders on advances and challenges facing women’s right to communal land. Other PWC videos explain the experience of Women’s Rights and Leadership Forums and their impacts on women’s rights. PWC has also established Women’s solidarity bomas which you can discover here.
Mali
In this report, COFERSA explores the issue of secure access to land, looking in particular at why women do not keep the land allocated to them over time. The research involved a total of 192 women and girls, 69 men and young women and 12 groups, in 3 municipalities. It shows that some women gain access to land through women’s groups and that women collectives are an effective strategy for securing access. The report also explains that while land governance is a male affair, it is not just any man that is involved either. Certain categories of men are involved (heads of family and other people directly concerned) but others are excluded. In conclusion, the study found that there is a significant taboo surrounding land issues, with many women afraid to speak out on the subject for fear of reprisals. Click here to download the report (in French).
Guinée
In this report, CNOP-G undertakes a vast mapping of women’s right to land in a context strongly marked by customary forms of community and family land governance. The study involved a total of 480 people in focus groups (women, young people, various stakeholders) and 166 women of different ages and socio-economic status. Using an intersectional approach, the report differentiates the situation of different categories of women: married, single, divorced and widowed. It covers the 5 natural regions of Guinea Conakry. The report shows that marginalisation in terms of access to, control over and security of tenure of land is greatest among widows, divorcees and single women, and among women with no male children in the household. This can be explained by the fact that in households the idea of preserving the family’s land heritage is paramount to ensuring family sovereignty and transmission to future generations. The study is very rich and explores many other dimensions of women’s right to land. Click here to download the report (in French).
POLICY BRIEF (forthcoming)
PHASE 0: Co-developing a research agenda on women and land
March 2018-June 2019
ACADEMIC PAPER
Absent Voices: Women and Youth in Communal Land Governance. Reflections on Methods and Process from Exploratory Research in West and East Africa
An increasing number of African States are recognizing customary land tenure. Yet, there is a lack of research on how community rights are recognized in legal and policy frameworks, how they are implemented in practice, and how to include marginalized groups. In 2018–2019, Priscilla Claeys and Stefanie Lemke engaged in collaborative exploratory research on governing natural resources for food sovereignty with social movement networks, human rights lawyers and academics in West and East Africa. In this article, they reflect on the process and methods applied to identify research gaps and partners (i.e., two field visits and regional participatory workshops in Mali and Uganda), with a view to share lessons learned. In current debates on the recognition and protection of collective rights to land and resources, the co-researchers found there is a need for more clarity and documentation, with customary land being privatized and norms rapidly changing. Further, the voices of women and youth are lacking in communal land governance. This process led to collaborative research with peasant and pastoralist organizations in Kenya, Tanzania, Mali and Guinea, with the aim to achieve greater self-determination and participation of women and youth in communal land governance, through capacity building, participatory research, horizontal dialogues and action for social change.
Citation: Lemke, S. & Claeys, P. 2020. Absent Voices: Women and Youth in Communal Land Governance. Reflections on Methods and Process from Exploratory Research in West and East Africa. Land. 9(8), 266; https://doi.org/10.3390/land9080266
VIDEO
Methodologies and Process for Collectively Developing a Research Agenda
To watch the full video, click here.