Women and Land Tenure

Transcription

1 Women and Land Tenure Ruth Meinzen-Dick Women, Equity and Land and Natural Resource Governance Workshop December 6, 2012 Photo credit: Chiara Kovarik The importance of property rights for women Agricultural Productivity Women s Empowerment Household Welfare Natural resource governance Issues: Private, communal, common property Land and other assets needed Statutory and customary tenure Implications for land grabs 1

2 Agricultural Productivity Incentive, authority to adopt technologies e.g. agroforestry, long-term investments Access to complementary inputs e.g. credit, extension, labor Women farmers have lower yields because they lack the same access to resources that men have Smaller plots, lower soil quality, less secure tenure, less extension, inputs (SOFA, 2011; Peterman et al. 2009; WB IFPRI 2010)) Reducing inequality in human capital, physical capital and inputs between male and female farmers in Sub Saharan Africa has the potential to increase ag. productivity 10-20% (Alderman, Haddad & Udry 1996) Giving women same access as men to productive resources could result in lifting million people out of hunger (SOFA, 2011) Importance of a range of assets, including secure land tenure Natural Physical Financial Human Social Political 2

3 Women s Empowerment Raise women s status Provide greater security Gives exit options, improves bargaining power in hhold community with state Bina Agarwal studies in India: land owners face less domestic violence (but does that always hold?) Household Welfare Investment in food, education, health care Men and women allocate resources, spend income differently; women s control of assets gives them more decision-making authority over resources (Quisumbing book) Improvements in women s status and control of assets results in improvements in child nutrition and health (Smith et al. 2003, and Hallman, 2000) Women s, men s assets used to cope with different shocks; women s assets especially used for family health shocks (Quisumbing 2012) Land ownership as a path out of poverty for women in Pakistan (Budlender & Alma, 2011) 3

4 Communal tenure Two types of communal tenure Commons: resources held by a group, with collective management and use (grazing lands, water, forests, fisheries) Communal lands held by a group (e.g. lineage) but allocated to hholds, individuals to manage, use (farm fields, woodlots) Communal resources necessary to livelihoods of the poor and marginalized Photo credit: Foundation for Ecological Security Natural Resource Governance Voice in decisions so that resource management meets women s needs (Bina Agarwal Gender and Green Governance) Men s and women s complementary skills in resource monitoring, sanctioning Most evidence from forest management, esp. Nepal 4

5 o Lessons on communal tenure o Strength and equity of both depend on: External recognition of the rights of the group Effective collective institutions Women s interests being represented (directly or taken into account by male leaders) Within communal tenure systems, women s views and interests are often accommodated (Stege et al. 2008)--but not always Tragedy of the commons not inevitable Decline of customary institutions managing resources leads to insecurity efforts to work with community institutions Understanding Women s Land Tenure Women are disadvantaged in customary & statutory land tenure systems (Kevane 2004) However, women s access to land is not just choice between customary and statutory - complex interaction between the two (Budlender & Alma 2011) Matrilineal systems may give women more rights but not always, and are in decline many places (Stege et al. 2008) How secure is tenure? Differences based on method of acquisition, marriage status, etc. (Doss & Meinzen-Dick 2012) Look beyond ownership control and decision-making power, security of rights 5

6 Implications for land grabs Recognized land rights key for: Seat at the table in negotiations Participation, share of benefits What land rights are recognized? Only titled land, customary rights, commons Who is recognized as the holder, negotiator? State, chiefs, heads of household, men and women, all descendents? Strategies: title all land so it is recognized, or ensure recognition of other types of tenure? Lessons learned First, gender equality must be ensured under the law Women must have the ability to buy, sell, and inherit land (SOFA, 2011) But simply passing legislation without the necessary implementation or the education of involved actors, is ineffective (Budlender & Alma, 2011) Legal literacy/community-based legal assistance programs for women, men, officials Involve women in the design, implementation, and monitoring of reforms (Budlender & Alma, 2011) Including women in local land committees, e.g. Ethiopia, Uganda Provide education, information, and extension services to boost human capital of women and girls(sofa, 2011) 6

7 Further Reading: Behrman, J., R. Meinzen-Dick, and A. Quisumbing The gender implications of large-scale land deals. IFPRI Discussion Paper Budlender, D., and E. Alma. (2011). Women and Land: securing rights for better lives. IDRC. FAO. (2011) State of Food and Agriculture Women in Agriculture: Closing the Gender Gap for Development. Quisumbing, A. (ed.) Household Decisions, Gender, and Development: A Synthesis of Recent Research. International Food Policy Research Institute,