The African Union Commission, African Development Bank and United Nations Economic Commission for Africa or UNECA pledged to work more closely with governments to beef up land governance systems.
They also vowed financial and technical assistance “to ensure that land governance and policy processes in Africa are transparent, clear and accessible with integrated state and indigenous systems.
The pledge was made at the end of 2021 Conference on Land Policy in Africa organized by the African Land Policy Centre on Thursday in Kigali, Rwanda under the theme: “Land governance for safeguarding art, culture and heritage towards the Africa We Want”.
The partners also pledged to work with practitioners in arts, culture and heritage to increase awareness and appreciation of land issues on the continent.
“At this time when the world is also engaged in the COP26 process, we wish to underscore the fact that large parts of our continent are deserts or semi-arid and are facing ecological damage”, said.
African Development Bank Natural Resources Management Advisor, Leontine Kanziemo, noted that unequal distribution of land demoted smallholder farmers, women and youth to marginal areas, leading to increased pressure on land and land resource degradation.
The declaration called for greater land equity in order to broaden access to natural resources.
King Mfumu Difima Ntinu, President of the African Traditional Authority, pointed out that efficient land governance requires political will.
He urged African countries to pay more attention to the role of women in land matters.
Scientific Committee Conference’s Chair, Rexford Ahene, said land’s economic potential, and the benefits of creative industries, should not be underestimated.
He called on governments and development partners to invest resources in building the creative sector’s capabilities and preserving intellectual property and rights to “safeguard and protect the creativity and innovation that this sector delivers.”