Land
Access and rights to land are vital to agricultural livelihoods and food security. Moreover, land rights underpin access to other natural resources that are critical economic assets. When women have secure rights and the ability to participate in decisions related to land, research has shown that land resources are more likely to be used to improve household wellbeing, including improved food consumption and nutrition.
However, women account for only 11.5 percent of landholders in conflict-affected countries. Gender inequality in tenure systems remains embedded in social and cultural norms, restricting women’s rights and resulting in disproportionate impacts on women. Lack of access to land can leave women vulnerable to physical and livelihood risks, and conflict can exacerbate this vulnerability through displacement, weakened authorities, disrupted social structures, and overall reduced availability of land. Furthermore, as land titles are often prerequisites to obtain credit, agricultural inputs, and other support, women are often denied access to these services which are vital for post-conflict recovery.
Issues of land access and rights are increasingly incorporated into peace agreements. However, there remain significant cultural and political barriers to land security for women, as even countries with formal recognition of women’s equal land rights struggle to guarantee and enforce these rights in practice. Efforts to provide legal and mediation services, prioritize gender-sensitive land reform, and assess women’s roles in natural resource sectors have made progress to empower women to enforce their land rights and meaningfully participate in land management decisions.
Key Resources
Life Can Change: Securing Housing, Land and Property Rights for Displaced Women
In 2011 NRC established a programme of work focused on strengthening displaced women rights to housing, land and property (HLP). This was in response to…Land and Conflict: Toolkit and Guidance for Preventing and Managing Land and Natural Resource Conflict
Conflict arises when two or more groups believe their interests are incompatible. Conflict is not in itself a negative phenomenon. Non-violent conflict can be an…Realizing Women’s Right to Land and Other Productive Resources
The purpose of this publication is to provide detailed guidance for lawmakers and policymakers, as well as civil society organizations and other stakeholders, to support…FAO Gender and Land Rights Database
Land is a crucial resource for poverty reduction, food security and rural development. However, men and women do not always enjoy the same rights to…Women and Land in the Muslim World
Access to land is a key element that allows women and men to fully play their role in building peaceful, stable and prosperous societies and…
Resources
Kenya: Women Call for Equity in Land Rights
International
Securing women’s land rights in Kenya is vital for successful environmental conservation and climate action since without secure ownership or tenure, women who make up…
Kenya: Ahero Women Take Up Rice Paddies in Kano Plains
International
When you look at the Kano Plains from the window of a speeding matatu on the Kisumu-Nairobi highway, you see an economic miracle draped in…
Kenya: Women at the Center of the Future of Sustainable Food Systems
International
Women-led seed conservation in Kenya is reshaping food security. See how the Kabudi Agoro Community Seedbank turns indigenous seeds into climate resilience and income.
Food systems…
Peru: Women Elevating the Role of Bees in Conserving Amazonian Biodiversity
International
Like Lesli, a group of Indigenous and rural women in the Oxapampa–Asháninka–Yánesha Biosphere Reserve (BIOAY), located in the Pasco region, are leading a quiet yet…
Global: Fact Check: What Does It Mean to Be a Woman Farmer in 2026?
International
As the world marks the International Year of the Women Farmer, we asked our gender experts from the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT to…
Why Is Women’s Access to Land So Complex in Myanmar?
Library
Women face many obstacles in equality, work, ownership and access to land in Myanmar, rights that are essential for their everyday livelihoods. This TNI commentary…
Afghanistan: Solar-powered Greenhouses Enable Afghan Women to Grow Food, Income, and Hope
International
For seven years after her husband died, Noorhaya, 45, toiled under the harsh sun in Kandahar Province, southern Afghanistan, trying to grow enough vegetables to…
Middle East and North Africa: Women at the Frontlines of Water Scarcity
International
Women across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) live at the sharp edge of the region’s deepening water crisis. Their unpaid labor, daily decisions,…
Afghanistan: Water Crisis in Qaisar: Women and Children Bear the Heaviest Burden
International
Residents of Qaisar district in Faryab province have raised concerns about the shortage of safe drinking water and the lack of sufficient water for farming…
Canada: Stories of Resilience: Indigenous Women across the Prairies
International
Across the Canadian Prairies, water carries memory, identity, responsibility, and life. Yet the voices of those most deeply connected to it are often absent from…
The Rush for Critical Minerals Is Reshaping Communities. Gender Analysis Helps Show Who Pays the Cost.
Spotlight
There are troubling trends at both ends of the minerals supply chain. On one end, communities across the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Lithium…
East Africa: “We Are Facing Increased Violent Land Dispossessions and Climate Injustices” – African Women
International
Stories of displacement, land loss, and resilience filled the room as 45 women from six African countries gathered for the East Africa Women’s Land and…
From Sovereignty to Solidarity: First Nations Women Shaping Global Futures - First Nations, Indigenous Women’s Statement
Library
We, First Nations and Indigenous Women and Girls, gender diverse and intersex people from across the lands, waters, oceans, and skies of the world, affirm…
Global: African Women Push for Reparations and Environmental Accountability after Landmark Climate Justice Day
International
Women’s community organizations and grassroots movements across Africa are intensifying calls for climate reparations and environmental accountability following the inaugural African Women’s Climate Justice Day,…
Niger: How Community Shelters Protect Children and Help Women Restore Degraded Lands in Niger
International
Washington, USA, 03 April 2026 -/African Media Agency (AMA)/- Community-built shelters in Niger are enabling mothers to participate in land restoration work by providing shaded…
Liberia: New, Community-Led Conservation Delivering Promises
International
Years ago, women in Wedjah and Jaedae Districts in Sinoe County processed cassava with their bare hands. Their story has changed for the better. They…
How CIMMYT is Advancing Women-centered Agriculture in Africa
Blog
Across Africa, women play a central role in producing food, managing farms, and sustaining household nutrition and incomes. Yet their contributions are still too often…
Emphasize Gender Equality in Water Management Elsewhere
Blog
Only three per cent of the world’s water is freshwater. However, 2.5 per cent of all the world’s water is locked in glaciers, ice-capped polar…
Uganda: How Women are Still Walking Miles for Water and Paying the Price
International
In the vast, sun-scorched plains of Uganda’s northeastern region of Karamoja, the search for water begins before the day has properly broken. In scattered homesteads…
Canada: PBI-Canada Notes Concerns about Risk of Violence to Indigenous Land Defenders, Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA People near Major Projects
International
Peace Brigades International-Canada expresses concern that proposed major extractive projects brings an increased risk of violence against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people in communities…
Coping with Climate Change: A Mixed-Methods Approach to Understanding Irrigation Technology Outcomes in Gujarat, India
Library
Previous research on climate change interventions highlights that adaptation and mitigation strategies must be tailored to local contexts to effectively benefit both people and the…
Latin America: From the Amazon to Mesoamerica - Women, Science, and Policy are Shaping Resilient Agri-food Systems in Latin America
International
Across Latin America, the transformation of agri-food systems is being driven by a powerful convergence: science, public policy, and the leadership of women farmers and…
Uganda: Alupo Launches African Pastoralist Women Network to Boost Land Rights
International
Vice President Jessica Alupo has officially launched the African Pastoralist Women Network (ARPWN) and a Learning Centre aimed at advancing gender justice, climate resilience, and…
Brazil: Landless Women Mobilize for Agrarian Reform and Against Violence by Brazil
International
This year’s National Day of Landless Women’s Struggles began on March 8 and runs until next Thursday, the 12th, with mobilizations in all regions of…
Why Women Are Central to Resilient Food Systems
Blog
As climate change, economic instability, and biodiversity loss place increasing pressure on global food systems, building resilience has become an urgent priority. But resilience is…
Uganda: Women Are Leading Uganda’s Environmental Transformation - Are We Supporting Them Enough?
International
As Uganda joins the rest of the world to mark International Women’s Day 2026 under the theme “Give to Gain”, we must look beyond celebration…
Liberia: Women’s Land Rights Are Not Favors, They Are Rights as NAWoLaR Officially Launched in Monrovia
International
MONROVIA –The National Alliance for Women’s Land Rights (NAWoLaR) has been officially launched, signaling a unified national front to dismantle discriminatory practices that have long…
South Africa: Women Farmers in South Africa Pay the Cost of Broken Irrigation Systems – The Story of One Cooperative
International
The South African government makes a great deal of the fact that it supports women’s empowerment in agriculture.
But does it?
As an anthropologist, I’ve been engaged…
India: Supporting Women’s Leadership in Agrifood Systems in India
International
Women are key actors in agrifood systems, playing leadership roles in agricultural cooperatives and producers’ organizations, large agribusinesses, and agrifood-related governmental and non-governmental institutions and…
Central African Republic: How Land Empowers Refugee Women and Builds Resilient Livelihoods in the Central African Republic
International
At dawn, the communal field slowly comes to life in the Korsi neighbourhood of Birao in Vakaga, Central African Republic. Women arrive in small groups,…