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
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International
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The UN Afghanistan Trust Fund…
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International
GANTA, Nimba County – Over twenty rural women from Ganta and its surrounding communities in Nimba County recently benefited from a new loan program launched…
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Women play vital roles as actors and innovators in food systems worldwide. In many societies, they are the primary food producers, accounting for between 60%…
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International
A new wave of forced evictions and illegal land grabbing is devastating communities across Mogadishu, displacing thousands of residents — many of them women and…
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International
Harper, Maryland County — In a country where women's voices are often overshadowed, UN Women continues to stand out as one of Liberia's strongest allies…
Global: Indigenous Women and the Path to a Just Energy Transition: Voices from the Land
International
Key Ideas:
The implementation of the energy transition is unfolding at the expense of biodiversity and communities — particularly Indigenous women, says Galina Angarova and Daniela…
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Kenya: Turkana’s Trailblazers: The Women Redefining Leadership on Oil-Rich Land
International
What you need to know: Two Turkana women, Veronica Natesiro and Jane Atabo, are breaking barriers by leading their community’s land governance in Lokichar.Through the Community…
Nepal: Rural Women Reshaping Agriculture in Nepal
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Colombia: Victims of Colombian Conflict Given Land from Pablo Escobar’s ‘Cocaine Hippos’ Ranch
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President Gustavo Petro…
Mary’s New Harvest: How Innovation Is Changing Farming in Embu
International
Mary, a smallholder farmer in Runyenjes, Embu, joined GTSTIB pilots to test new seeds, soil tools, and gender dialogues. Her yields and family nutrition improved, empowering her voice in…
Liberia: House Speaker Koon Pledges Action on Rural Women’s Land Rights
International
MONROVIA – House Speaker Richard Nagbe Koon has vowed to champion legislative reforms aimed at empowering rural women and strengthening land rights across Liberia. His…
Tanzania: Protecting Women’s Land Tenure Rights Begins with Women
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At the age of 70 years, Rehema Mfaume has to face economic and social hardships after her land was taken away by her late husband’s…
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At just 25 years of age, Tigist Adamo’s experience epitomized the daily realities of countless smallholder farmers in South Ethiopia. Confronted by declining crop yields, scarce resources, and…
Dominican Republic: Making Space for Women in Mangrove Conservation
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Colombia: Empowering Women and Protecting the Planet: Resilient Coffee Production in La Celia, Colombia
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Sainsbury’s and Finlays have partnered to launch a dedicated roast & ground product sourced directly from the lush, rolling hills of La Celia – a…
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Ecuador: In Ecuador’s Rainforest, Women Gather to Defend the Amazon With Law—and Sisterhood
International
Forty Indigenous leaders, lawyers, and organizers journeyed deep into the Ecuadorian Amazon last week, not for protest or spectacle, but to build a transnational legal…
Building a Climate-Resilient Viet Nam: Strengthening Women’s Role in Agriculture and Leadership
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As one of the most climate-vulnerable countries in the world, Viet Nam is facing an escalating climate crisis. Rising sea levels and increasingly severe disasters…
Securing Women’s Land Rights: A Pathway to Food Security
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Despite playing a central role in food systems, women lack secure land rights in more than half of all countries, posing serious implications for food…
Liberia: RICCE Program Manager Urges Passage of Oil Palm Development Bill to Empower Women and Communities
International
The Program Manager of the Rural Integrated Center for Community Empowerment (RICCE), Madam Renee N. Gibson, has called for the submission and passage of the…
Liberia: From Farm to Market: Digital Platform Connects Women Farmers to Buyers
International
When scrolling through the UN Women and Orange Foundation-supported ”Buy from Women digital platform, the faces of four Liberian women farmers appear. Fifty-six-year-old Gertrude Kpoleh,…
Mexico: Women Who Nourish the Earth: Yuridia Hernández and the Feminine Strength in Sustainable Agriculture
International
In the lands of Oaxaca’s Mixteca, where rainfall no longer comes as it once did and the soil begins to feel the weight of years…
Tanzania: From Burden to Opportunity: Mechanization in Rural Tanzania
International
Beneath vast Tanzanian skies, where fields stretch like patchwork quilts of promise, a quiet revolution is taking root. It doesn’t shout—but whispers change with every…
Unveiling Gender Dynamics and Disparities in the Aquaculture Value Chain: Evidence from Ogun and Delta States
Library
This paper offers new insights into gender norms, roles, participation, relations, and benefits derived by women and men engaged in the aquaculture sector in Ogun…
Liberia: Men, Tradition Denying Women’s Rights to Land
International
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