Success Stories
In 2013/2014, the Guidelines were introduced in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Nepal and Mongolia through learning programmes: four contrasting contexts with different approaches to securing equitable rights to land. This new series will discuss countries’ experience towards better governance of tenure. It will highlight changes before and after the Voluntary Guidelines on Governance of Tenure (VGGT), and explain why the VGGT were a driver of change and created an opportunity.
The Voluntary Guidelines: Securing our rights - Sierra Leone This brochure highlights the key achievements and lessons learned in Sierra Leone. The first three titles will focus on Sierra Leone, Liberia and Mongolia. |
The Voluntary Guidelines: Securing our rights - Mongolia The Guidelines address problems of weak governance of tenure and the growing pressure on natural resources, thereby assisting countries to achieve food security for all. |
 The Voluntary Guidelines: Securing our rights - Senegal River Basin This publication will demonstrate how the project was a catalyst leading to improvements in conditions in the Senegal River Basin. |
 Voluntary Guidelines: Securing our rights - Colombia This brochure presents the good practices in land tenure in Colombia through the application of the VGGT between 2014 and 2021. |
 The Voluntary Guidelines: Securing our rights - Senegal The guide will serve as documentation of the lessons learnt from the experiences of making use of the VGGT and in Senegal. |
 The Voluntary Guidelines: Securing our rights - Niger The guide will chart the lessons learned from applying the VGGT in Niger. The document will also be a reference for different donors. |
Field Guides
Respecting free, prior and informed consent is a collective right that belongs to every member of a community. This means that communities have the right to make decisions through their own freely chosen representatives and their institutions, customary or otherwise, such as local authorities and local elected officials.
 Handbook. Respecting free, prior and informed consent in Mauritania |
 Handbook. Respecting free, prior and informed consent in Tunisia |
 A guide for better governance of pastoral land tenure in Niger |
 A guide for better governance of pastoral land tenure in Mauritania |
 A guide for better governance of pastoral land tenure in Mali |
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Policy briefs
The brief's objectives are to provide a broad overview of the major issues involved in the intersection between climate change and land tenure, to engage policy makers and other relevant stakeholders at national and international levels in an informed discussion, and to inform further analytical work on these matters.
Policy briefs were developed in order to enable a meaningful engagement and policy dialogue with government institutions and other relevant stakeholders about challenges and opportunities related to the recognition of customary tenure in the country in line with the key principles of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (VGGT).
EU transversal project
EU Land Governance Programme Country Level Experiences The European Union Land Governance Programme funds 18 individual country-level projects in Africa, Asia and Latin America, all of which address tenure issues, and are implemented alongside various partners, among which are government agencies, civil society organizations, bilateral and multilateral organizations and private contractors. All project activities are carried out within the framework of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (VGGT) and, in the African context, the African Union Declaration on Land Issues and Challenges in Africa (AU Declaration) and its Framework and Guidelines on Land Policy in Africa (F&G). |
Lessons from the European Union Land Governance Programme By means of a Transversal Project, co-funded by the EU and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) coordinates, supports and consolidates the implementation of the EU Land Governance Programme. |
SDG 5.a.2
Achieving SDG indicator 5.a.2 in the Western Balkans and beyond FAO and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH have been providing support to the Western Balkans region to promote progress on gender equality, with a focus on measuring the proportion of countries where the legal framework guarantees women’s equal rights to land ownership and/or control. Also available in: Bosnian Serbian (Latin) Serbian (Cyrillic) Montenegrin Macedonian Albanian |
Guidelines on strengthening gender equality in notarial practices - South-East Europe The country level guideline’s aim is to provide practical guidance to notaries when handling issues pertaining to gender sensitive property transactions. The purpose of the national guidelines is to help notaries and other legal professions to mitigate the effects of gender discrimination through the services that they provide across the country, raise awareness on women’s rights, and anticipate any risks that might occur in the enjoyment of property rights by women. Also available in: Bosnian Serbian Montenegrin Macedonian Albanian |
 Guidelines on strengthening gender equality in land registration – Southeast Europe 2021 The present Guidelines form part of a joint effort by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) to help countries achieve indicator 5.a.2 of Target 5.a in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted by the United Nations in 2015. Also available in: Bosnian Serbian Serbian (Kosovo) Montenegrin Macedonian Albanian |
Miscellaneous
FAO support of multi-stakeholder platforms on land tenure governance As part of the efforts to find sustainable solutions to complex land tenure issues, multi-stakeholder platforms (MSPs) create an inclusive forum where actors can discuss problems and propose solutions to improve governance of tenure and provide better access to natural resources. This publication highlights how MSPs at regional, national and local level demonstrate forward thinking, including innovative practices and approaches to respond to the above mentioned social challenges, for the benefit of all. |
Why land rights matter: Tenure is essential to the livelihoods of billions of people where access to land and natural resources can mean the difference between having food and going hungry. People with weak, insecure tenure rights risk losing their means to self-support without access to land, fisheries and forests. When women have weaker tenure rights caused by discrimination in laws and customs, tenure rights can help promote, support and document fair and transparent processes aimed at ensuring improved access to natural resources for all concerned. |
 Multi-stakeholder platforms. Inclusive partnerships, from smallholder farmers to parliamentarians In the world of development, partnerships developed through Multi-Stakeholder Platforms (MSPs) produce results which exceed stakeholder expectations, as the “open atmosphere” promotes shared knowledge and lessons learnt, creating lasting outcomes at all levels. These results are a by-product of a holistic approach to development and underlying consensus between partners. |
Au Niger comme dans tous les pays du Sahel, le pastoralisme fait face à des défis majeurs. La transhumance transfrontalière – pratique séculaire caractérisant le pastoralisme dans toute l’Afrique au sud du Sahara et dont les bienfaits ne sont plus à démontrer – est dangereusement menacée. |
 Legal guide on land consolidation Land consolidation is a highly effective land management instrument that allows for the improvement of the structure of agricultural holdings and farms in a country, which increases their economic and social efficiency and brings benefits both to right holders as well as to society in general. Since land consolidation gives mobility to land ownership and other land rights, it may also facilitate the allocation of new areas with specific purposes other than agriculture, such as for public infrastructure or nature protection and restoration. |
This brief is part of a series drawing attention to the mutually reinforcing nature of four global normative instruments developed through the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable SmallScale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines). |
Extraterritorial investments in agriculture in Africa: the perspectives of China and South Africa The 2008 global food price crisis, and the resurgence of food prices in 2010-2011, caused both widespread concern and expectations. This publication examines the reasons why investors were interested in Africa, and the relationship that these bear to VGGT. This publication assesses the extent to which selected investors from China and South Africa and the governments of those countries have adopted the best practices represented by the VGGT in relation to LSLBIA. Also available in: Chinese |
In line with the VGGT, public and private investments globally are increasingly recognising responsible land governance as a determinant for the success and sustainability of their achievements. Investment managers understand that preventing and mitigating tenure related issues is a necessary step to achieve their objectives. This guide provides readers with a basic understanding of the functional linkages between land tenure and land-based investments. |
La présente étude est une capitalisation des principaux résultats en termes d’outils, de produits ou de processus obtenus dans le cadre du projet de la FAO sur les Directives volontaires pour une gouvernance responsable des régimes fonciers applicables aux terres, aux pêches et aux forêts dans le contexte de la sécurité alimentaire au Sénégal, durant la période allant de 2017 à 2019. Cette capitalisation se concentre sur les processus par lesquels des connaissances implicites sur le foncier sont rendues explicites et diffusées auprès des populations. |