The NELGA project was officially launched in Central Africa on the 17^th and 18^th of January 2019 in Yaoundé, Cameroon. The first phase of the project lasted 18 months under the terms of the agreement signed between the University of Yaoundé I (as the regional node of the project) and GIZ. With GIZ planning to continue supporting this initiative, the execution of a second phase of the project is underway. Following this, the need to get more higher education institutions in Central Africa involved in the project was considered crucial. It is with this intention that NELGA organized missions to explore the possibilities of collaborations with new universities and other prospective partners both in Cameroon and other NELGA member countries in Central Africa.

The NELGA coordination team with the support of the GIZ Technical Advisor to NELGA are carrying out these missions in Cameroon. On the other hand, in countries like Chad, Gabon, CAR and DRC, the NELGA focal points will provide the lead in the consultation processes. By the end of these assignments, new universities, research institutions and other active actors working in land related sectors will be included in phase 2 of the project.

The mission to the university of Ngaoundéré in Cameroon is one of the missions that intended to explore and reflect on future collaborations between the university and the NELGA project. It had main objectives of presenting the project to the academic authorities of the University, highlighting its approach to land governance, illustrating its fields of action as well as the results of the first phase. It also focused on discussing the likely co-preparation and follow-up processes of involving the university in the second phase. Similarly, the mission intended to present various support opportunities available within the NELGA network and its partners to students currently working on land issues.

The NELGA team with the services of Professor TCHOTSOUA Michel met the Rector of the University of Ngaoundéré and presented the purpose of the mission. The Rector was certainly positive to the idea of integrating the University of Ngaoundéré into the Network, on the understanding that the interest of the University in the issues of land use planning, management of natural resources and development in the broad sense of the term no longer needs to be compromised. She consequently appointed Professor TCHOTSOUA as NELGA Focal Point at the University of Ngaoundéré.

The team correspondingly met the deans and vice deans in charge of research as well as the heads of departments of the Faculties of Arts, Letters and Human Sciences, Faculties of Legal and Political Sciences, Faculties of Economics and Management. Except for the Faculty of Economics and Management that the theme is still new for, all the other faculties have courses on or related to the land tenure system in their curricula. All the Heads of Departments met expressed the desire to actively contribute to the activities of NELGA, particularly in the context of updating the curricula of the courses to align them with the directives of the African Union on land tenure in Africa. The sensitization tour ended successfully with the meeting with the Master and Doctorate students to whom offers of scholarships and mobility were presented.

The Network of Excellence on Land Governance in Africa (NELGA) held a panel discussion at the just concluded GIZ LandHub 2020 Meeting to highlight evidence-based best practices on how research can influence policy development and reforms.

The 90minute online panel discussion on December 15, 2020, demonstrated the crucial relationship between research and good policy advice in the land sector. The lively discussion, with panelists from Landportal, World Bank, GIZ, GIGA, policymakers, and the land governance community, discussed the theme: Research-Policy Linkages: How to improve Evidence-based Policy Advise in the Land Sector.  

For those who could not make it, find a summary of the discussion below.

 

Researchers and Policymakers Collaboration Benefits the Land Governance Space

Land Commissions consisting of policymakers, researchers, private sectors, and CSOs can identify important research areas and integrate data and research results into decision making – Willi Zimmermann

A point that cuts across all panelists was the call for increased collaboration between policymakers and researchers as this benefits everyone involved in the policy reform landscape. There should be a deliberate way for researchers, decision-makers, and policy writers to collaborate. The promotion of strategy, policy ownership, and transparency within governmental institutions are equally important.  Researchers need to get policymakers involved in research work as it is vital for promoting the research findings in policy recommendations.

If policymakers collaborate with researchers, it will be easier for governments to make evidence-based policy advice. This starts with formulating relevant research questions together. Researchers need to understand the different timeframes and logic that is available to the policymaker to make decisions. Both sides, the researcher and policymaker, should listen to one another and collaborate in solving identified problems. The policymaker should be open enough to listen to what the science (data and research) say.

Research policy forums could be useful means of discussing opportunities offered by both researchers and policymakers – Desire Tchigankong

Regardless of this inclusive collaboration, the policymakers should remain objective and encourage freedom of research as this helps produce the desired data for evidence-based decision making. Furthermore, encouraging private sectors and CSO’s involvement can provide innovative ways to promote a high level of advocacy, useful to back up policies with science.

The discussion acknowledged how the COVID situation gave an excellent lesson to politicians and policymakers worldwide. It was said the pandemic enhanced the importance of collaborations between policymakers and researchers not only in the health sector but also in other sectors such as agriculture and land tenure.

The Need for More Capacity Building

This leads to another point raised by both the policymakers and participants on capacity building as both groups agreed that research and training are inseparable, especially for young people. Capacity building for young researchers, academics, land experts, and potential policymakers goes a long way to create the future we want to see in the land governance space. There is a need to enhance researchers’ capacities in producing policy briefs and opinion pieces as the researcher should have the ability to make these. Policymakers should build their capacity to learn and truly understand the change that research could bring in the policy sector.

Presenting and Communicating Data is Crucial

Though data can be powerful to shape decisions, unfortunately, availability and access to land data remain low as ranked by the open data barometer. Data needs to remain accessible and available to a wide range of stakeholders. These stakeholders leverage this data to present evidence-based agile approaches that respond to policymakers’ circumstances. For instance, the coronavirus pandemic showed how vital data and information are to policymaking. The rise in digital platforms played a crucial role in data sharing inclusively during the health crisis.  Such inclusive communication ensures an increased understanding of the policymakers, bringing them into the discussion space and presenting data in a simple format for ease of understanding and action.  The academia must turn lengthy evidence-based research into a call for action, policy briefs, opinion pieces, and cooperate with international organizations for increased synergy, dissemination and implementation.

Discussions like these are of high relevance because they conduct a reality check to see if we are on the right track and what else we need. Both the scientific community and policymakers should work on their perceptions towards evidence-based decision making and learn to truly understand the change that research could bring in the policy sector. Under the directive of ALPC, NELGA participated in the meeting by the support of GIZ’s Strengthening Advisory Capacities for Land Governance in Africa program.

An evidence-based policy helps to make well-informed decisions about policies, programs and projects, by placing the best available evidence from research at the heart of policy development and implementation. This also accounts for policymaking in the land sector. 

But how can we implement evidence-based policy in a sector where data is usually scarce or difficult to access? How can we respond with policies and programs to increasingly rapid global trends while still relying on robust science? And what is the key to good science communication, given that the validity of scientific facts is coming under increasing pressure worldwide? In this session, we would like to address these questions and focus on the relationship between good research and policymaking in the land sector and how good science communication can work. 

To address these questions, SLGA and NELGA will host a panel discussion at GIZ LandHub 2020 meeting.

Date: December 15, 2020

Time: 13:00 – 14:30 (UTC+1)

Venue: Online meeting

Through a panel discussion covering different perspectives, we want to learn from the experiences of experts and conduct a reality check to see if we are on the right track and what else we need.

Panelist include:

• Dr Insa Flachsbarth – GIGA Institute for Africa Affairs

• Laura Meggiolaro – Land Portal

• Dr Wael Zakout – World Bank 

• Prof. Paul Tchawa – Secretary-General, Ministry of Environment, Nature Protection and Sustainable Development, Cameroon

 

The Government of the Arab Republic of Egypt is pleased to announce the Second Arab Land Conference to be organized under the patronage of the Egyptian Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities. The Conference will be organized by the Housing and Building National Research Centre represented by the Urban Training and Studies Institute (UTI) in partnership with UN-Habitat, the Global Land Tool Network (GLTN), the World Bank, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), and the Dubai Land Department.

The Conference will allow both in-person and virtual attendance and will take place on the 22, 23 and 24th February 2021 in Cairo, Egypt. The Conference marks an important milestone in the roadmap towards establishing good land governance in the Arab region. The Conference will promote good land management and land administration by focusing on the priorities of the Arab Land Initiative: promote collaboration and coordination; develop and share knowledge; develop capacities of individuals and organizations; and support the implementation of land-related programmes and interventions.

The Conference will be a platform to discuss countries experiences, present new research, foster high-level support and ownership to tackle land governance and to empower and develop the capacities of the land stakeholders from the region. Experts and practitioners will have the opportunity to submit and present papers relevant to the eight topics of the conference:

• Land management and administration: tools and practices
• Land and property registration: modernization and reform
• Land management in time of crisis: conflicts, climate change and epidemics
• Access to land for women and vulnerable groups: successful practices and lessons learnt
• Efficient land use: tools and practices
• Technologies and smart solutions: enhancing land management, land development and construction
• Private sector participation: policies and practices
• Capacity development: successes and gaps

Partners will have the opportunity to organize masterclasses, side events and special sessions at the margins of the Conference.

For more information visit https://arabstates.gltn.net/ or click on the concept note below.

From November 30 to December 18, 2020, Advancing Collaborative Research in Responsible and Smart Land Management in and for Africa (ADLAND), the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and NELGA will host various events to bridge some gaps in land governance studies in Africa.

On November 30, ALDLAND, TUM, NELGA, and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana, will jointly review and revise the curricula for Ph.D. on Land Management and Governance. The team will revise the curriculum against ALPC requirements and other international standards and experiences. The revised curriculum will be forwarded for internal review. The remote meeting provides the opportunity to introduce adaptation measures and improvements in meeting the current land governance context and AU Agenda on Land.

Following this meeting, on December 18, working with the University of Zimbabwe, ADLAND will build NELGA members’ capacity, especially researchers and academics, on publishing and editing skills. The online seminar aims to support the University of Zimbabwe on the publication process of the book “Developing Sustainable and Smart Human Settlements: An African Context”.

The training will look at the tips and tricks on writing book chapters and scientific papers, editing, reviewing, dealing with reviewers, feedback on book structure, and costs and finances.

These meetings are restricted to NELGA member universities but interested parties can contact the following:

Online Seminar on Publishing and Editing

Dr. Charles Chavunduka

cmchavunduka@yahoo.com 

University of Zimbabwe

Department of Architecture and Real Estate  

Remote Curricula Study

Eric Tudzi

Erictudzi@yahoo.com 

Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology

Dschang, Cameroon, November 10, 2020: From November 10 – 13, 2020, land governance experts from various universities and research institutions in Central Africa will meet in Dschang, Cameroon, for a sensitization meeting on the review of existing land governance curricula by adopting the recommendations in the Guidelines for Curricula Development on Land Governance in Africa.

The meeting is convened by the Network of Excellence on Land Governance in Africa (NELGA) in partnership with leading universities in Central Africa under the African Land Policy Center (ALPC) coordination with the support of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) at the African Union. The Guidelines for the Development of Curricula on Land Governance in Africa were endorsed by the AU Conference of the Specialized Technical Committee (STC) on Agriculture, Rural Development, Water and Environment IN October 2017. The Guidelines support the implementation of the African Union (AU) Agenda on Land; and responds to the call for AU Member countries to bridge capacity gaps on land policy development and its implementation.

Given the shortfall in Africa’s land sector, particularly in terms of skills and expertise, African Union member states were asked to “develop adequate human, financial and technical capacities to support the development and implementation of land policy in Africa”. Universities and higher education institutions were then recommended to review existing curricula, research, and training to ensure that they are adequate to meet the industry’s needs. Significant gaps have been identified in the content and nature of African universities and other higher education institutions’ training and research programmes.

Speaking about the workshop, Dr. Joan Kagwanja, ALPC Chief, commented, “In producing the Guidelines, ALPC embarked on extensive consultation and documentation, informed by evidence and data processed by the Center through its rigorous regional assessment reports. The process identified capacity development gaps in land administration and curricula to advance land governance in Africa, which influenced the development of the Guidelines. The Guidelines aim to serve as a framework for the development and/or review of African universities’ academic curricula. These guidelines were presented to the relevant AU political body for approval and are now key tools for implementing the AU’s land agenda.

The sensitization workshop is part of the ongoing advocacy and consultation with academics for mainstreaming land governance capacity gaps across Africa. It is expected that participants will respond to the new proposals and ideas emerging from the Guidelines.”

Prof. Paul Tchawa, the NELGA Central Africa Node Coordinator, explained, “The main objective of this workshop is to raise awareness and equip the leaders of Cameroonian and Central Africa universities who want to engage in the review of their curricula to bring them to speed with the African Union’s guidelines in this area.  We welcome the opportunity to close capacity gaps in the land governance curricula as it ensures that as academic institutions, we continue to meet our students’ needs and fulfill the African Union’s mandate.”

At the end of this workshop, participants from partner universities will be made aware of the guidelines for the revision of curricula on land governance in Africa and their contribution to implementing the land policy designed by the AU. They will also understand the procedures to be followed in the review of curricula and design an action plan for the review and design of curricula in their various universities.”

Commending the initiative, Professor Roger Tsafack Nanfosso, Rector of Dschang University, said, “Given the dense and diverse profiles of experts from diverse backgrounds at this workshop, there is no doubt that the workshop will lead to fruitful results and realistic recommendations that can redirect our training offerings towards specific development goals. The reconfiguration of land governance curricula is essential to make land a real lever for economic growth in our continent.”

Participating universities include Universite de Yaounde, Universite de Banqui, Universite Marien Ngouabi, Universite de N’Djamena, Universite Omar Bongo, and Universite de Kinshasha. Universities of Dschang, Douala, Yaounde,Cameroon, and Omar Bongo in Gabon have signified interest to begin revising the content of courses on land after the workshop.

Find below the report and presentations made at the workshop:

The African Land Policy Centre (ALPC), formerly called the Land Policy Initiative (LPI), is a joint programme of the tripartite consortium consisting of the African Union Commission (AUC), the African Development Bank (AfDB) , and United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). Its purpose is to enable the use of land to lend impetus to the process of African development. The programme is governed by a Steering Committee that meets periodically, while a joint secretariat implements day to day activities.

To strengthen human and institutional capacities for implementing the AU agenda on land, ALPC established the Network of Excellence on Land Governance in Africa (NELGA). NELGA is a partnership of leading African universities and research institutions with proven leadership in education, training, and research on land governance. Currently, NELGA has more than 50 partner institutions across Africa. NELGA aims to: enhance training opportunities and curricula on land governance in Africa; promote demand driven research on land policy issues; connect scholars and researchers across Africa through academic networks; and create data and information for monitoring and evaluation on land policy reforms.

In partnership with Nazi-Boni University, NELGA participates in a Curricula Review Workshop in Burkina Faso from November 3 to 6, 2020, intending to establish a master’s degree in land governance.

The workshop brings together experts and leading professors in the region to meet the African Union land agenda, which places research and the implementation of appropriate academic studies and training to bridge capacity gaps on land governance in African universities. NELGA’s participation is under the coordination of the African Land Policy Center (ALPC) with the support of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) at the African Union.

Universite Gaston Berget in Senegal and Université des sciences juridiques et politiques in Mali held similar exercises with NELGA support. Nazi-Boni University hopes that at the end of the workshop, they will emerge with a training model on land tenure, taking into account the orientations and recommendations in the AU framework and guidelines on land tenure policies.

From September 9th to 10th, 2020, the Government of Cameroon, with the support of FAO and other partners, convened a multi-sectoral workshop to review, validate, and appropriate the Rural Sectarian Development Strategy and the National Agricultural Investment Plan (SDSR/PNIA) for 2020-2030, in Yaounde, Cameroon.

Since 2019, Cameroon has committed to making the rural sector one of the critical sectors contributing to its development. The SDSR/PNIA serves as the benchmark and framework for developing and investing in Cameroon’s rural areas. The policy documents play an integral part in the country’s commitment to the Malabo Declaration.

The meeting heard opening remarks from  FAO Representative on behalf of the Technical and Financial Partners (PTFs) for the development of the rural sector; a representative of the African Union (AU);  and a keynote address by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development that was followed by a brief presentation of the SDSR/PNIA 2020-2030 by the Coordinator of the Technical Secretariat of the SDSR/PNIA.

The SDSR/PNIA strategic directions consist of four main axes: 1) sustainable growth in production in the plant and forestry sectors, animal and fishing; 2) improving the collective infrastructure environment and access to factors of production; 3) strengthening the resilience of production systems, sustainable management of natural resources and food and nutrition security of vulnerable populations in the face of climate change; 4) Improving governance and human capital in the sector.

GIZ, through the Strengthening Advisory Capacities for Land Governance in Africa Program, carried out a study on the evaluation of land governance in Cameroon to make a significant contribution to the revision process of the SDSR/PNIA.

The Results of this study were submitted to the Technical Secretariat in charge of coordinating the review process. During the validation workshop, it was observed with great satisfaction that most of the actions and recommendations concerning land tenure were considered in the revised version of the SDRS/PNIA document.

These main actions and recommendations are the following:

• Involve decentralized local authorities, local communities, and indigenous peoples in the review process and implementation of the new PNIA.
• Finalize the implementation of land reforms that consider women’s rights, young people and indigenous people to land,  and the adoption of relevant compensation systems.  
• Finalize the implementation of forest reform, taking into account the guidelines of land reforms on securing rights, improving regulations on the sustainability of exploitation in the DFNP (Non-permanent forest estate), taking into account emerging factors such as climate change and other unpredictable social phenomena, internal displacement, and others.
• Finalize the implementation of  the pastoral code with consideration for the sustainability of operating systems, securing rights and arbitration of conflicts;
• The Law Framework on Environmental Management should be updated with allowances made for the sustainability of production systems, the vulnerability related to unpredictable social or natural phenomena, and international commitments to sustainable management sectors.
• Promoting the implementation of community consultation platforms for all initiatives.
• Institutionalization of independent land observation that will serve as collective vigilance.
• Digitization of the land registry and sharing information /communication on land operations.
• Monitoring and evaluating land governance issues by the Rural Sector Monitoring Committee (COS) and Strengthening COS in monitoring land governance issues.
• Support for mapping communities and promoting innovative approaches to community security (participatory mapping, mapping of community land rights, etc.).
• Awareness and information on land operations and the implementation of major development projects.
• Protection of watercourses and watersheds.
• Sensitization and accompaniment of women, youth and IPs in accessing land for agriculture.

Participants at the workshop include representatives from technical committees on SDSR, rural departmental programs, and ministries, civil society space, National Youth Council, the Chamber of Agriculture, Fisheries, Livestock and Forestry, including some regional representatives; the private sector, universities, other public administrative institutions,  consumer unions, and SDSR/PNIA Technical Secretariat. The applauded the use of the multi-sector approach for policy reviews and recommended that such actions be strengthened for ongoing sector policy development and review processes.

Following this meeting, the validated document will be shared with AUDA-NEPAD for an independent external technical journal. Subsequently, a bilingual edition of the SDSR/PNIA 2020-2030 document will be publicized and a business meeting scheduled to discuss stakeholders’ financial commitments towards implementing the SDSR/PNIA 2020-2030 plan.

Click the link below to read the full report of the study on evaluation of land governance in Cameroon.

From October 6^th – 8^th, 2020, the Network of Excellence on Land Governance in Africa Southern Africa hub at the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) will hold a virtual workshop to present its final draft of the Research and Capacity Development Strategy for Land Governance Innovation in Southern Africa. When adopted, the strategy serves as the basis for future research and capacity building in land governance innovation within the Southern African region.

The strategy document stems from the regional hub’s research on land governance in Southern Africa, which covers the description and assessment of Land Governance in the region. The countries covered include Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Eswatini, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.  The eight-country assessment results were presented at the NUST-NELGA Hub for Southern Africa at a 2-day Symposium in 2019. The Symposium identified regional land policy implications and the key land challenges facing Southern African countries. The key challenges and opportunities were published in a Synthesis Report in 2020. The eight country case studies and the synthesis report will form the basis for future research, capacity development, and policy innovation in the region.

Ensuring that recommendations published in the Synthesis Report are carried out systematically, NUST-NELGA Hub developed the “Research and Capacity Development Strategy for Land Governance Innovation in Southern Africa” for the period 2020 to 2025.

The strategic initiatives outlined in the Research and Capacity Development Strategy for Land Governance Innovation in southern Africa are closely aligned with the prominent African and International Initiatives. The strategy supports and draws inspiration from the African Land Policy Initiative and the Framework and Guidelines on Land Policy in Africa as well as the African Agenda 2063, the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (SDGs), the FAO Voluntary Guidelines on Responsible Governance of Tenure (VGGTs) and the World Bank Land Governance Assessment Framework (LGAF).

The meeting will have in attendance, civil society actors, policymakers, academics, and researchers from the region and across the continent.

For inquiries, contact nelga@nust.na