TMG Research

This report seeks to identify how local institutions can best use digital tools to make water governance more effective and inclusive, for sustainable water use and climate-resilient crop planning.

Abstract Landscape restoration plays a key role in mitigating the impacts of climate change, providing food and energy for growing populations, and protecting biodiversity. When rolling out large-scale land restoration programmes it is crucial—both from economic and social justice standpoints—to secure and protect legitimate claims to land. Yet, the implementation and enforcement of land policy is weak in many countries.This chapter presents two cases, from Kenya and Burkina Faso, in which women’s access to land was secured through alternative, locally driven approaches. TMG Research and partners piloted social innovations that give farmers secure land use rights through formal leases and intra-household tenure arrangements. The success of these innovations depended on strong community participation, facilitation by trusted and neutral civil society organisations, and the alignment of customary and statutory land tenure systems.A variety of approaches is needed to address the nexus of land tenure security and soil restoration. The inclusion of innovative, community-driven approaches within land and soil policy frameworks and development programmes is particularly effective where the implementation of broader land reforms is weak.KeywordsLand rightsGenderLandscape restorationTransdisciplinary researchAfrica

Making sustainable land management work for women smallholders 1 Land tenure insecurity is a major obstacle for smallholder farmers wishing to invest in soil protection and rehabilitation.