Promoting women's land rights at the 13th AU summit

Heads of African states and governments must recommit themselves to honouring the dignity of women’s work and their contributions to economies in ways that work for our people on the continent.

In its preamble, the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa recognises 'the crucial role of women in the preservation of African values based on the principles of equality, peace, freedom, dignity, justice, solidarity and democracy' and in this summarises the dilemmas that continue to define the dialectic between governance and productivity. At the heart of this lies the role of women in development and their access to and control of factors of production.

The above issues should be considered seriously both by heads of states whenever they meet in their continental forums and on the national level, especially in the areas of implementation.

Conflict and militarisation have increased insecurity at all levels and taken valuable resources away from fighting poverty on the continent to fighting wars. The feminisation of poverty has deepened and now more than ever, African governments are called upon to review the structural inequalities that continue to impoverish and exclude a large section of the population, including women.[1]

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Women’s right to land is a critical factor in determining social status, economic wellbeing and empowerment. Their right to property is unequal to those of men in many African countries, and their right to own, inherit, manage and dispose of property is under constant attack from customs, laws and individuals. Institutions that ought to affirm this right and guarantee them secure tenure remain constrained by outdated laws; by the notion of land rights as being resident in oppressive legal and policy frameworks inimical to the principles of gender equity; and by an essentially zero-sum interpretation of women’s rights to property within customary law.

Constitutions, as well as reaffirming the sanctity and protection of private property, ought to reflect a shift from the historical power imbalances that have traditionally disenfranchised women. Countries like Kenya, Zimbabwe and Zambia have an opportunity to do so through their current review processes, within which African states must reject land policies that despite reflecting equitability in land size, class and productive capacities, nonetheless fail to dispense with institutional biases militating against women’s access to credit from banks, financial institutions and other credit circles. Mitigating conflicts through balancing positive components of customary laws (particularly through the bill of rights) between constitutional and international provisions on gender equality on the one hand and customary practices and legislations that discriminate against women in relation to land ownership and inheritance on the other is another challenge states are faced with.

African states are further challenged by the current restructuring of the global economy, a restructuring which relocates African women in spaces that recall their vulnerability to agricultural exploitation during the structural adjustment period of the 1990s. Women are especially vulnerable to the food crisis because of their reproductive responsibilities. They must also confront a lack of access to and control over land, technologies and credit. Thirty years of failed agricultural policies have also made it more difficult for women to deal with rising food prices. A set of questions straddles the nexus between desired economic growth and women’s right to food security, and should provide the catalytic bases of response by African states to the issue of guaranteeing women land-related freedoms. If, as has been argued by some experts, the problem is not the availability of food but access to food resources, then which strategies need to be adopted and prioritised by African states in tackling food insecurity? As a minimum, global development models that marginalise half of the world’s population must be challenged by African states.

Globally and in Africa women are now calling for food sovereignty, an approach that protects the environment and advances human rights. Within this, climate change presents significant threats to the achievement of the millennium development goals (MDGs), especially those related to eliminating poverty and hunger and promoting environmental sustainability. An increasing body of evidence points to the disproportionate negative impact that climate change will have on the poorest countries that, ironically, have contributed least to the problem. Are African governments ready for the challenges posed by the potential impacts of climate change? Its impacts on food production relate to African women in very specific ways: As food production shrinks and demand for productive land escalates conflicts, the imperative reverts back to states to reduce women’s vulnerability to sexual violence and exploitation that increased mobility in search of productive land and resources invariably exposes them to. This is possible through investment in holistic, gender-sensitive approaches to climate change adaptation and land use.

Further, the scarcity of productive land is a major force against women’s right to own and inherit land. Broadening returns through a national income valuation of women’s productive contribution towards land improvement is one way to secure tenure, and is possible through official recognition of time use and efficiency and through increased budgetary allocations towards farm subsidies for non-industrial production, value addition to small-scale and indigenous crops traditionally farmed by women.

Dispute resolution mechanisms that favour class interests over productive pragmatism are also part of the problem denying women access to justice and must be addressed. In many African countries, corruption in land allocation, acquisition and redistribution is endemic and the existence of systemic balances with regard to transparency and accountability is often taken for granted. States can recommit themselves to enhancing the responsiveness of local- and national-level justice systems to women’s rights.

In conflict and post-conflict countries, states secure provision of emergency food aid to the most vulnerable groups, and work with farming families to increase longer-term food production and distribution of drought-resistant seed varieties through women’s resource networks. Stronger links between state and civil society organisations are crucial here, as is the need for civil society groups to systematically campaign around land rights for women as a single issue.

The real dilemma with regard to enhancing the role of women in agricultural production and food security lies in securing their use of all factors of production and maintaining a reciprocal relationship entailing value addition and remuneration. During the forthcoming AU summit therefore, African heads of state and government must:

1) Make serious commitments towards directing capital investments to subsidise non-industrial agricultural farming, in view of the current global state of compelled resource re-appropriation
2) Invest in research and technologies that support profit-retention values of small-scale agricultural output
3) Act on the cultural impunity that continues to impede the implementation of progressive land policies
4) Secure women’s land tenure by increasing their opportunities to share and play a more substantive role in agrarian reform processes.

Heads of African states and governments must recommit themselves to honouring the dignity of women’s work and real contributions to our economies. The way to do this is by consciously supporting value-derivative processes with the aim of increasing the benefits to women from production and protecting their right to determine economic growth and food security on the continent.

Of course, overcoming poverty will not be possible without challenging patriarchy, capitalism and the current model of development, which puts profits before public goods, human security and welfare. A more equitable distribution of land and other resources is necessary to overcome poverty – especially rural poverty – and as they decide on the economic direction of the continent, African governments must remain trained on the truism of political will as the most powerful weapon in lessening the burden of poverty on African women.

* Lyn Ossome is a human rights activist.
* This article is dedicated to the memory of Dr Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem, who tirelessly spoke out against the marginalisation and exclusion of women from their own struggles and without whom and for whom the struggle must continue.
* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org/.

REFERENCES
1. FIDA, Land Policy Brief: Debating Women’s Land and Property Rights against the Background of the Land Reforms in Kenya, 2009.
2. Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa
3. The Montevideo Declaration, 5 May 2007

NOTES
[1] The Montevideo Declaration, 5 May 2007