Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests

In the developing countries women make up 70 percent of those working in agriculture, but very often have no or only very limited access to resources, Source: © macky_ch - Fotolia.com

Secure rights of access to land and other productive resources are of existential importance to the majority of people in rural areas. They are a key factor for the implementation of the right to food. An increasing number of investors are buying land in developing and emerging countries. Private investments are important for food security but they must not violate human and land rights of the local population.

The "Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests" provide a legal framework to improve the safe and just access of the local population to natural resources. More specifically, this is about the recognition and protection of individual and community property rights and rights of use codified and recognised by customary law, responsible land investments and the consequences of climate change and natural catastrophes.

Aigner: "An important step towards implementing the human right to food"

"The Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests are an important step to implement the human right to food", said Federal Minister of Agriculture Ilse Aigner after the conclusion of the negotiations within the UN World Food Organisation (FAO). From the perspective of the Federal Government these guidelines are very important because they are currently the only global instrument regulating the secure and fair access to land and natural resources and also dealing with the shaping of investments into land, the so called land-grabbing.

Secure rights of access to land and other productive resources are of existential importance to the majority of people in rural areas, Aigner emphasised. "Private investors must not violate human and land rights of the local population." The voluntary guidelines provide an orientation to ensure secure and fair access to land and other natural resources such as forests or fisheries for the local population. More specifically, this is about the administration and allocation of ownership and usage rights, possible transfers and changes to these rights, for example in the case of large-scale land purchases, responsible investments into land and the impacts of such investments with regard to climate change.

Aigner called on the responsibility of national governments. "The access to land, especially of the poorer population, must be protected. Very often the legislative and administrative conditions for this are insufficient. In addition the prevention of corruption and the protection against expulsion, expropriation and discrimination need to be improved. The local governments are responsible for this."

Strengthening women's rights

In the negotiations Germany furthermore advocated that the guidelines also deal with the discrimination against women regarding access to land which prevails in many regions. "The participatory rights of women and girls must be strengthened", Aigner said. In many emerging and developing countries women are still disadvantaged due to traditional inheritance and family law and have only very little influence on land use planning. Despite the fact that women account for more than half of the small-scale farmers, fewer than 20 percent of the titles to land are issued to women. It is estimated globally that if women had the same access to land, education and technology, it would be possible to considerably reduce the number of people suffering from hunger in the world.

Representatives of civil society, the scientific community and the private sector have actively participated in the negotiations in Rome alongside 96 countries. In the run up FAO organised worldwide consultations which discussed particularly the interests of the population in need. The Federal Ministry for Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection has supported this work since 2009 with EUR 2.1 million, thus continuing its activities aimed at supporting the Voluntary Guidelines on the Right to Food. The Guidelines are part of the 2010-2012 Human Rights Action Plan of the Federal Government on the right to food. The official adoption of the voluntary guidelines is scheduled for an extraordinary meeting of the Committee on World Food Security in Rome in May 2012.