eBusiness Weekly
Conrad Mwanawashe
Improving governance of tenure of land, forests and fisheries will provide citizens with secure and equitable access to natural resources, and consequently increase food security, improve livelihoods, strengthen social and economic development and enhance the environment, according to Dr Patrice Talla Takoukam, Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations Sub Regional Coordinator for Southern Africa and Representative for Zimbabwe and Eswatini.
Takoukam was speaking at the National Comprehensive and Gender Sensitive Land Policy Framework Review Meetings in Bulawayo.
FAO and government are holding review meetings of the draft land policy framework with traditional leaders and Ministers of State for Provincial Affairs in Zimbabwe.
“Issues of governance of tenure of land, forests, and natural resources are in general important for FAO. Millions of people depend on access to farmland and rangeland, to fisheries and to forests for their livelihoods.
As such improving governance of tenure of land, forests and fisheries means increasing Government and citizens’ capacity to understand, administer, secure and transfer legitimate tenure rights.
By improving governance of tenure, Governments will provide citizens with secure and equitable access to natural resources, and consequently increase food security, improve livelihoods, strengthen social and economic development and enhance the environment,” said Dr Takoukam.
The review meetings are part of a multi-stakeholder consultative process that began in Harare in 2019, when Zimbabwe with support from FAO successfully launched the process towards the formulation of a Comprehensive National and Gender Sensitive Land Policy for Zimbabwe.
This was followed by launches in Bulawayo covering local participants and from Matabeleland North and South and Midlands province. Another launch was held in Mutare with participants from Masvingo and Manicaland Provinces.
The consultations, led by Professor Mandivamba Rukuni, then used the stakeholders’ contributions to come up with the first draft which was then presented to stakeholders, province by province.
The provincial consultations were then incorporated into the draft National Land Policy to come up with the Final Draft. The National technical land experts gathered and developed a Comprehensive and Gender Sensitive Draft National Land Policy Framework, which is now under review by key stakeholders, the Traditional leaders, and Government Ministers included.
The next steps include consolidation of any additional inputs from all stakeholders; submission of the draft National Land policy framework to the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development paving way for the final multi – stakeholder national validation land policy summit.
The National and Comprehensive Gender Sensitive Land Policy framework seeks to enhance equal access to land, productivity and sustainable utilization of land and will also take into cognizance various global discourse and benchmarks, as guided by 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 AU declaration on Land issues and Challenges in Africa.
The draft National Comprehensive and Gender Sensitive Land policy framework focused on, among other things,
• Land Rights
• Land Governance
• Land Administration
• Legislative/Regulatory measures.
To ensure the land policy is relevant to Zimbabwe’s development agenda, the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development from November 2020, undertook comprehensive multi-stakeholder consultations in all ten provinces.
In addition, written submissions were received from professional bodies and associations of key interest groups. Which led to the development of a draft land policy framework that will be reviewed by different stakeholders, starting with Traditional leaders and Ministers of State for provincial affairs, in Bulawayo.
The policy also identifies a number of issues that government and citizens must address to achieve the social and economic transformation of Zimbabwe into an upper middle-income country by 2030.
These include undertaking legal reforms, harmonizing government institutions with respect to land governance and administration, building the capacity of the land administration institutions including civil society and traditional authorities, strengthening the land rights of women, youth and other vulnerable groups, providing guidance on good land use planning practices, implementing measures for transparency and mutual accountability and ensuring environmental sustainability.
According to Dr Charles Chavunduka, Team Leader – FAO, the Land Rights Policy clarifies 8 land rights in each land tenure category; in each category the set of 8 land rights are clarified in terms of
i) definition;
ii) recognition; and iii) protection
Under Land Governance Policy, it clarifies for each land tenure category, the legitimate structures under 3 levels of governance – national, provincial and local authority; and their mandates for 3 governance functions at each level
Policy/regulations making
Executive function for land administration policy Judicial function including administrative and procedural justice
“Investing in a meticulous, comprehensive engagement process with meaningful participation and inclusion of all relevant stakeholders will deepen ownership and commitment critical for the implementation process of the strategy,” said Dr Takoukam.
This article was written by Conrad Mwanashe for Maricho Media www.marichomedia.com
