Why secure tenure rights are the cornerstone of Africa’s resilience and peace
Africa’s land sector sits at the heart of the continent’s most pressing challenges and most significant opportunities. As CLPA 2025 opened in Addis Ababa, the side event “Land, power & prosperity: Promoting secure tenure rights for inclusive land governance, climate resilience and conflict resolution” brought together land users, policymakers, grassroots leaders and development actors to unpack these challenges and chart a pathway toward a more just and resilient future.
The session explored how land, power dynamics and resource scarcity intersect to shape prosperity or deepen vulnerability for communities across Africa. Anchored in the continent’s shifting political, socio-economic and environmental realities, the discussions underscored one central message: without secure land rights, there can be no inclusive governance, no climate resilience, and no lasting peace.
A landscape shaped by insecurity, power struggles and climate shocks
The context for this debate is stark.
According to the 2024 SDGs Progress Report, the world now has nearly 120 million forcibly displaced people, with land and resource-related conflicts playing a significant role. At the same time, global data from Prindex shows that 1.1 billion adults feel insecure about their land or property rights: an alarming reflection of the worldwide scale of tenure insecurity.
Across Africa, resource scarcity, climate extremes, land degradation and large-scale land acquisitions are acting as “threat multipliers.” Yet, as ILC Africa case studies show, climate responses themselves, biofuel projects, conservation enclaves, and carbon markets can introduce new risks, triggering displacements, heightening inequalities and fueling tenure insecurity.
The side event highlighted examples such as Bukoka, Uganda, where a climate-smart agro-processing investment unintentionally intensified threats to local land rights. These stories reveal a deeper truth: solutions that don’t centre communities often recreate the very problems they claim to solve.
In her keynote address, she further underscored how the struggle over land is inseparable from questions of power, identity and governance.
Land is not just an economic asset; it is the foundation of livelihoods, dignity and identity. And yet this foundation is under threat. Without secure tenure rights, long-term investments stall, opportunities fade, and vulnerability grows.
She emphasised that climate change is eroding the very basis of livelihoods: 65% of Africa’s land is affected by degradation and drought, undermining food security, increasing displacement, and driving conflict. However, she reminded participants that resilience is possible and already emerging.
Drawing from ILC Africa members’ experiences, Marcy highlighted successful community-led efforts to rehabilitate degraded lands, develop land-use plans, restore forests, and increase women’s agency in natural resource governance. These examples, she argued, prove that:
- Secure land rights enable communities to invest confidently in the future.
- Sustainable land management is most effective when driven by those who depend on the land.
- Coherent governance across ministries and sectors is essential for integrating tenure security into climate and development strategies.
Her call to action was clear:
Inclusive land governance is not only a technical issue; it is a political decision and a moral imperative.
Power, inequality and the political economy of land
Speakers and participants reflected on the power dynamics that shape land ownership and access. Evidence from the Land Matrix Initiative shows that by 2024, 75% of large-scale land deals in Africa had been concluded, many involving powerful elites, corporations and politically connected actors.
These realities pose a major barrier to reform. Yet land conflicts, while destructive, can also push societies to address injustices, clarify rights, and negotiate new norms. The session, therefore, asked:
- How do we ensure flexibility in customary and statutory tenure systems?
- How do we negotiate equitable access and benefit-sharing in a changing climate?
- How do we safeguard women, youth, Indigenous Peoples and pastoralists from exclusion?
Voices from the ground: Women advancing peace and resilience
One of the event’s most compelling aspects was the focus on grassroots women leaders Janet Lapat, Marieme Wade, and others, whose experiences of navigating conflict, negotiating access to land, restoring degraded landscapes, and asserting their rights amid patriarchal and political barriers.
Their stories illustrated the session’s central theme:
When women and communities have agency, sustainability follows.
Their leadership is not peripheral to land governance; it is essential to peacebuilding, climate adaptation and food system resilience.
Towards a renewed commitment to tenure security and inclusive governance
Across panel contributions and discussions, several priorities emerged for strengthening land governance in Africa:
Make land governance coherent and accountable
Tenure security must be integrated into climate strategies, NDCs, agricultural planning and development frameworks.
Elevate women, youth and Indigenous Peoples
Their voices are central to building equitable systems and challenging entrenched power dynamics.
Strengthen data systems for transparency, accountability and evidence-based decision-making
Reliable, accessible and gender-responsive land data strengthens land administration, exposes inequalities and ensures accountability. Investing in community data, harmonised national systems and digital land information can prevent conflict, support climate planning and guide policies that reflect the needs of women, youth, pastoralists and Indigenous Peoples.
Protect and formalize legitimate land rights
Whether customary, communal or private, securing rights reduces conflict, enhances livelihood opportunities and supports climate action.
Invest in community-led restoration and agroecology
Local knowledge systems and community governance structures are key to rehabilitating land and strengthening resilience.
Strengthen multi-actor partnerships
Collaboration among governments, civil society, land-user organisations, and development partners is crucial for transformative change.
Looking ahead
As the session concluded, speakers emphasised that land is more than a development issue; it is a question of justice, democracy, and the future Africa wants.
ILC Africa and partners reaffirmed their commitment to advancing secure tenure rights for all, promoting inclusive land governance, and supporting community-led solutions that address conflict, climate challenges and inequality.
Through shared learning, strategic alliances and sustained advocacy, the coalition aims to ensure that every hectare restored, and every right secured, brings Africa closer to resilience, equality, and peace.
