Are we on track to meet the AU’s 30% target by 2025?
A decade ago, the African Union set a bold and necessary goal: to ensure that 30% of documented land rights on the continent belong to women by 2025. Ten years later, with that milestone just months away, it is time to take stock. Are African nations on track to meet this target? What have we learned, and where do we need to go next?
On May 21, 2025, ILC Africa's Regional Platform 4 on Equal Women for Land Rights convened stakeholders across the continent to reflect on these questions. The virtual gathering brought together voices from the African Union (AU), FAO, IGAD, national governments, civil society, academia, and community land advocates. What emerged was a picture of hopeful progress intertwined with systemic gaps, policy disconnects, and the urgent need for data, harmonization, and accountability.
About the platform
Regional Platform 4 (RP4) is one of ILC Africa's key regional platforms working to advance women’s land rights across the continent. It brings together civil society organizations, government institutions, researchers, and community actors committed to transformative change. By creating spaces for joint learning, advocacy, and strategic alignment, RP4 enables stronger collaboration across local, national, and regional levels. The webinar was part of RP4’s broader commitment to track progress on the AU’s 30% target, amplify member voices, and generate collective accountability around women’s land rights.
A shared commitment, a fragmented reality
At the heart of the discussion was the acknowledgement that women’s land rights (WLRs) are not just a gender issue; they are a development imperative. Women produce over 60% of Africa’s food, yet they remain largely excluded from owning the land they farm. Veldman Muriel of FAO underscored this contradiction with stark statistics:
While 66% of women in Sub-Saharan Africa work in agri-food systems, they make up only a fraction of landowners.
Despite legal reforms, only a small proportion of countries possess the full suite of protections outlined in SDG 5.a.2. Even fewer have the necessary resources to measure their progress accurately. As Nsama Chikolwa from the African Land Policy Centre emphasized,
You cannot manage what you cannot measure.
This echoes a recurring theme: laws exist, but without documentation, data, and enforcement, women's land rights remain theoretical.
Ground realities: the view from five countries
Professor Uchendu Eugene Chigbu offered a sobering snapshot from Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. These countries show varying degrees of legal advancement, yet none are on track to meet the 30% target. Malawi and Mozambique suffer from weak enforcement and deep-rooted customary practices. Zambia and Zimbabwe have gender equality enshrined in law, but patriarchal norms and bureaucratic inertia persist. Namibia leads in legal provisions, but implementation gaps slow progress.
Each of these cases tells a story of competing priorities, climate stress, and underfunded land governance systems. The women most affected often reside in areas where formal systems are weakest.
From policy to practice: the role of data and community voices
For Malcom Childress of the Global Land Alliance, the path forward lies in community-driven data collection.
If we are going to move the needle, we need more, and better data tied to policy reform
He argued that Prindex surveys reveal that women's land insecurity often stems from within families, and legal protection doesn't always translate into security on the ground.
Landesa’s Everlyne Nairesiae echoed this by highlighting how perceptions of land tenure matter, especially in regions governed by customary laws. She stated that data must be generated from both registries and communities alike to accurately reflect the lived realities of women. Encouragingly, countries like Kenya, Liberia, and Malawi are registering customary land, a key opportunity for profiling women's land rights.
Regional and institutional responses: promising yet under-resourced
IGAD’s Addis Teshome Kebede outlined gender-specific initiatives, including national assessments, prototype land policies, and capacity-building for women’s leadership in land governance. These actions are promising, but funding and data harmonization remain obstacles. Similarly, Togo’s reforms to allocate 40% of agricultural land to women show political will, but enforcement is lagging.
Mr. Soulou Lalawele, representing the Ministry of Agriculture in Togo, detailed the country’s journey since 2018 in reforming its land tenure laws. These reforms enshrine equality between men and women and promote positive discrimination in favour of women’s land access. While progressive on paper, Mr. Lalawele admitted that cultural resistance hampers the application of the law. However, with support from FAO and government initiatives targeting women farmers, Togo remains committed to completing the process of securing tenure rights for women, a sign that grassroots engagement and institutional alignment can coexist.
Eva Martha Okoth, ILC Africa Coordinator, closed the webinar by underscoring a vital truth: owning land is not merely access to a resource; it is a gateway to dignity, stability, and economic independence. The target is not just numbers. It is about shifting systems that have historically marginalized women.
Looking ahead: what must be done
As the 2025 deadline looms, the region stands at a crossroads. The goal is achievable, but only if actors align at every level:
Policymakers
Must integrate gender-responsive reforms across land, agricultural, family, and climate frameworks.
National government
Must fund and mainstream disaggregated land data collection.
Customary authorities and local institutions
Must be engaged as allies, not bypassed.
Civil society and grassroots groups
Must continue advocating and generating bottom-up evidence.
Regional platforms within ILC Africa
Must help harmonize standards, promote shared learning, and sustain momentum.
The AU’s 30% target was never just a number. It was a call to justice. As we take stock in 2025, we must remember that land rights for women are not a luxury. They are a right and profound foundation for Africa’s food security, climate resilience, and inclusive development.
Let us not miss this chance to turn a continental promise into a lived reality.
