1. Gender and Collectively Held Lands: Good Practices and Lessons Learned
Six Case Studies
Renée Giovarelli
22 March 2017

2. CHOOSING CASE STUDIES
Interventions that aimed to increase the land tenure security of the community while also addressing gender differences. Diversity in types of land, geographic location, implementer, and funder.

3. METHODOLOGY Each case study drafted by different author(s)
Desk research: project documents; legal and contextual analysis
Field-based assessment of intervention with national expert and implementing team
Case studies presented to stakeholders in validation workshops
Peer reviewed by at least one national expert

4. SIX CASE STUDIES China Ghana India Kyrgyzstan Peru Namibia Country
Type of land
Project Aim
Author(s)
China
Grassland
Government compensation shared by women
Wang Xiaobei (Landesa)
Yang Li (Research Center for Rural Economy)
Ghana
Arable land
Improve capacity of Customary Land Secretariats and improve role of women in land governance
Amanda Richardson (RE)
Reem Gaafar (Formerly Landesa)
India
Forest land
Implementation of the Forest Rights Act
Kyrgyzstan
Pastoral land
Increase livestock productivity
Elisa Scalise (RE)
Asyl Undeland
Peru
Increase women’s participation in community land governance
Leslie Hannay (RE)
Namibia
Residential and Cropland
Implementation of the Communal Land Reform Act and operationalization of customary system governing communal land.
Hirut Girma (Landesa)

5. What does it mean in practice to strengthen and secure collective tenure in a gender-sensitive way?

6. TWO SITUATIONS Land collectively held by community
Land used communally by community
(forestland and pastoral land)
Land managed by a governance body with authority sanctioned by laws or custom
Land used by households
(arable land)
Land managed by households
Community rules may apply as well

7. First Inquiry: DO WOMEN HAVE RECOGNIZED RIGHTS TO THE LAND?
Women must have legally and socially recognized rights to land before land is secured or women will be left out.
If women do not have recognized rights to land their use of the land will not be documented when collectively held land rights are formalized.

8. Two Additional Questions that Always Matter for Collective Tenure

9. WHO IS A MEMBER OF THE COMMUNITY?
Who decides who is a member?
What rights do members have?
What rights do non-members have?
Can status change between member and outsider?
By law and by custom

10. WHO HAS THE RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN GOVERNANCE OR CONTROL?
Can women meaningfully participate in community/collective governance?
Can women exercise rights to communally held land that is used by households?
By law and by custom

11. WOMEN’S STATUS
Usually a “stranger” living in her husband’s community (who is a member of the community?)
Responsible for household and children
Not public face of the family (governance)
May not know how to organize to mobilize change
May not know how to lead or participate in groups
May not understand the value of decision-making

12. COMMUNITY MEMBERSHIP
China: woman’s membership not set--each village committee defines membership (law and custom)
Ghana: membership not secure. Whether or not widows can retain their rights to marital property depends on age, number of children, and relationship with in-laws (custom)
Peru: membership rules gender neutral but do not grant right to vote and participate in community decisions; must be a “qualified community member;” one person per household (law and custom)

13. COMMUNITY MEMBERSHIP
Kyrgyz Republic: defined by residency and includes all women who live there (law and custom)
Namibia: non-native women and men—level of scrutiny is higher; patrilocal residence.
India: Forest Rights Act provides where forest land is under cultivation by household for period of time, marital property laws apply and joint titling required (law).

14. Gender and Governance
Community policies, rules, by-laws not challenge gender inequalities
Community/national institutions not accountable on gender equality
Lack of information
Unaware of rules and procedures of governing bodies
Unwilling/uninterested in participating in governance
Lack skills, confidence, experience of group work
Location and time of meetings
Women often lack authority

15. Successfully Improve Women’s Land Tenure Security?
How Do We. . .
Successfully Improve Women’s Land Tenure Security?

16. REMEMBER THE GOAL
Women must have legally and socially recognized rights to land
Women’s status in the community may be in question—is she a member or not?
Women’s right to participate in governance may be challenged because uncommon for women to publically participate
SOCIAL CHANGE REQUIRES AWARENESS, SENSITIVITY, AND TIME

17. BUILD ON POSITIVE, EXISTING RELATIONSHIPS WITH WOMEN
India NSVK: already established issue-based committees led by social workers
Peru SER: already involved in community on democratic participation/rural development, governance
Ghana/COLANDEF: worked with and trained existing women’s groups

18. WORK WITH WHOLE COMMUNITIES
India: 1-2 years of engagement before women’s groups were accepted by men. Men were taught about the importance of women’s empowerment and had time to see the benefits of empowering women, both economically and socially.
Peru: designed to target and work primarily with women but women required community permission to participate. Ensuring receptiveness of local leaders to the project and the ideas and values promoted was centrally important to ensuring the success of the project and women’s involvement.

19. ADDRESS LEGAL PLURALISM (two or more laws may apply)
Ghana: intestate succession law exempts stool land and states that customary land is held in trust in the traditional leadership of stools (80% of Ghana’s land)
Arable stool land is used & managed by HH, but widows not legally protected from losing their rights.
Peru: autonomy of local communities supersedes constitutional protections for women
China: national law supports gender equality but village collective decisions not subject to appeal
sed by HH but collectively held, apply family laws to HH

20. LEGAL PLURALISM
Namibia: customary law that creates conflict may be repealed or modified by Parliament.
Community Land Rights Act recognizes legal authority of Traditional Authorities to administer communal land; gender responsive safeguards: independent customary land rights; widows protected; informal marriages are included in joint ownership

21. WOMEN IN GOVERNANCE--INTERVENTIONS
Targets for female staff
Gender sensitivity training
Targets for gender balance in decision-making bodies and community accountability for same
Incentivize women in governance—training, outreach, capacity building
Communicate decisions, rules, and information to women
Women’s rights known by all