Security of tenure rights — a step towards food security

The absence of secure tenure rights over land and other natural resources has a vital and direct impact on the possibility of achieving food security.

By 2030 the Sustainable Development Goals seek to end hunger and ensure access to food for all. This calls for a focus on securing the rights to own, use, and access land for those who still lack a protection of their legitimate tenure rights.

It is estimated that only about 40 countries in the world have well-functioning land administration systems and that about 70 percent of the world’s population do not have access to formal systems through which their rights can be registered and safeguarded.

Keeping in mind that a huge number of livelihoods, especially in rural areas, depend largely on the access to land and other natural resources, as this is the source to food and shelter, it is vital that we find solutions for securing the access to these resources. Especially if we hope to achieve the goal of eradicating hunger and food insecurity by 2030.

Often, we hear about land being grabbed from the most vulnerable who thus lose the access to the land they are dependent on — and over which they possess a legitimate tenure right. This is often due to the lack of tenure security.

So, not only are they in fear of losing the land they legitimate own or use, they also lack the incentive of investing in the land or using it sustainably.

For decades experts have tried to implement land administration systems inspired by the Western world, where tenure rights and rights to use and access land are registered. However, these attempts have often failed as the tenure systems have been copied from Western countries where the systems have been in place for centuries. Hence, if we should be able to face the challenges of obtaining tenure security for the 70 percent that still lack this — and take a step towards obtaining food security for all — we need to be innovative and find solutions and approaches that fit the respective communities and countries.

I’m therefore looking forward to meeting 999 other young minds to discuss solutions for achieving food security for all, when I attend the first UNLEASH Innovation Lab in Denmark.

A few lines about myself:

I have a master’s degree in Land Management, Planning and Surveying.

Since I graduated in 2013 I have been working at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (UNFAO) for some years, before I changed to my current job at LE34, a private land management company based in Denmark.

At UNFAO I was a part of the team responsible for the global implementation of the organizations voluntary guidelines on responsible governance of tenure rights in a context of national food security. Besides that, I have been developing various e-learning courses and capacity development material related to governance of tenure.