Land is an essential productive asset on which many livelihoods depend, particularly in the drylands of the developing world. For the poorest populations, land degradation has enormous implications for productivity, food security and sustainable livelihoods. Land systems that impose unequal and or insecure access to land and its products reduce the ability of the already marginalized drylands populations to gain food security and thereby reduce hunger and poverty.

Besides living in challenging natural environments, drylands populations also struggle to be acknowledged in planning and are often left without essential services usually provided by the State. To stop the downward cycle of being isolated and ignored, the formation of land tenure systems for the drylands must become participatory, locally appropriate and more strategic; not only taking into account the dynamic nature of the dryland ecology, but also considering the dynamic nature of the multiple users who depend on drylands.