GENDER AND NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT

Gender and land compendium of country studies


Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Rome, 2005

 
Table of Contents

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations is the specialized agency responsible for agriculture, forestry and fishery worldwide. FAO has the mandate to promote sustainable agriculture and rural development, as well as food security, for the whole population. It extends the mission to assure that women - together with men - have access to necessary resources and receive support to obtain sustainable means of sustenance and improved life quality.

The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

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© FAO 2005


Contents

Acknowledgements

Foreword

Introduction: gender equity and land rights - Zoraida García Frías

Revisiting customary institutions and gender relations: a daunting challenge - Zenebeworke Tadesse Marcos

Summary
Introduction
Notes on selected cases of proposed tenure reform
Sample cases of the impact of land laws on gender issues

Tanzania: losses and gains
The case of Uganda
South Africa: a promising start

Final remarks
References

Traditional marriage practices as determinants of women's land rights: a review of research - Article prepared based on research by Jean-Philippe Platteau, Anita Abraham, Frederic Gaspart, and Luc Stevens

Summary
Introduction
Land tenure systems in Senegal and Burkina Faso
Forces of change on land tenure systems
Traditional marriage institutions and social security

Changes in Senegal
Customs and changes in Burkina Faso

Land rights as human rights
Final remarks
References
Appendix 1. Data from Senegal questionnaires
Appendix 2. Data from Burkina Faso questionnaires

The legal status of women in the context of agrarian reform - Leila Barsted

Summary
Introduction
Gender as a concept and political instrument
Women's rights in the international context of human rights and sustainable development
Agriculture, legislation and gender in the Latin American context
Current gender and social movements in Brazil
Citizenship and social practices

Citizenship and rights
Citizenship and the empowerment of women

Gender in the context of Brazilian legislation

Civil and political rights
The Civil Code and the Constitution of 1988

Gender, rights and land ownership
Obstacles faced by rural women in claiming their rights

Access to land
Access to credit
Access to technical assistance and training
Women's participation in organizations and decision-making
Customary law and cultural impediments to gender equality

Legislative proposals and legal strategies for effecting change

Legislative proposals
Institutional proposals

References
Appendix 1. Abbreviations
Appendix 2. National and international legislation consulted
Appendix 3. Glossary

Women's access to land in Nicaragua - Sara Ceci

Summary
Introduction
Determining factors: legislation, institutions and customary law

Legislative context for women's right to land
Aspects of customary law relating to women's right to land
Other institutional factors

Women and the rural context in Nicaragua: general profile

Productive work - reproductive work

Agrarian context, gender and right to land in Nicaragua over the past 30 years

Constitutional rights and their impact on Nicaraguan women
The agrarian reform programme in the 1960s and 1970s, and its gender implications
Mechanisms enabling women to gain access to land
Women's access to land during the period 1990 to 1997

The land market - the present-day challenge
The future of land access for women in Nicaragua

Progress in gender equity in the issue of agrarian title deeds
Lack of access to credit and insecurity of legal land tenure: factors preventing access to land
Strengthening women's organizations

References

Gender and land rights: findings and lessons from country studies - Susanna Lastarria-Cornhiel and Zoraida García-Frías

Summary
Introduction
Land, gender, and power

Gender equity, efficiency and welfare issues
The many meanings of land
Land and resource tenure and gender

Institutions and land tenure systems

State institutions
Return to patriarchy in Uzbekistan
Market economy institutions
Socio-cultural institutions

Cultural constraints to gender equity in land rights
Final remarks: some relevant regional features for women's rights to land

Latin America
Sub-Saharan Africa
Central Asia

References

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