September 2006

Collective land titling for indigenous minorities in Africa

Case study of the San en Mupembati, Angola

by Paolo Groppo
Land Tenure Service
FAO Rural Development Division

and S. Madureira
A. di Grazia
and C. Delgado Matas
Consultants for the FAO Land project in Angola

Five years ago the first land concession title was awarded in an Angolian community (Tchicala), located in the province of Huila. To understand the interest in the anniversary of this event, one must begin a process of reconciliation surrounding land issues in a country which, only in 2002, witnessed the definitive end to an armed conflict which has raged since the 1960s.

If we reexamine the issue once again today, it is to commemorate the first title granted in Angola, and probably one of the first in Southern Africa, to the community of San ubicada in the Mupembati region, Kipungo municipality, Huila Province, Angola. This was a key event in the process of confronting the serious land issues facing this part of the African continent. The title, attained through the collaboration of the FAO Land programme in Angola, the NGO Christian Organization in support of Community Development (OCADEC, in Portuguese) and the Provincial Division of Agriculture of the Government of the province of Huila. The field project began one year ago with a 1,389 hectare plot of land, which had been obtained for the San Community some years ago.

(Available in Spanish)

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