KnoWat’s work on water tenure in the limelight during high-level event on tenure of land, fisheries and forests
On 27 May 2022, the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) and FAO jointly organized a high-level hybrid event, to commemorate the 10th Year Anniversary of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (VGGT).
For ten years these internationally accepted guidelines have assisted countries around the world in developing policies and legislations regarding who can use, what natural resources, for how long, and under what conditions.
Ultimately the aim of these guidelines is to secure legitimate tenure rights to enhance food security for all. Even though the guidelines are meant to benefit all people in all countries, there is an emphasis on vulnerable and marginalized people. For example, in some countries, women might work long hours on the field, cultivating vegetables for sale, but never having an opportunity to own the land.
Today, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, growing population and climate change, tenure rights are more important than ever, as they aim to secure people’s access to land and other natural resources.
During the event’s multistakeholder panel discussion and commitments, Mr Younoussa Mballo, Chief Advisor to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Equipment in Senegal, presented his country’s results of the implementation of these guidelines and brought up another natural resource, water.
“Senegal is finalizing the water tenure assessment within the framework of the KnoWat project, the results of which show how access to water should be considered as an integral part of access to land and how the principles of the VGGT are also relevant for this resource.”
The KnoWat project has been working to better understand the interlinkages between water and land tenure in the delta of the Senegal river basin since 2019.
FAO’s KnoWat global project leader Benjamin Kiersch agrees with Mr Mballo. “In Senegal we have learned that the water tenure assessment helps to identify pathways to more equitable allocation of water resources, which allow rural populations and farmers to sustain their livelihoods, even under conditions of water scarcity.”