FAO.org

Tenure rights are crucial to the livelihoods of people as they define who can use which natural resources, for how long, and under which conditions. Tenure of natural resources is also essential for environmental sustainability and increased resilience and for enabling farmers to access other services. As the world population continues to grow and climate change reduces the availability of natural resources, increasing conflicts over land, and land deterioration are negatively affecting rural livelihoods on an unprecedented scale. In particular, women often have much weaker tenure rights than men, and they suffer discrimination by social customs, as well as by legal systems.

The Voluntary Guidelines on Tenure (VGGT) are globally recognized as a reference for practices regarding the responsible governance of tenure. The urgent need to scale up the implementation of the VGGT to achieve food security for all was reaffirmed in 2022 on its 10th anniversary, while recognizing the centrality of land for development.