Women's tenure security on collective lands: A conceptual framework

Meinzen-Dick, Ruth Susella; Doss, Cheryl R.; Flintan, Fiona E.; Knight, Rachael; Larson, Anne M.; Monterroso, I.

doi:10.2499/p15738coll2.134876

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 31 publications

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“…Women expressing their concerns about the current management approach indicated their willingness to contribute if community forests provided fuel wood. These findings underscore the importance of considering the interests of the entire community, including those of women (Meinzen-Dick et al, 2021), to foster a sense of ownership and contribution to community forests.…”

Section: Indicatorsmentioning

confidence: 80%

Revitalizing community forestry in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia: A property right perspective

Amsalu

2023

J. Agri. Environ. Sci.

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Severe deforestation, land degradation, and the lack of forest products in Ethiopia have necessitated the implementation of a community forestry program since the 1980s by mobilizing the local communities. However, there have been incidents indicating that many of the community forests are either degrading or remaining unproductive. While community forests are, in principle, the collective property of the local community, empirical evidence concerning how property rights impact their management and their role in enhancing rural livelihoods and environmental rehabilitation is lacking. This study aims to investigate the performance of community forestry through the lens of property rights and tenure security, in order to uncover the challenges impeding community forestry in Ethiopia, with a focus on community forests in the Amhara Region. The study gathered primary data on community forest management from two community forests located in East Gojam and North Wollo, using questionnaires, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and field observations. Additionally, secondary data on legal frameworks were collected from institutions involved in community forestry. The data analysis employed descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. The findings of the study revealed that a majority of respondents (91%) lacked clarity regarding the objectives of establishing community forests, and about 95% claimed that community forests belong to the state. These incidents have led to diminished interest in continuing the program. The study highlighted that the community forestry program suffers from inadequate policy and legal provisions, chronic institutional instability, overlapping mandates, and limited community engagement. These factors have weakened property rights, which are reflected in tenure insecurity and the absence of individual household benefit packages. Consequently, it can be concluded that community forest interventions have been promoted based on general belief in the importance of trees for rural livelihoods and ecosystem rehabilitation, rather than as part of a deliberate and directed policy and strategy. In summary, revitalizing community forestry in Ethiopia necessitates a thorough understanding of property rights and tenure security issues. In this regard, it is imperative for government agencies to enact a clear national strategy for community forestry development and adopt a supportive role to enable communities to establish robust community forestry institutions to safeguard their rights while fostering community forestry and environmental protection activities.

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Section: Indicatorsmentioning

confidence: 80%

Revitalizing community forestry in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia: A property right perspective

Amsalu

2023

J. Agri. Environ. Sci.

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Participatory rangeland management: A vehicle for pastoralist women’s empowerment in Ethiopia

Flintan,

Eba

2023

Pastoralism

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Pastoralist tenure systems are highly complex. Where customary institutions are functioning well, pastoralist women access and use resources as a member of a pastoralist group. Although policy and legislation call for more equity across societies, providing individual titles to women is not necessarily the answer. Strengthening women’s rights within the collective society while also supporting women’s capacities and abilities to participate meaningfully in decision-making processes and hold leadership positions will support more sustainable gender equality outcomes. Participatory rangeland management (PRM) is an approach developed in Ethiopia in 2010 that was then piloted by non-governmental organisations in several parts of the country in a bid to improve the security of tenure and good governance of rangelands, more inclusive participation of pastoralists in decisions pertaining to their lands and improve rangeland productivity. While not an explicit aim, it also sought women’s empowerment as part of the participatory process. A review of PRM implementation in Oromia and Afar regions, Ethiopia, showed that in the majority of cases, women participated equally with men in the PRM process. Women’s and men’s opinions on the involvement and satisfaction of PRM implementation activities were compared favourably. Overall, community members believed that PRM has improved women’s roles in rangeland management leadership and decision-making processes and their access to rangeland resources, thereby encouraging a transformative process of improving gender equality and women’s empowerment in pastoralist societies. This article considers the implications of these results for pastoral women and to what degree they have contributed to their empowerment. A conceptualised women’s empowerment framework is used for the analysis.

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Tenure Security Perception Patterns among Amazonian Communities in Peru: Gender and Ethnicity

Cruz-Burga,

La Torre-Cuadros,

Monterroso

et al. 2024

Land

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This study delves into perceptions of land and forest tenure (in)security among Indigenous and mestizo populations in the Peruvian Amazon. Despite all having collective lands, the selected communities vary in their formalisation processes. This research seeks to enhance comprehension of tenure security perceptions in the Peruvian Amazon by investigating sources of security and insecurity across key tenure components. A combination of descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate analyses is employed, based on fieldwork conducted between July 2015 and December 2017 in 22 Native and Peasant Communities in Loreto and Madre de Dios, utilising 1006 intra-household surveys, 52 in-depth interviews, and 44 focus group discussions. The results reveal similarities and differences in (in)security sources between titled and untitled communities. The study also explores the influence of gender and ethnicity on these perceptions, finding ethnicity-based variation in security perception over the past 20 years (1995–2015). Recognising these differences in perception is critical for assessing the robustness of exercising acquired collective rights.

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Women's tenure security on collective lands: A conceptual framework

Cited by 3 publications

References 31 publications

Revitalizing community forestry in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia: A property right perspective

Revitalizing community forestry in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia: A property right perspective

Participatory rangeland management: A vehicle for pastoralist women’s empowerment in Ethiopia

Tenure Security Perception Patterns among Amazonian Communities in Peru: Gender and Ethnicity

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