Malawi to benefit from EU land programme
Malawi is earmarked for 3 million euros (about K1.7 billion) European Union (EU) programme that has been designed to strengthen land governance among 10 African countries.
EU development commissioner Andris Piebalgs announced that the programme worth 33 million euros is aimed at improving land governance and helping improve food and nutrition security of family farmers and vulnerable communities in sub-Saharan Africa.
A press statement released by EU office in Malawi this week quoted Piebalgs as saying: “I am convinced that these land tenure guidelines, which recognise farmers’ ownership and access rights, are essential to achieve efficient, sustainable and inclusive agriculture and to promoting human rights and peace in society. This new programme will help farmers, and specially women, to make a living and feed their families, without fear of losing their property.”
EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Dacian Ciolos, was also quoted as saying that improving land tenure management is a key challenge to strengthening family farms, encouraging investments in agriculture and increasing food security.
“We need to support African countries concretely by sharing our experience in this field to make sure that guidelines and voluntary processes are translated into national legislation or into standard contracts for local governments,” said Ciolos.
The project will also seek to enhance cooperation between the government and civil society organisations (CSOs) to ensure that they put more efficient land governance mechanisms in place and share lessons learnt for improving government policies and strategies.
Reads in part the statement: “The programme will be rolled out across 10 African countries: Angola, Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Niger, Somalia, South Sudan and Swaziland.
“The allocation for Malawi, totalling 3 million euros, aims to contribute to an improved land governance framework and its implementation in Malawi in line with the voluntary guidelines on governance of tenure (VGGT), with particular emphasis on gender sensitive compliance regarding land tenure rights.”
EU said the programme was designed around two components.
“The aim of the first component is to strengthen the capacity of the Government of Malawi, especially the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, to implement land policies and laws efficiently and effectively.
“The aim of the second is to implement, with support from civil society organisations, a pilot project at local level to ensure that smallholder farmers, especially women, have improved land rights due to responsible land governance,” reads the statement.
