Addis Ababa — The Land Policy Centre (ALPC), formerly the Land Policy Initiative, was officially unveiled at the on-going Conference on Land Policy in Africa being held in Addis Ababa.
The transformation of ALPC from LPI results from recommendation by the inaugural Specialized Technical Committee (STC) on Agriculture, Rural Development, Water and Environment in 2015.
"The ALPC will provide leadership, coordination, build partnerships and promote policy advocacy in support of member states," said Joan Kagwanja, the ALPC Coordinator.
The transition is being guided by the African Union Commission (AUC), the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the African Development Bank (AfDB).
Janet Edeme, Head of Rural Division in the Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture at the African Union Commission, said the ALPC will set the agenda on land issues on the continent, acting as a repository of knowledge and represent Africa on global platforms.
She said the ALPC will continue to be guided by the strategy for implementing the AU Declaration on Land Issues and Challenges.
The Centre will also operate on the basis of commitments and decisions on land governance towards the realization of Agenda 2063, the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and the Malabo Declaration on Agricultural Growth and Transformation.
Therefore, issues of land policy development, land administration and land information systems, land data, statistics and monitoring, gender, women and land, land investments and agriculture, land, among others, will be addressed by the Center and its partners.
The AU Declaration on Land Issues and Challenges in Africa urges Member States to "build adequate human, financial and technical capacities to support land policy development and implementation.
So the ALPC will continue supporting Member States to build human resource capacity, said Ms. Kagwanja.
Most recently, an Assessment Report on Gaps in Curricula on Land Governance in Africa; was undertaken and Guidelines for Curricula Development on Land Governance in Africa developed under the LPI, now the ALPC.
The Centre recently also launched the Strengthening Land Governance in Africa (SLGA) project to improve training and research capacities on the continent.
In addition, the Centre has established a Network of Excellence on Land Governance in Africa (NELGA). The SLGA project is implemented in collaboration with the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) and the World Bank, with financial support from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
African countries have demonstrated political will and commitment to improve upon the governance of tenure through the AU Declaration on Land.
"This commitment will be sustained through the ALPC and will bring a new impetus to our collaborative efforts and continue to support member States in the years ahead as we build sustainable institutions, frameworks and systems to improve land governance on the continent," said Ms. Kagwanja.
The ALPC is a joint programme of the tripartite consortium consisting of the African Union Commission (AUC), the African Development Bank (AfDB) and United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). Its purpose is to enable the use of land to lend impetus to the process of African development.
