Addis Ababa — All is set for the Land Policy Initiative Centre's (LPIC) second Conference on Land Policy in Africa that seeks to deepen capacity for land policy in Africa through improved access to knowledge and information on land policy development and implementation.
The conference will be held under the theme; 'The Africa We Want: Achieving socioeconomic transformation through inclusive and equitable access to land by the youth' and runs from November 14 to 17.
LPIC Coordinator, Joan Kagwanja, says the theme supports the declaration by the African Union of 2017 as the year of the youth under the broader theme; 'Harnessing Africa's Demographic Dividend through Investment in youth'.
"We are ready for the conference, which has been over-subscribed and has become the premier land meeting that no-one wants to miss," said Ms. Kagwanja.
"As we always say, land is central to Africa's development and if well- governed and managed, we will sure reduce poverty and inequalities so the conference is important as participants will be looking at how we can use this God-given resource to maximum returns for everyone. So in that regard, the conference is both a policy and learning event."
The conference, which will be attended by representatives from member States, farmers, parliamentarians, private sector, academia, and civil society, among others, will highlight latest innovations, including research and papers on the land sector in Africa.
"We expect the conference to have a catalytic effect on evidence-based land policy development and implementation by creating space for presenting research, and other evidence by Africans and other interested stakeholders," said Ms. Kagwanja.
Topics participants will discuss include the need to strengthen land governance and administrative institutions both at local and national levels, including the adoption of technology and innovations for securing land rights under different tenure regimes.
The empowerment of youth through strengthening their land rights; women's land access rights and gender equality - addressing persisting bottlenecks; inclusive, transparent and sustainable land based investments, economic justice and environmental management or monitoring; migration, radicalization and violent extremism - linkages to youth employment; entrepreneurship and access to land for investment; rapid urbanization, land use and spatial planning policy and development control will also be discussed.
The conference will also look at planning, monitoring and evaluation experiences and emerging best practices in developing and implementing land policies on the continent.
