Lilongwe — Malawi's land stakeholders have agreed to ensure land governance issues are mainstreamed in the Malawi's National Agriculture Investment Plan. Convened by the Africa Land Policy Centre (ALPC), in collaboration with the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development and Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development, the stakeholders discussed priority issues and identified roles and responsibilities for ensuring that key issues in the NAIP are tackled effectively. They further identified and agreed on the capacity building needs which may be required to implement the Plan.

With funding from the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD), the workshop is part of a series of validation exercises conducted in 6 countries participating in a pilot project being implemented by the ALPC to support member states in mainstreaming land governance issues in the national agriculture programmes. The countries are Malawi, Tanzania, Rwanda, Madagascar, Cote d' Ivoire and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In Malawi, the workshop was organized by the Africa Land Policy Center (ALPC) in collaboration with the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development and Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development.

In his remarks, Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development Mr. Charles Msosa reiterated the Malawi Government's continued commitment towards effective implementation of the AU Declaration on Land. He informed the stakeholders that the government through Parliament passed all the land related laws, following which his ministry has "put in place the necessary infrastructure such as the development and approval of the subsidiary legislations for Customary Land Act and establishment of a Land Policy Reform Implementation Unit", whose roles is to oversee the implementation of the land reform implementation process in the country.

"Our meeting today signifies the continued collaboration between the Government of Malawi and the African Union Land Policy Initiative," he said.

For her part, Joan Kagwanja Coordinator of the Arica Land Policy Centre expressed appreciation to the Government of Malawi for its commitment towards the implementation of the AU Agenda on Land as stipulated in the AU Declaration and Framework and Guidelines on Land Policy in Africa. She thanked the two Ministries for their collaborating on making sure that land governance issues are mainstreamed in the NAIP. She reiterated the ALPC's continued commitment to support the implementation of the national land reform process.