One World No Hunger Initiative

The Namibian Constitution, the National Land Policy, the Communal Land Reform Act, and the Local Authorities Act promote gender equality and protect women’s rights. However, despite the positive legal framework and the codification of gender equality, in reality, women do not have equal access to land. For this reason, the project has the following three main goals:

    GOAL 1: Women in the project regions are informed about their rights, the contexts of traditional and codified law, and the possible means of legal redress and begin to demand these rights.
    GOAL 2: Traditional authorities increasingly take codified law into consideration in arbitrating land questions and strengthen the position of women in questions of land use and land ownership.
    GOAL 3: Political decision-makers consider the basic interests and needs of women in land reform initiatives and the associated legislation.

The intended group of the project are women (particularly widows and single mothers), traditional authorities, female and male political decision-makers on a local and national level, and media representatives.

The project is based on the following principles for achieving gender equality and empowering women in agriculture:

• Eliminate discrimination against women under the law: Ensure equal rights for men and women to control assets such as land.
• Ensure that women are aware of their rights and have support of their government, communities, and families in claiming their rights.
• Strengthen rural institutions and gender awareness.
• Build the human capital of women and girls.
• Improve the collection and analyses of sex-disaggregated data.
• Make gender-aware agriculture policy decisions.

Project activities include the following:

• Research studies on the application of laws and norms in the domain of land rights in the project regions;
• Peer reviews in municipalities on the current situation and strategic plans around land rights issues;
• Activities to raise awareness of civil rights, particularly land law and family law, among women in rural areas;
• Dialogue events with political decision-makers, local elites, and traditional authorities;
• Analysis and adoption of examples of best practice in this area; and
• Training seminars for lobbying and advocacy at all political levels.

Specific activities to date have included several workshops in the project regions to inform communities about the project and to gather input from communities on the current situation related to gender and land rights. This workshop was attended by traditional authorities from the region, as well as community members, widows, and single mothers. Topics discussed included: family law in terms of gender and culture, the Married Persons Equality Act of 1996, customary marriages, and the law of succession (inheritance). It also explored: the establishment of traditional authorities; the designation, election, appointment, and recognition of traditional leaders; as well as the powers, duties, and functions of traditional authorities and members. Finally, there was discussion of communal land, including registration and the allocation of rights in respect of communal land.

In order to raise awareness of land rights issues, the initiative, in partnership with the Legal Assistance Centre, published a comic book called “A Land for Women - Women’s Rights to Land in the Communal Land Reform [PDF]”.

The initiative also organised a roadshow during the festive season in December 2016 in the 4 project regions. The roadshow sought to raise community awareness of the "One World - No Hunger" project, as well as land rights and gender issues. The roadshow included a theatre performance, which was based on the story in the comic. In addition, communities were entertained by the well-known music star "Mushe" and his dancers. The road show is going to be continued at the Ongwediva trade fair in August 2017

Gender, Rights, Agriculture

Background Information and rationale for the programme (as extracted from the KAS website):

“The Germany Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) has initiated the Special Initiative 'One World - No Hunger' to address food security and agricultural issues worldwide. All over the world, almost 800 million people are afflicted by hunger. In Namibia, 76,4 % of the population experienced a food shortage in 2013/2014 (NSA, Namibia Census of Agriculture 2014/2014). Food and nutrition security for the world’s growing population can only be achieved by investing in sustainable agriculture and in the rural regions of developing countries. Further questions related to food security that need to be addressed are land rights, sustainable use of land, access to water and other resources as well as the legal environment.

Since the 1970s, experts support the thesis that not only natural circumstances (like draught, parasites or bad weather) or economic reasons (a lack of seed or resources),are cause to poverty and famine, but that political and social circumstances also play a big role. The eradication of hunger and poverty and the sustainable use of the environment depend in large measure on how people, communities and others gain access to land. This is defined and regulated by societies through systems of tenure. These tenure systems determine who can use which resources for how long and under what conditions. The systems may be based on written politics and laws, as well as on unwritten customs and practices.

Namibia is a role model for its positive legal framework on land rights for women. The Namibian Constitution, the National Land Policy, the Communal Land Reform Act and the Local Authorities Act promote gender equality and protect women’s rights. Yet, despite the positive legal framework and the codification of gender equality, in de facto women do not have equal access to land. According to international estimates, if women had the same access to land, education and technology, it would be possible to reduce the number of people suffering from hunger in the world by more than 100 million.

That’s why we must promote gender equality and empower women in agriculture to win, sustainably, the fight against hunger and extreme poverty. We must eliminate all forms of discrimination against women under the law, ensure that access to resources is more equal and that agriculture policies and programs are gender aware and make women’s voices heard in decision-making at all levels.”