Teaching Resources

[*]

Land Rights

Resources for teaching the issues surrounding land rights in the context of BHR include guidance for governments and companies, reports and commentary on land rights and related topics, court decisions, case studies and secondary news accounts of geography and sector-specific investments.

Intergovernmental organizations, private sector roundtables, donor institutions, and development practitioners have produced an extensive collection of guidelines for private sector, government, and civil society actors in the context of land-based investment. These materials can help students understand the global scope of land-based investment as a human rights issue, present perspectives on the different stakeholders involved, and help students spot human rights issues implicated in business activities related to land.

Geography and sector-specific examples of how companies have attempted to implement a responsible land-related investment allow students to grasp how human rights issues can arise throughout the timeline of an investment process, identify junctures where human rights abuses can be prevented or addressed, and understand the nuances involved for companies in engaging with communities and meeting international standards. Court decisions (or summaries of judgments) provide a window into current international human rights discourse on the intersection between land rights and business. Case studies and court decisions can also include examples of business activities that have had negative impacts on human rights, examples of efforts to create shared value with communities, and examples of company attempts to approach land investment responsibly. News articles on large-scale land-based investment or court decisions can provide a snapshot of the effects of investment on human rights, and the way the human rights system works to address these impacts, providing perspective for follow-up discussions, questions, and research.

Readings
Guidance
Key Sources

The following two resources from the Committee on Food Security provide the most widely accepted guidance on the role of state and companies (the Voluntary Guidelines) and the role of companies in land governance and land-based investment, respectively.

  • Committee on Food Security (CFS) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries, and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (VGGT) (11 May 2012), available at http://www.fao.org/docrep/016/i2801e/i2801e.pdf.
United Nations
  • Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: Implementing the United Nations ‘Protect, Respect and Remedy’ Framework, Report of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises,” UN doc. A/HRC/17/31 (21 March 2011), available at: http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/GuidingPrinciplesBusinessHR_EN.pdf.
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UN

FAO Technical Guides for Implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries, and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (VGGT):

  • FAO, Governing land for women and men: A technical guide to support the achievement of responsible gender-equitable governance land tenure. Governance of Tenure Technical Guide No.1, (Rome: FAO, 2013), available at http://www.fao.org/docrep/017/i3114e/i3114e.pdf .
  • FAO, Improving governance of forest tenure: A practical guide, Governance of Tenure Technical Guide No.2 (Rome: FAO, 2013), available at http://www.fao.org/3/a-i3249e.pdf .
  • FAO, Improving governance of pastoral lands: Implementing the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security, Governance of Tenure Technical Guide No.6 (Rome: FAO, 2016), available at http://www.fao.org/3/a-i5771e.pdf .
  • FAO, Respecting free, prior and informed consent: Practical guidance for governments, companies, NGOs, indigenous peoples and local communities in relation to land acquisition, Governance of Tenure Technical Guide No.3 (Rome: FAO, 2014), available at http://www.fao.org/3/a-i3496e.pdf .
  • FAO, Responsible governance of tenure and the law: A guide for lawyers and other legal service providers, Governance of Tenure Technical Guide No.5 (Rome: FAO, 2016), available at http://www.fao.org/3/a-i5449e.pdf .
  • FAO, Safeguarding land tenure rights in the context of agricultural investment: A technical guide on safeguarding land tenure rights in line with the Voluntary Guidelines for the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security, for government authorities involved in the promotion, approval and monitoring of agricultural investments, Governance of Tenure Technical Guide No.4 (Rome: FAO, 2015), available at http://www.fao.org/3/a-i4998e.pdf .
  • FAO, Responsible governance of tenure: a technical guide for investors, Governance of Tenure Technical Guide No.7 (Rome: FAO, 2016), available at http://www.fao.org/3/a-i5147e.pdf .
  • FAO, Governing Tenure Rights to Commons: A guide to support the implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security, Governance of Tenure Technical Guide No.7 (Rome, FAO, 2016), available at http://www.fao.org/3/a-i5147e.pdf .
World Bank Group
Intergovernmental, Regional, and State

African Union

Asia-Pacific

European Union

G7

Partner countries include Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, and Tanzania. http://www.new-alliance.org/countries.

France

Germany

Ghana

GCAP has developed publications and practices (prepared by Landesa) that aim to facilitate socially responsible land investment.

United Kingdom

United States

Civil Society
Private Sector
Reports and Commentary
Key Sources

The following five resources provide a broad topical overview of land rights from a BHR perspective, and could serve together as a useful introduction to the topic for a single class session on land rights.

  • Lorenzo Cotula et al., Land grab or development opportunity? Agricultural investment and international land deals in Africa (2009), IIED, FAO, IFAD, available at http://www.fao.org/3/a-ak241e.pdf.
  • FAO, Respecting Free, Prior and Informed Consent: Practical Guidance for Governments, Companies, NGOs, Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities in Relation to Land Acquisition (2014), available at http://www.fao.org/3/a-i3496e.pdf.
General

International Institute for Sustainable Development

Gender and Land-based Investment
Gender in Extractive Industries
Free, Prior and Informed Consent
Transparency in Land-Based Investment
Compensation
Case Studies
Court Cases

 

Secondary Sources (News Articles) 
Global
Africa
Asia
Europe
Latin America
Videos

“The Land Matrix is a global and independent land monitoring initiative that promotes transparency and accountability in decisions over land and investment.”

“The leading online resource for information, data and knowledge-exchange on land governance issues.”

Landesa is a U.S.-based nonprofit that works to advance durable land rights to bring transformational changes on a large scale. Landesa works side by side with governments and other organizations to strengthen land rights for women and men who lack either access to land or a secure stake in the land they farm.

[*]

This bibliography may be cited as:

Chris Jochnick, Mina Manuchehri, and Beth Roberts, “Teaching Resources for Land Rights,” in Teaching Business and Human Rights Handbook (Teaching Business and Human Rights Forum, 2017), https://teachbhr.org/resources/teaching-bhr-handbook/teaching-notes/land-rights/teaching-resources/.