The objectives of the meeting was to share knowledge, case studies and testimonies and engage in discussion, drawing on the wide experience and empirical information on the status and new knowledge relating to Women’s Rights to Land within the continent. In summary of the concluding points in this report: 1)The living conditions of women and girls are threatened in cases of a lack of land rights. 2)In countries where the main sources of income and livelihood are derived from natural resources – the rights to use and control land is central to the lives of rural women. 3)Also, their economic empowerment, physical security and to some extent, their struggle for equity and equality within a patriarchal society. 4)Women make up more than 60% of small farmers, and provide about three-fourths of the workforce in food production and processing. 5)Women’s access to land therefore determines not only women’s and households’ level of living and livelihood, but also food security. 6)The problem of lack of access to land is particularly critical in the context of the land grabs, climate change and conflict especially when juxtaposed with increasing numbers of female heads of rural households. 7)Despite development of land policy reform at continental, regional and national level women’s tenure in land remains legally insecure as a result of the existence of discriminatory laws, multiple land law regimes operating simultaneously, and gender-neutral statues.
