News in 2020
|
Land Consolidation Legislation: FAO Legal Guide and its Application at
the Country Level
Objective
This webinar replaces two sessions on land consolidation initially
planned for the FIG Working Week 2020 in Amsterdam (May 2020). As many
others, this meeting was cancelled due to the COVID-19 situation.
The webinar will serve to support the application and implementation
of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of
Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security
(VGGT) and achieving SDG targets such as 1.4, 2.3 and 5.a. The
objective of this discussion is to promote good land consolidation
practices and the practical application of the FAO Legal Guide with the
examples from a range of European countries.
In this webinar, FAO introduce the new Legal Guide on Land
Consolidation, prepared based on the outcomes of a study of good
practices for land consolidation legislation in Europe. The Legal Guide
has been prepared by FAO in close cooperation with technical networks
such as LANDNET, FIG and UNECE WPLA. The Legal Guide weaves together
legislative and technical guidance to make the process accessible to
countries where land consolidation is initiated. It will be useful to a
broad range of stakeholders: legislatures, legal drafters and land
consolidation professionals, public and private entities and persons
involved in the land consolidation process.
Join FIG, FAO and LandPortal in this Webinar
Land consolidation is a well-proven land management instrument, which
has traditionally been used for agricultural development with a main
objective of reducing land fragmentation and increasing holding and farm
sizes. Some European countries have a land consolidation tradition that
goes back a hundred years or more. It is also widespread in particular
in countries in Asia but also in Africa.
In the last decades, countries in Western Europe have developed land
consolidation into a multi-purpose instrument with a broader objective.
Multi-purpose land consolidation can facilitate the implementation of
projects related to nature restoration, climate change adaptation and
mitigation and large-scale infrastructure projects where land
consolidation provides an opportunity to compensate landowners and
farmers in land instead of monetary compensation.
After the political changes in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE)
around 1990, land reforms were in most of these countries high on the
political agenda. Many CEE countries have today farm structures
characterized by excessive land fragmentation and small average farm
sizes. These structural problems are often hindering development of
smallholder farms into commercial family farms. From the mid-1990s and
onwards, many CEE countries have introduced land consolidation mainly as
an instrument to address the structural problems. The Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has so far
supported the process in 11 countries in the region.
Louise Friis-Hansen
29 May 2020
