Category: Research call
Call for Papers: NELGA North Africa International Forum on Land Policy and Geospatial Sciences I June 6-8, 2023
Papers are currently being accepted for the International Forum on Land Policy and Geospatial Sciences to be held in Rabat, Morocco, on 6-8 June 2023.
Papers can be submitted through the Abstract Template.
The forum allows all stakeholders in geospatial sciences, land governance, land policy, and sustainable development paradigms to share their expertise, knowledge, and experiences. All participants interested in the Forum’s themes are encouraged to register by clicking this link. Registration
If a participant has submitted a contribution in French or Arabic, an abstract in English is required. Contributions will be assigned to the axes’ topics as described below. Abstracts must be uploaded through the Submission link no later than April 1st, 2023.
Find more details on the subject areas of focus in the attached documents below. If you have a question about attending the conference, submitting abstract or other queries, kindly email nelga@iav.ac.ma / nelga.research@gmail.com.
Find the Call for Abstracts here in English and French for more details, especially thematic areas.
Publication: Understanding Urban Land Leasing System as a Strategic Value Capture Instrument to Enhance Urban Revenue in Ethiopia: A Case Study of Bahir Dar City
Since 1993, the Ethiopian government has been using the urban land leasing system to monetize the increase in land value created due to factors other than private investment. Thus, this paper by Seid Hussen Yimam, Hans Lind and Belachew Yirsaw Alemu aims to explore and understand whether Bahir Dar city is leveraging the urban land lease system as a strategic value capture instrument to enhance its local revenue or not.
This study has used the qualitative research method and in-depth analysis. The information needed to reach the goal of this study has been gathered through a desk review of documents and key informant interviews with experts and brokers. The study has found that most urban land is held under a permit system, with landholders paying a small amount of land rent per annum. The study also found that most of the city’s land was given away through administrative allotment at low and out-of-date benchmark prices, which hurt the city’s lease income.
Also, it has been found that there isn’t enough enforcement of lease payment collection, which hurts the city’s ability to make money from urban areas. So, the city isn’t using the public land leasing system as a strategic way to get more value out of the land. Based on these results, this paper suggests that the government set up a modern property tax system to capture the increase in value of land with a permit. Also, the study plans to do empirical research to find the factors that significantly impact benchmark prices and to update the benchmark price based on those factors regularly. Moreover, the study has suggested proper enforcement of the lease payment collection in the city.
New Study: Women’s Access to Land Ownership and Agricultural Development in Baïgom, West Cameroon
Women represent close to 51% of the Cameroonian population, and they are more than 70% active in food and market gardening activities (INS, 2010). Like those elsewhere, the rural women of Baigom are fighting with all the means at their disposal to gain access to land and participate in the agricultural development of this village. To this end, they need land and capital to carry out their actions to make agriculture profitable and ensure food security for their families.
This contribution makes it possible to analyze the socio-economic and cultural context, which is unfavourable primarily to women’s access to land in Baigom. Women active in agricultural production activities are limited by the unavailability of land resources, which constitute a no less negligible factor of production. This State of virtual exclusion of these leading actors in family farming is detrimental to the development of the agricultural economy.
To conduct this study, the methodology adopted focused on primary and secondary sources and field observations. As for the primary sources, socio[1]economic surveys were carried out with a target population of women producers in the village of Baïgom. The socio-economic surveys reached 5% of women over the age of 15; in the end, 150 questionnaires were collected in the five central districts of the village (Nkoupetgom, Nkou gahri, Chaanké, Mbayé, Njissen). Young girls are more like family labourers in peasant agriculture.
The secondary data are the fruit of the literature review and the consultation of the archives. These archives are present in the decentralized services of the State of the specialized institutions which generate official statistics, such as the National Institute of Statistics (INS). The webography was not, moreover, a source of acquisition of specific knowledge in terms of the gender approach to land issues in tropical Africa as a whole. The main results indicate that women’s access to land ownership is low, with only about 8% holding a land title. Furthermore, the juxtaposition of modern and customary rights complicates the marginalization of women’s access to land, negatively impacting agricultural production activities. Despite these obstacles, solutions are envisaged by all the actors to involve women more in the management of rural land.
New Research Explores Relationship between Landownership Inequality and Education Attainment in Kenya
We are pleased to announce the publication of a new research paper by John Kamau Gathiaka, which examines the relationship between landownership inequality and educational attainment in Kenya. The study, published in the Tanzanian Economic Review, used data from the Kenya Integrated Household Budget Survey and the Kenya Population and Housing Census to investigate the Gini of landownership’s influence on the Gini of education attainment across counties and the determinants of educational attainment in Kenya.
While previous research has documented an inverse relationship between unequal land ownership and educational attainment in other countries, the evidence generated in this study does not support this strong relationship in Kenya. The study found that government financing of free education, coupled with bursaries, reduced the impact of landownership inequality.
To reduce inequality in education across countries, the research paper suggests that the government should invest more in education and make policies that promote equality in household income, urbanization, and public employment participation.
We encourage you to read the entire research paper (DOI: 10.56279/ter.v12i2.119) and learn more about the findings and their implications.
Please click here to view the research on our website.
Uncovering Land Governance Challenges in 9 African Countries: NELGA’s Overview of Pastoralism and Small-Scale Farming
NELGA has put out nine country profiles about South Sudan, South Africa, Nigeria, Niger, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Tunisia, Egypt, and Mauritania. These profiles give information about pastoralism and small-scale agriculture in these countries. Through research on the current state of land governance in each of these nations, the individual reports have identified policy gaps that could be amended to better support pastoralism and small-scale agriculture.
The profiles also emphasised the significance of regional and international cooperation throughout Africa to enhance land governance structures tailored to local communities’ needs. The profiles included an assessment of existing research on the topics; the effects of climate change; public policy in place to support pastoralism and small-scale farming; the role of women and young people in this space; and regional and international cooperation available to support respective countries. The individual country profiles make recommendations for improving land governance in each country.
NELGA hopes that these reports will help the government improve the way it manages resources while making sure that rights over resources are kept, and international standards are always followed. NELGA keeps working with its African partners to improve how land is managed in all countries involved.
Call for Funding Applications: NELGA Digital Accompanying Measures
The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) is funded by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) as commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) to organize accompanying measures for the “Network of Excellence for Land Governance in Africa (NELGA)”.
NELGA is a partnership of leading African universities and research institutions with proven leadership in education, training, and research on land governance. Currently, NELGA has more than 50 partner institutions across Africa.
The objectives of NELGA are:
• Enhancing training opportunities and curricula on land governance in Africa;
• Promoting demand-driven research on land policy issues;
• Connecting scholars and researchers across Africa through academic
networks;
• Creating data and information for monitoring and evaluation of land policy reforms.
We invite NELGA partners to apply for funding for small measures to mitigate the effect of the covid19 crisis in the functioning of NELGA through digital means. Such measures are meant to ensure a certain operational continuity, both in term of regional collaboration between NELGA partner institution, but as well as the internal functioning within the institution (e.g. continuity of teaching). This funding is part of the general open call for NELGA accompanying measures as attached.
Measures eligible for funding:
• Conducting needs assessments for e-learning solutions
• Development of digital teaching and learning materials (e.g. new online
modules)
• Implementation of virtual events.
For the implementation of digitalization activities, expenditure on personnel for the support of digital formats, as well as software, licenses and fees and services for external e-learning experts and developers are possible.
The budget of the measure should not exceed 15,000.00 EUR.
The application is to be submitted in writing electronically and must include:
• A detailed description of the project including concrete measurable objectives;
• A schedule of all planned measures as well as a detailed budget (template on request);
• Evidence of existing/initiated contacts with partners, where applicable.
Selection of applications:
A DAAD commission will assess the funding applications. The criteria for the selection of funding applications are as follows:
• A complete application;
• Inclusion of specific, measurable objectives which are directly related to the program objectives;
• Convincing description of plans for networking and network expansion;
• Description of sustainability and consolidation of measures.
• Economic and efficient use of financial resources.
The following aspects are relevant for the selection of proposals for curriculum development and review:
• Sustainability of the measures after the covid19 crisis;
• Capacity building that will enhance the digital literacy of NELGA partners;
• Promotion of e-learning in a sustainable manner;
• Cooperation with other NELGA partner universities.
Applications for the NELGA-DAAD accompanying measures may be submitted throughout the year. For this specialized call for funding for the covid19 mitigation measure, we invite you to apply before the 15th of October 2020.
Applications can be sent to the following contact persons:
Ms Jana Bömer, boemer@daad.de
For more information and to understand our financial framework for funding, click the download buttons below.
Invitation to apply for research fellowships under the “Network of Excellence for Land Governance in Africa (NELGA)†in Northern Africa
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We invite staff members or students of NELGA partner institutions in Northern Africa with a background in land governance or a related field to apply for funding for NELGA research fellowships.
Invitation to apply for research fellowships under the “Network of Excellence for Land Governance in Africa (NELGA)” in Northern Africa
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We invite staff members or students of NELGA partner institutions in Northern Africa with a background in land governance or a related field to apply for funding for NELGA research fellowships.
Invitation to apply for research fellowships under the “Network of Excellence for Land Governance in Africa (NELGA)†in Southern Africa
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We invite staff members or students of NELGA partner institutions in Southern Africa with a background in land governance or a related field to apply for funding for NELGA research fellowships.
Invitation to apply for research fellowships under the “Network of Excellence for Land Governance in Africa (NELGA)” in Southern Africa
[lgc_column grid=”33″ tablet_grid=”100″ mobile_grid=”100″ last=”false”]
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We invite staff members or students of NELGA partner institutions in Southern Africa with a background in land governance or a related field to apply for funding for NELGA research fellowships.