27 February 2014: Land indicators and targets enjoy wide support and are feasible assessment mechanisms, participants noted at a ‘Workshop on Land Indicators.’ The workshop discussed land-related indicators and targets for the post-2015 development agenda and considered preliminary results from the Global Land Indicator Initiatives (GLII).

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT), the International Land Coalition (ILC), the Global Land Tools Network (GLTN) and Oxfam organized the workshop, which built upon ongoing consultations to identify indicators on land governance and tenure.

Participants emphasized developing indicators and targets to promote good land governance. They suggested targets on tenure security and access, as well as a set of common indicators, that could support the global land agenda.

The GLII, which supports efforts to harmonize land governance and tenure monitoring, proposes four indicators in its publication, ‘Land rights indicators for the Post-2015 Development Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).’ The indicators focus on, inter alia, tenure security and legal reforms.

The post-2015 agenda is expected to create greater monitoring demands, including for common land indicators, according to IFAD. Workshop participants recognized the role of monitoring in illustrating how donor funded programs contribute to global and regional goals and guidelines. They further recognized the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance on Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests (VGGTs) and the Framework and Guidelines on land policy in Africa (F&GLPA) as an opportunity for developing benchmarks and monitoring progress on land governance and tenure.

The workshop took place from 21 to 22 February in Rome, Italy, and brought together participants from UN agencies, governments, civil society and farmers’ associations, including the Asian Framers’ Association, East African Farmers’ Federation and the Network of Farmers’ and Agricultural Producers’ Organizations of West Africa. [IFAD Blog] [GLII Website] [Publication: Land rights indicators for the Post-2015 Development Agenda and SDGs]