The Echoes from AEFJN No. 30 - July August 2016 are now available online. Conference: “Bridging the gap between policy and practice: international soft law and large scale land acquisitions in Africa”
On the 11th of December, AEFJN organised a conference, “Bridging the gap between policy and practice: international soft law and large scale land acquisitions in Africa” at the European Union Parliament. Mrs Marie Arena, a Member of European Parliament hosted the event. During her introductory remarks, she warmly welcomed the participants to the conference. Mr Amadou Kanouté of Cicodev presented a case study of a large scale land acquisition for mining purposes in Senegal. Afterwards, Mrs Bridget Mugambe of the Alliance for Food Sovereignty Africa, discussed the impact and the undue pressure of international policies like the G8’s New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition imposes on the access to land for local communities. Furthermore, Mr. Stéphane Parmentier of Oxfam highlighted the FAO Voluntary Guidelines for the Responsible Governance of Land Tenure and the challenges of their implementation. The conference was followed by a fruitful discussion . In the next edition of the Echoes we shall present you the conference documents.