2025 Conference on Land Policy in Africa

The Conference on Land Policy in Africa (CLPA), held biennially since 2024, was established to respond to the need towards having a continental land policy platform. The conference is a strategic space for research activities, presenting the issues and status of land in Africa for policy conversations. The conference also provides an opportunity for showcasing emerging and promising practices and facilitating networking among land experts and land professionals in Africa. Designed to meet the existing needs of African stakeholders and complement existing initiatives, the format of the conference includes plenary and parallel sessions, side events, panel discussions, and exhibitions. Our partner RECONCILE together with the IGAD Land Governance Program and ILC will be co-hosting three side events at the conference.

The conference, a joint initiative of the African Union Commission (AUC), United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), and African Development Bank (AfDB), aims to deepen capacity for land policy in Africa through improved access to knowledge and information, in support of evidence-based land policymaking and implementation. This is consistent with the Land Matrix Initiative approach and, as such, is an opportunity to engage different stakeholders, Member States, and researchers to share more about the initiative and build partnerships.

When: 10 - 14 November 2025
Where: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (in person and online)

Context

Under Phase IV of the Land Matrix Initiative, RECONCILE, as the Africa Regional Focal Point (RPF), has been generating and analysing high-quality data on large-scale land acquisitions (LSLAs), particularly those linked to climate mitigation, renewable energy, and carbon-offsetting projects. These “green deals” represent a new wave of land pressure that risks deepening tenure insecurity for Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPLCs) and pastoralist groups who depend on rangelands for their livelihoods. By combining geospatial data and policy dialogue, the data collected, aggregated and updated by the RECONCILE, provides a foundation to understand how these evolving investments reshape access, use, and governance of communal lands across Africa.

RECONCILE’s participation in the CLPA offers an opportunity to showcase how open, credible, and disaggregated data on LSLAs from the Land Matrix Initiative can inform equitable and sustainable policy responses. Through a presentation of the outputs of the monitoring of compliance with the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure (VGGTs) that was finalised in 2025, the Africa RFP will demonstrate and promote the use of evidence to identify gaps, guide reforms, and ensure that climate and investment initiatives respect community and IPLCs' rights. Presenting these insights at the CLPA will help policymakers, researchers, and practitioners appreciate the value of data as a public good for decision-making, stimulate greater appetite for evidence-informed land policy, and encourage collaboration toward just and transparent land governance in the face of Africa’s emerging land pressures.

RECONCILE's engagement in the conference

RECONCILE will present at three side events during the CLPA 2025 as outlined below:

Land, power & prosperity: Promoting secure tenure rights for inclusive land governance, climate resilience and conflict resolution

Organisers: International Land Coalition Africa (ILC Africa); Oxfam International; AUDA -NEPAD; Habitat for Humanity; Resource Conflict Institute (RECONCILE)

Objectives:

1. Addressing the impacts of resource scarcity, large scale land-based acquisitions, competition, conservation, and climate change on land tenure system in Africa.
2. Data revolution for accountability and sustainable development.
3. Harnessing women's voice, agency, and participation in land governance processes.
4. Rethinking land policy reform in Africa: Opportunities and challenges.

Specific contribution: RECONCILE will participate in a panel discussion during this session and provide a presentation on an ‘Overview of land conflict situation and its drivers in Africa’.

Enhancing women’s tenure security for climate resilience: Lessons from the cross-border pastoral communities in the IGAD region

Organisers: IGAD Land Governance Programme and Food Systems Resilience Programme; African Development Bank; Ministry of Land Housing and Urban Development, Uganda; RECONCILE

Objectives:

1. Promoting knowledge exchange sharing of best practices including those generated through IGAD and AfDB collaboration to foster greater learning and replication of lessons to in order maximise reach and impact.
2. Influence policy and strategy development for increased resources for programmes that enhance women’s tenure security.
3. Increase greater understanding of the nexus between women’s tenure security and climate resilience and encourage policy analysis at policy and programme level.

Specific contribution: RECONCILE will participate in a panel discussion during this session and provide a presentation on empirical data and maps showing regional trends in green investments across the IGAD region.

Youth at the forefront of land justice and climate resilience: Voices for a just future

Organisers: African Development Bank (AfDB), United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), and Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), Resource Conflict Institute (RECONCILE)

Objectives:

1. Explore how historical injustices have shaped present-day barriers for youth in land access and governance.
2. Elevate youth-led practices and policies that contribute to equitable, climate-resilient, and reparative land systems.
3. Support dialogue between youth, institutions, and communities on reparation-oriented land policy reform.
4. Catalyse institutional partnerships that scale youth-driven land justice and innovation across Africa and the diaspora.

Specific contribution: RECONCILE will participate in a panel discussion during this session and provide a presentation on empirical data and maps showing regional trends in green investments across the IGAD region and how they impact the development of relevant policy.

Find out more and register here.