Document Type: Reports

This report presents findings from a political economy analysis (PEA) of women’s land access in Western and Northern Côte d’Ivoire. The PEA aimed at providing answers to the following overarching question: “Why do women in Côte d’Ivoire continue to experience inequitable access to land despite laws and policies that protect their land rights?” The objective was to go beyond typical explanations like “socio-cultural barriers” or the “lack of awareness of the law by rural populations.” Instead, the study sought to explore the underlying factors behind this inequality by emphasizing structural constraints, interests and motivations of actors, and current dynamics.

Foundational Factors
Several foundational factors were explored in the study. First, with respect to national laws and the institutional framework, the study did not identify any explicit barriers preventing women from owning land and benefitting from equal inheritance rights. On the contrary, recent reforms strengthen women’s land rights, including the 2016 Constitution, the reforms to marriage and inheritance laws, as well as institutional reform such as the creation of the National Observatory for Equity and Gender (ONEG) and the Rural Land Agency (AFOR). However, it is important to note that the process of obtaining formal legal rights to rural land creates obstacles for women because the legal framework enshrines customary law as the source of modern property rights. For example, even if a woman has the right to apply for an individual land certificate, the Village Land Management Committee (CVGFR) controlled by men will likely reject her request based on customary rules about women’s property rights. The system therefore risks reinforcing the discrimination against women prevalent in the customary land management system.

Indeed, the socio-cultural foundations of these customary traditions differ fundamentally from statutory rights in their underlying logic. Customary rules are premised on the paternalistic notion of “taking care” of women that places them as a social inferior under the tutelage of a man. As such she is not in an equal relationship with men, as the man (husband, father, brother) must provide for the woman but ultimately retains control over her. Indeed, all economic and social life revolves around a gender-based division of roles, and land is considered a collective family asset controlled by men. Admittedly, women play a decisive role in determining inheritance rights depending in matrilineal inheritance systems, but these systems remain patriarchal because men still control the land.

This logic is in direct opposition to the spirit and letter of the law, creating a disconnect between the customary systems that dominate in practice and the statutory systems where women have equal rights. It is important to note, however, that the customary systems are not static and are evolving, especially in response to broad-based economic forces. Specifically, the rise of cash crop agriculture— coffee-cocoa-rubber in the West and cotton-cashew-mango in the North—have strongly impacted land management practices. First, these crops have accelerated a process of commodification and individualization of land by increasing its economic value. The value has only risen as demand for these crops have fostered land pressure as remaining open space is occupied by locals and migrants for agriculture. This land pressure in turn has contributed to land speculation, land grabbing and land conflicts. While these developments have had negative impacts on women’s land access, they have also created new opportunities and have led to changes in customary practices. For example, in the North the study documented a weakening of matrilineal (uncle to nephew) inheritance systems due to children demanding to inherit high-value plantations from their parents, and in the West more and more women are using the legal system to claim inheritance rights as the customary system is unable to provide for them. This contested and dynamic environment can afford new opportunities for women provided that the risks around conflict and power plays are managed.

Land tenure dynamics
The study identified a variety of actors involved in land management, especially with respect to land conflicts, and noted that these actors sometimes compete with each other. For example, the study found that in some cases courts are in conflict with sous-préfets or land administration officials on whether to certify disputed land, and there are also conflicts with new institutions like the Council of

Traditional Chiefs and Kings (CRCT). These tensions undermine the legitimacy and efficacy of these institutions which are supposed to create and enforce clear and predictable rules. In the West, but also increasingly in the North, one observes a lack of trust and a perception that these institutions are biased. As a result, land users rely less on institutional processes and more on networks of influential or powerful people who can advance individual interests. In such a context, the ecosystem of actors is characterized by “might makes right” where might is determined by economic and political power.

Women are particularly vulnerable in such a system because they tend to be at a disadvantage in male- dominated power politics because they have less money, less political power and fewer friends in high places to advance their interests. In such a context, advancing the cause of women’s land rights requires advocacy with those who do have power and influence, including women powerbrokers, so that women’s interests stand a better chance of being considered.

It is also necessary to strengthen women’s capacity to succeed in this contested ecosystem through developing networks and especially supporting the most vulnerable women (widows, young girls, and the poor). Strengthening women’s economic power so that they are on an equal footing with men is also key. Supporting women-led advocacy networks can leverage social capital through collective action and better access to information. This approach can ultimately contribute to the deconstruction of negative social representations around women. However, it will require working on the system as a whole with actions aimed at reducing gender inequality.

Engagement opportunities
The study was carried out with the aim of collecting data from the field in order to inform the project’s activities. Based on the study’s results, the following programmatic opportunities were identified.

Social dialogue
An important tool for social and behavioral change, social dialogue is relevant in several respects. First, in the context of a “do no harm” approach, dialogue makes it possible to mitigate risks of certain actors perceiving change as threatening. In addition, communities appreciated the participatory methods used during the study and expressed the desire for more discussion around land. Social dialogue creates spaces for communities to identify underlying causes and solutions to their problems on their own. It also allows for the full participation of different profiles of women (local and migrant for example) while building greater gender-awareness with men.

Social behavior change communication
In addition to social dialogue, strategic messages can be developed and delivered articulated around existing social values and norms identified during the study. Social dialogue will help them become more open to these messages of change. To the extent possible, these messages should be conveyed by community members, including women and men who can serve as role models and positive examples.

Awareness-raising and legal education
Local communities need to be better informed about the 2019 reforms to marriage and inheritance laws, the 2016 Constitution and the 1998 rural land law, and other similar legislation. These awareness- raising and legal education actions can also be integrated into social dialogue exercises which will help create spaces to discuss the gaps between the laws and actual practice, as well as spur discussion on how to bridge those gaps.

Transformative approach to gender
The study demonstrates how individual and collective beliefs around women’s social position are key barriers, and that gender norms need transformation. Tools and approaches that get at the heart of these beliefs will help create the basis of their transformation. To do this the project will need to target reference groups that influence these social norms.

Conflict resolution
The study highlighted the complex conflict management environment in which the project will navigate. Actions should be sensitive to these dynamics and tailored to individual contexts. In particular, the project should consider working with existing conflict management actors rather than introducing new ones. Gender-sensitivity training and mentorship, for example, can help reduce bias and discrimination in these customary and government institutions.

Strengthening and formalizing land rights
The study analyzed the diverse needs of women with respect to land rights. Some require assistance in inheritance disputes, others require land certification and others simply more voice in male- dominated collective decision-making. Legal and technical support tailored to these different needs can help women and men exercise these rights peacefully and sustainably. To achieve this the activities and instruments need to be tailored to each community’s and individual’s circumstances.

In 2017 the International Peace Information Service (IPIS), Association pour le Développement des Initiatives Paysannes (ASSODIP), and Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS) conducted an extensive study of the political economy of roadblocks in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Mapping
almost 800 roadblocks throughout North and South Kivu, the study provided detailed evidence of the extent to which armed actors extract wealth from the movement of goods and people.

In 2023, ASSODIP, DIIS, and IPIS conducted a case study focusing on roadblocks in the territories of Masisi and Walikale in the province of North Kivu (Figure 1). This case study builds upon the 2017 study—but focuses on smaller geographic area—to explore changes over time and to get a sense of new trends with regard to the roadblocks. The study identified 110 roadblocks: 84 in Masisi territory and 26 in Walikale territory.

The team also mapped 40 roadblocks along the Route Nationale No. 3 linking Walikale with Bukavu, in South Kivu. In the attached document is a summary of key points of the 2023 case study, captured under four subheadings: who runs the roadblocks, roadblocks and mineral supply chains, impact of roadblocks, and recommendations.

La réputation du secteur de l’exploitation minière artisanale et à petite échelle (EMAPE) s’est ternie au cours de ces vingt dernières années dans l’est de la République démocratique du Congo (RDC), alors que cette activité représente une source de revenus essentielle pour de nombreuses communautés rurales. Cette situation s’explique en partie par les difficultés que rencontre le gouvernement de la RDC dans sa lutte contre la corruption, les activités criminelles, le financement des conflits, la fraude, et la contrebande dans le secteur de l’EMAPE.

L’International Peace Information Service (IPIS) investit dans des recherches qualitatives sur l’EMAPE en tant qu’effort de soutien aux chaînes d’approvisionnement responsable de l’EMAPE qui promeuvent la paix et la stabilité et contribuent au développement rural. Depuis 2009, IPIS a cartographié plus de 2 800 sites miniers artisanaux et à petite échelle dans l’est de la RDC et recueilli des données primaires sur l’ingérence des groupes armés, les types de minerais, le prix des minerais, le profil démographique des travailleurs, les routes commerciales, les problèmes environnementaux, etc.

En 2021, l’Agence des États-Unis pour le développement international (USAID) a renouvelé son partenariat avec IPIS par le biais de son projet Integrated Land and Resource Governance (ILRG) dont l’objectif est de mener des recherches approfondies sur l’EMAPE dans l’est de la RDC et d’étudier ses liens avec l’insécurité
et le développement. Entre 2021 et 2023, IPIS a recueilli des informations sur 829 sites miniers actifs employant environ 132 320 mineurs au total. Les données collectées par IPIS révèlent que l’or est de loin le principal minerai « artisanal » extrait dans l’est de la RDC (85 % des mineurs sont employés dans des mines aurifères), suivi des « 3T », à savoir l’étain (cassitérite), le tantale (coltan), et le tungstène (wolframite).

Ce rapport est la conclusion et l’aboutissement de deux années de recherche. Il présente une analyse actuelle des liens entre l’exploitation minière et les conflits (et l’insécurité de manière plus générale) dans l’est de la RDC. Il examine en outre les raisons pour lesquelles la réforme du secteur minier, y compris les initiatives en matière d’approvisionnement responsable, n’a eu qu’une incidence limitée sur l’amélioration de la sécurité et la promotion du développement durable.

Le chapitre « Ingérence d’acteurs armés dans l’exploitation minière » explore les liens directs qui ont pu être établis entre l’exploitation minière et le conflit dans l’est de la RDC. Il analyse le niveau d’interférence actuel des Forces Armées de la RDC (FARDC) et les groupes armés (non étatiques) dans ce secteur. Le chapitre suivant, intitulé « L’insécurité dans le secteur de l’exploitation minière, au-delà des minerais de conflit » élargit cependant la focale et examine comment des formes de violence plus structurelles (telles que les inégalités socio-économiques ou l’omniprésence d’anciens rebelles) sont à l’origine de tensions et de conflits qui ne sont pas directement liés au financement des groupes armés. Ces problématiques méritent une attention égale car elles sont porteuses d’importants risques sécuritaires à long terme.

Land and natural resources are critical for rural women’s livelihoods and economic security. There is growing evidence that secure land rights are a key element of women’s empowerment, leading to benefits for women, households, communities, and agrifood systems. According to the 2023 United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) The Status of Women in Agrifood Systems report, women’s ownership and control over land and natural resources are linked to expanded economic opportunities and security for women, greater decision-making and bargaining power for women, increased agricultural productivity, increased household profitability and responsible expenditure, reduced vulnerability to gender-based violence (GBV),1 improved adoption of technologies and climate-smart practices, and greater resilience to external shocks from climate change, conflict, and health or economic crises.

Yet, 40 percent of countries worldwide have legal limitations to women’s rights to own land and property. Only 44 countries provide men and women equal inheritance rights in law and practice, and women make up less than 20 percent of landholders globally. More importantly, even when women have legal rights to land, social norms constrain their ability to own, access, inherit, and control land. This is further complicated because in many countries land rights are governed by customary systems that are often male-dominated and influenced by harmful gender norms.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Integrated Land and Resource Governance (ILRG) Activity drew upon conceptual and programmatic frameworks on social norms change that have been developed and applied in other international development sectors2 to strengthen women’s land rights as a pathway for empowerment and economic security. ILRG is a global mechanism that works with governments, traditional and customary authorities, communities, civil society organizations, and private sector partners to improve land rights, support inclusive land and resource governance, build resilient livelihoods, and promote women’s empowerment and economic security. ILRG designed and implemented norms-shifting interventions in five countries – Ghana, India, Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia. Activities in each country had different timeframes (varying from 18 months to five years of engagement) and focused on one or more of three main areas of work: land rights, natural resource management, and land-based agroforestry value chains.

Introduction

The passage of the Land Rights Act (LRA) in 2018 was hailed by Liberian civil society as one of the most progressive land reform laws in Africa. Based on the LRA, Liberia now recognizes the legal rights of communities – and equal rights of individuals within the communities – to their ancestral lands, and to own and apply for deeds for their ancestral lands. The LRA includes provisions for establishing Community Land Development and Management Committees (CLDMCs), bodies which are charged with communal land decisions, and the development of land use plans. The Liberia Land Authority (LLA) adopted regulations for the registration and governance of customary land in November 2022.

While the LRA took longer than expected to pass, stakeholders remain committed to it and see its importance for the empowerment of Liberian communities. A number of civil society organizations (CSOs) support LRA implementation with the aim to help secure land rights for communities and, in doing so, help those communities harness the economic potential of their land and protect it. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and other donors have invested in pilot efforts in more than 150 communities to help test the initial steps of the six-step process required to obtain a deed. These efforts have generated important lessons learned about implementation and streamlined processes and templates adopted by the LLA as National Guidelines. To-date an estimated 12 communities have received a customary deed with the remaining still engaging in the process at some stage.

The LLA receives or has recently received technical assistance from USAID, the Swedish Government, the Tenure Facility, United Nations Development Programme, the European Union, the World Bank, and others. USAID has been a leading funder and proponent of land reform for more than a decade, providing support to the Government of Liberia (GOL) to develop a strong Land Rights Policy, which was adopted in 2013. USAID has supported the land sector in Liberia via the Land Policy and Institutional Support (LPIS) activity under the Property Rights and Resource Governance Program (PRRGP) (2010 – 2015), the Land Conflict Resolution Program (LCRP) (2013 – 2016), the Land Governance Support Activity (LGSA) (2015 – 2020), and most recently the Land Management Activity (LMA) (2021 – 2025).

The global Integrated Land and Resource Governance (ILRG) project, funded via USAID’s Land and Resource Governance Division in Washington, DC, supported the customary land rights formalization process via three grants between 2020 and 2023. The objective of ILRG’s Liberia activity was to complete the Community Land Protection Program (CLPP), the name attributed to the customary land rights formalization process by Namati and the Liberian non-governmental organization (NGO) the Sustainable Development Institute (SDI). The CLPP approach empowered communities via legal education and support for community self-identification (CSI), and provided support to communities to develop land and resource bylaws, choose their own representation in CLDMCs, and harmonize boundaries with neighboring communities. The governance support, the key component of CLPP, aimed to help communities to resolve land conflicts, ensure intra-community equity, and strengthen mechanisms for accountable and participatory management of land and natural resources. The premise of CLPP is that formal recognition of customary tenure must first involve extensive governance strengthening, with formal recognition as the last step in the process. Only in this way will communities be sufficiently empowered to enjoy the full potential of their newly obtained formal legal rights to their lands and resources.

Recognizing the importance of customary land rights formalization for national level reform in Liberia and USAID land programming, in 2014 the USAID Land and Resource Governance Division, through its Evaluation, Research, and Communication task order, began an impact evaluation of a CLPP intervention implemented by SDI. The project was originally funded by non-USAID sources. The project was intended as a 12-to-18-month activity with 45 treatment communities and 45 controls, in Lofa, Maryland, and River Gee Counties. However, the outbreak of Ebola in 2014 delayed implementation until the beginning of 2016. In addition, budget constraints by SDI mean that as of October 2017, the intervention was only partially completed in 23 treatment communities.

Despite the challenges with implementation of the underlying CLPP activity, the programmatic and policy-oriented learning opportunity was significant enough that continued funding to complete the activity was merited. In 2019 ILRG engaged SDI to continue work in 31 of its CLPP communities and Green Advocates International to support five additional communities. These communities were to undergo an endline evaluation through USAID’s Communications, Evaluation and Learning (CEL) Project, which evaluated the development impacts of formal recognition of customary tenure, which would in turn inform USAID program design, and the development of LRA regulations and standard operating procedures. Ultimately only SDI’s 31 communities were treatment communities in CEL’s endline evaluation.

A third grantee, Foundation for Community Initiatives (FCI), was engaged in 2021 to work with eight additional communities. While FCI’s eight communities did not take part in the evaluation completed by the CEL project, the intervention provided invaluable learning to the GOL and USAID for broader implementation of the LRA at scale.

Now that some initial gains have been made, stakeholders agree that efforts must ramp up to provide support closer to the community level. The LLA has plans to expand its presence beyond the capital, though its resources and capacity to do so are limited. As CSOs and the LLA help move more communities through the initial stages of the process to obtain communal land deeds, work is needed to: 1) ensure that women and youth are full participants and beneficiaries of the process despite inclusiveness that is legislated in the CLDMCs; 2) help resolve inter- and intra-community disputes satisfactorily; and 3) make sure communities can access the resources and services needed to obtain deeds and take advantage of the benefits of land tenure security. As the initial stages of community self-identification, adoption of bylaws, CLDMC formation, boundary harmonization, and mapping are increasingly understood, continued investments will be needed in discussions around later stages of the process. Namely, donors should invest in testing and documenting lessons related to confirmatory survey, deed registration and the requirements for identifying tribal certificates and other land claims, as well as the provisions that state that up to 10 percent of unused community land is to be reserved as public land, which has not been explored thoroughly to date.

This report provides an overview of the process of supporting 44 communities to undergo the customary land rights formalization (CLRF) process with support from ILRG grantees SDI, GAI, and FCI in Lofa, Maryland, River Gee, Nimba, Bong, and Grand Bassa Counties with an eye on how the cost effectiveness varied by geography and approach, amongst other factors.

Context

To protect its territories from other colonial powers in the aftermath of the Berlin Conference, the Portuguese government decided to lease two-thirds of Mozambique to foreign companies, while keeping control over the remaining area comprising the south of the Save river (currently Inhambane, Gaza and Maputo provinces). One of these companies was the French-owned Société du Madal, which was founded over 100 years ago. Over time, it acquired the rights to over 30,000 hectares in several coastal districts of Mozambique’s northern province of Zambezia.

The company grew coconut as the principal crop on most of this land, using a model of large-scale estate production with hundreds of workers. The company gradually transformed local land tenure to fit the tenet of copra production. Local inhabitants secured their livelihoods either through ownership of palm trees (they planted or purchased from other holders) or through seasonal labor working for Madal. Households grew food crops only in a limited fashion, and subsistence agriculture was never more than a supplement to income generated through coconut production and trade and wage labor.

Through the expansion of the original prazo1 allocation from the Portuguese state, Madal gradually became one of the largest coconut producers in the world by the 1960s. The company used a system of coastal shipping to move its product from small private ports up and down the Zambezia coast to Quelimane, where it processed the coconut for export around the world. Key products included copra (the dried meat), coconut oil pressed from the copra, and coir (the fibrous outside part of the husk).

By the 2000s, the company was in decline. One of the major blows was from the lethal yellowing disease, which killed tens of thousands of hybrid coconut trees that the company had planted with the intent of renewing its base. Gradually, large areas of the company’s land lost productivity and eventually were largely fallow.

At the same time, the growing population and a lack of available farmland led thousands of people, mostly women, to start to informally grow their own crops on unused areas of many of the company’s farms. By 2021, Madal estimated that over 50,000 people were informally using company land. Those using the land know that Madal holds the rights to the farms, so while they have grown crops for their own use, they have not built permanent structures.

The company was purchased by new owners in 2016. The new Madal management took a strategic decision to shift away from a model reliant entirely on estate-based production, to a more inclusive business model that is designed to intentionally integrate and benefit neighboring communities, including aggregation and resale of commodities produced by local farmers. One of the most innovative features of the new approach is to recognize and respond to the land hunger of those who were informally using company land. Rather than trying to forcibly remove these smallholders, Madal designed an approach to bring them into the system. This combines three elements:

• Core estate production: crop production by the company on some central areas of its farms, as well as use of company land for test plots and experimentation;
• Outgrowers: Madal contracting members of neighboring communities to grow crops on their own land, which they sell to Madal; and
• Ingrowers: Madal introduced an innovative approach designed to turn thousands of people who were informally using company land into formally accepted farmers, called “ingrowers” because they worked within the company farms. This is a modified version of the outgrower scheme, Madal agreed that many families who noted that they had insufficient land of their own, especially women-headed households, could use some company land based on long-term contracts to grow food and cash crops that the company would purchase.

This combination of outgrowers with the innovation of “ingrowers” was designed to enable community members to have reliable sources of food and income in ways that provide a reliable supply of commodities for Madal.

Documentation of land rights is a foundational activity underpinning improvements in agricultural productivity. Under Mozambican law, land belongs to the state, but communities and citizens may acquire the right to use and improve land in perpetuity. The Land Law notes that these rights are valid even if not documented or registered. However, the lack of documentation combined with the fact that few citizens understand their rights can leave communities in vulnerable situations. In many cases, people or companies, both Mozambican and foreign, have been able to take over land in ways that have prejudiced the community.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Integrated Land and Resource Governance (ILRG) project’s approach to land rights fits well community desires to confirm their own rights, and with Madal’s interest in working with communities to make more productive use of both community and company land. The approach starts by training community members, including elected leadership of land associations, in people’s rights based on the land law. This is followed by documentation of community boundaries, and then by documentation of individual parcels of land that have been allocated to families or for communal uses, such as sacred forests. In the context of Madal, this process also served to clearly and publicly confirm which land was controlled by which community and which land was controlled by the company. Within the company land, it identified parcels farmed by ‘ingrowers.’ This clarity provides a basis for subsequent agricultural development work within the community areas and on the Madal farms.

Based on this, ILRG developed what became a series of activities with Madal and 19 communities that are adjacent to the company’s farms in rural areas of Quelimane District. These included documentation of the overall boundaries of the 19 neighboring communities and of Madal farms; clarification of land rights already allocated to community members; delimitation of parcels for ‘ingrowers;’ and development of a new gender-sensitive extension system through which Madal would provide technical support to smallholders with ingrower and outgrower contracts. The approach is applicable to Madal’s broader estate, as well as other companies that have large landholdings and that wish to improve relationships with communities encroaching on company lands.

This final report provides a summary of activities, results and lessons learned.

Summary

Mining of gold, cassiterite, coltan, wolframite and tourmaline are important sources of employment and livelihood in the South Kivu province in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Many artisanal mine workers, both men and women, are involved in this work to meet their daily needs, such as obtaining food and sending their children to school. Several studies have documented the socio-economic situations of artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) stakeholders and the working conditions in this sector. However, the dynamics of gender and social inclusion have so far only been analyzed in a limited number of research projects. In addition, while various policy reforms have been implemented over the last decade in ASM in eastern DRC, research has hardly addressed the impacts of these reforms on the socio-economic situation of women and other marginalized groups.

This study aims to fill this gap by analyzing gender and social inclusion issues and by assessing the potential impacts of responsible sourcing initiatives on the socio-economic situations of women involved in mining. This research will increase awareness among policymakers and other development stakeholders of gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) issues by providing them with the necessary empirical knowledge that can enable them to adapt ASM governance reforms to the situation and to the needs of the different categories of stakeholders. The study adopted a qualitative approach that involved semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with ASM stakeholders (men and women) in the Numbi, Nzibira and Nyabibwe mineral supply chains of the Walungu and Kalehe territories in South Kivu province. In total, 105 individual interviews and 21 focus groups were organized at the three study sites: notably 36 individual interviews and 7 focus groups in Nzibira, 39 individual interviews and 6 focus groups in Numbi, and 30 individual interviews and 8 focus groups in Nyabibwe (See the breakdown of interviews and focus group participants by gender, in the methodology: Table 1 and Table 2 in section 3).

The results of the surveys show a strong involvement of women in ASM across the three sites studied (and especially at the Numbi area). Many are involved in the transportation and processing of minerals (manual crushing and washing of the minerals). A small number of women are also involved in the extraction of the minerals, either by overseeing the pits (as “PDG” (Président Directeur Général), which is the manager of the mine) or by collecting and processing mining waste. Others are involved in the sale of the minerals in collaboration with men. Despite this involvement of women in ASM, there are still barriers that reinforce gender inequalities in this sector, including gendered biases against women, a lack of sufficient resources for women, a lack of institutions for the advancement of women, and discrimination against women in ASM governance institutions. Finally, the report discusses the impacts (both positive and negative) of policy reforms on the socio-economic situation of women in the artisanal mining sector. For instance, responsible sourcing initiatives have been praised for decreasing the extortion of ASM stakeholders and reducing the involvement of armed groups in mining. On the other hand, formalization and responsible sourcing (and in particular traceability) have had a negative impact on women’s involvement in mining and their income, as it has actually pushed them further into informality, which reinforces their marginalization and fragile position.

Executive Summary

While artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) is a vital source of income for many rural communities in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), it has acquired a negative reputation over the past twenty years. This is in part because the DRC government has difficulties in tackling the issues of corruption, criminal activity, conflict financing, fraud, and smuggling in the ASM sector.

The International Peace Information Service (IPIS) invests in qualitative research in ASM, as a mechanism to support responsible ASM supply chains that promote peace, stability, and contribute to rural development. Since 2009, IPIS has mapped over 2,800 ASM sites in eastern DRC and collected primary data about the interference of armed groups, types of minerals, mineral pricing, worker demographics, trade routes, environmental issues, etc.

In 2021, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) renewed its partnership with IPIS through the Integrated Land and Resource Governance (ILRG) project to execute in-depth research into ASM in eastern DRC and its links with insecurity and development. Between 2021 and 2023, IPIS collected information at 829 active mining sites that together employ an estimated 132,320 miners. According to the data collected by IPIS, gold is by far the most important artisanal mineral in eastern DRC, as 85% of the miners work in gold mines, followed by the minerals often referred to as the 3T minerals, tin ore (cassiterite), tantalum ore (coltan), and tungsten ore (wolframite).

This report is the final output of two years of research and provides an up-to-date analysis of the link between mining and conflict – and insecurity more generally in eastern DRC. Furthermore, it explores why mining reform (including responsible sourcing initiatives) has had a limited impact on improved security and sustainable development.

The section ‘Armed interference in mining’ explores the direct links between mining in eastern DRC and conflict. It reveals the extent to which both the armed forces of the DRC (FARDC) and (non-state) armed groups are still involved in mining. However, the next section on ‘Insecurity in mining beyond conflict minerals’ broadens the scope and explores how some more structural forms of violence (such as socio-economic inequality and the omnipresence of former rebels) create tensions and conflict that are not directly linked to the financing of armed groups. These issues deserve equal attention, as both represent important long-term security risks.

Introduction

Between 2019 to 2023, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded Integrated Land and Resource Governance (ILRG) program provided technical and financial support to the House of Chiefs (HoC) in Zambia to increase the capacity of traditional leaders in championing gender equality and promoting inclusive development in chiefdom administration. The intervention aimed to enhance the capacity of traditional leaders to play an effective role in shifting harmful gender norms related to women’s land rights, and participation in land governance and natural resource management. Zambia’s customary chiefs play a central role in establishing the customary rules that govern natural resource management and, in the allocation and administration of over 75 percent of Zambia’s land area. They are also key guardians of local culture and social relationships, particularly gender norms, for the majority of Zambia’s population and as such are important champions to shift norms that restrict women’s land rights.

The development of the Gender Guidelines for Traditional Leaders in Management of Natural Resources in the Chiefdoms (from hereon, referred to as the Gender Guidelines) was an initiative of a selection of the Chiefs/Chieftainess in the HoC who desired to find a solution to the pressing gender equality issues in their chiefdom administration. The initiative was led by a team of six traditional leaders that formed the Gender Committee at the HoC in 2020 with the aim of developing a resource to aid gender integration in natural resource management and chiefdom administration. A consultative process identified various entry points, including sectors, themes, and cross-cutting issues:

The Gender Guidelines provide general direction for integrating gender equality into resource management and a set of practical measures that can be adapted and contextualized based on customs and traditional systems in each chiefdom. Once implemented, the Gender Guidelines were expected to increase the contributions of traditional leaders to the promotion of gender equality and inclusive development in Zambia. The Guidelines were launched in 2021 and subsequently disseminated to all 288 chiefs across the country. ILRG piloted and monitored the implementation of the Gender Guidelines in two Chiefdoms. This report documents the implementation processes in the two Chiefdoms, reflecting on the successes, challenges, and lessons learned in their use as a tool to strengthen the capacity of traditional leaders to shift harmful gender norms and increase the participation of women in land and natural resource governance. The report identifies opportunities and recommendations for stakeholders on how to further support traditional leaders to lead gender equality in local governance.

Background

Cocoa trees thrive in a thin ecological band of countries along the equator, where the climate is warm and humid. Just two countries – Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana – produce two thirds of the world’s cocoa. Cocoa plays a critically important role in the local and national economies, providing jobs, improved livelihoods and social welfare, an expanded tax base, family and corporate income, and foreign exchange earnings. However, long term viability of cocoa farming is at risk in many parts of Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire due to climate change, and for many years smallholder cocoa has been the leading cause of agricultural commodity driven deforestation in both countries. This deforestation has a negative impact on biodiversity, soil fertility, water quality and quantity, affects local rainfall and threatens farmer livelihoods. In response, the governments of both countries and commodity buyers have made specific commitments to reduce and eliminate deforestation from their supply chains through the creation of initiatives such as the Cocoa and Forests Initiative (CFI) and the Ghana Cocoa Forest Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) Program that will sell carbon credits to the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility.

Companies like Hershey’s rely on thousands of West African farmers, each of whom farms a tiny plot, often one to two hectares (2.5 – 5 acres). In Ghana, up to 40 percent of cocoa farms suffer from low productivity due to aging trees and blight. In the past, when cocoa farmers faced diminishing crop yields, they could clear new forests and plant new trees. But today with fewer remaining primary forests this approach to expanding or even maintaining yield is environmentally and socially unacceptable. The most sustainable solution is to replant or rehabilitate old cocoa farms with disease-free new trees. Yet several challenges confront small farmers who want to replant. Many farmers have insecure land tenure that prevents or discourages them from replanting old farms. Tenure challenges also limit incentives to plant and intercrop cocoa seedlings with shade trees that can increase survival and productivity, as well as help cocoa companies meet their sustainability commitments. Farmers have low incomes and limited access to credit to borrow money to invest in their farms. In addition, they often lack information and training on best practices to rehabilitate old cocoa farms to increase yields and resiliency.

According to Ghana’s Lands Commission, less than two percent of the country’s 800,000 cocoa farmers have documented title to the land they cultivate. Instead, farmers access property through customary tenure arrangements made with a chief or a landowner. Traditionally, these oral agreements have allowed farmers to clear forests and begin farming. Customary tenure comes in several forms that can range from rights analogous to common law freehold (asidae and usufruct) or tenancy (abunu). Under abunu tenure, the farmer’s tenure is tied to keeping the land under cultivation as cocoa. If the farm is abandoned or no longer used for cocoa it reverts to the landowner. Once cocoa tree yields drop after 25 years or so – or sooner if disease strikes – abunu farmers often need to obtain permission from the original landowner to replant. At a time of historically high demand for land, chiefs and landowners are increasingly refusing farmers’ requests to replant. That leaves abunu farmers with two options: clear virgin forests and start again or get out of the business entirely. The exact number of abunu farmers across Ghana is unknown, but previous United States Agency for International Development (USAID) work in Nyame Nnae community in Asankgranwa found 46 percent of farms were under abunu tenure agreements.

Most cocoa farmers are subsistence farmers with little financial capacity to invest in their farms. Cocoa takes four to five years to mature and produce cocoa pods and most farmers cannot afford to cut and replant large portions of their farm at one time due to the time it takes for a tree to produce cocoa. If a farm is diseased, however, the only way to remove the disease in some cases is to clear and leave the land fallow before it can be replanted with cocoa.

Finally, traditionally cocoa farms retain large shade trees. This practice has preserved many economically and environmentally important trees within the landscape. However, a combination of government and Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) policies has led to the widespread removal of shade trees from farms; in 2007 it was estimated that 72 percent of cocoa farms across Ghana had “no to light” levels of shade. The government of Ghana also claims ownership of all naturally occurring trees, which creates a disincentive to maintain or restore shade tree cover across cocoa farms.