ALIGN: Advancing Land-based Investment Governance

le 21/10/2020

ALIGN supports governments, civil society, local communities and other relevant actors in strengthening the governance of land-based investments – from agriculture to infrastructure, extractives and manufacturing.

Development policy and practice place growing emphasis on the role of private investment in promoting sustainable development. But a wave of land-based investments for agriculture, renewable energy, mining, petroleum, manufacturing and infrastructure has raised widespread concerns about land dispossession and conflict.

International soft-law instruments such as the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure (VGGT) provide guidance on regulating land-based investments. But much remains to be done to translate guidance into real change.

And while public campaigning on ‘land grabbing’ has made some businesses more aware of tenure rights issues and risks, most businesses are yet to meaningfully reconsider their practices or engage with tenure issues unless forced to by flare ups of conflict.

Addressing these issues requires systemic governance reform to strengthen local rights and to enhance opportunities for public participation and accountability in investment processes.

What is IIED doing?

IIED, Namati and the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (CCSI) have developed a new initiative to support governments, civil society, local communities and private sector actors in improving the governance and practices of land-based investments.

The Advancing Land-based Investment Governance (ALIGN) project involves:

  • Sustained, in-depth work in three sub-Saharan African countries, including Sierra Leone, to support policy development and implementation, legal empowerment, and dialogue between actors, both at the national level and in selected sites
  • An international facility for responsive support to governments, civil society, local communities and other relevant actors, for example through training and support regarding policy development and implementation, legal empowerment, and dialogue between actors, and
  • Enhancing understanding and improving practices among key actors, globally and in specific targeted contexts, through developing and disseminating innovative responses to key challenges.

In the first few months of the project, priority is being given to monitoring, responding to and anticipating developments occurring in the context of the COVID-19 crisis. Further partner organisations will also be identified during project implementation.