Technical node

How do we solve Africa’s land predicament?

This is a question the Institute of Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS) aims to answer through its collaboration with the Network of Excellence on Land Governance in Africa (NELGA).

In recognition of PLAAS’s contribution as a knowledge and training leader in the area of land governance and its years of engagement in promoting NELGA, the University of the Western Cape was incorporated as a “special” node into this pan-continental network.

PLAAS, coordinated by Profs. Ruth Hall and Moeniba Isaacs, play a leading role in organising technical training for land stakeholders in Africa, especially on topics related to “The Political Economy of Land Governance” across Africa. These technical trainings encourages a critical, questioning approach to dominant, free-market-oriented and nationalist policies for land use in post-independence Africa. It is a safe space for innovative ways of thinking and finding participatory solutions to the land tenure in Africa

Leveraging on its existing and expanding alumni network for research insight, curriculum development and policy advocacy, PLAAS key activities include:

• Undertake short courses on the Political Economy of Land Governance in Africa, aiming to analyse land governance from a political-economic point of view and build a highly skilled cohort of land professionals and land policymakers, equipping them with the expertise to resolve Africa’s land challenges.
• Offer in-country/in-region scholarships in collaboration with DAAD for Master’s and Doctoral Studies in Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, offered at PLAAS, UWC. These scholarships are aimed at young candidates, mid-career professionals, researchers and university staff.
• Build knowledge exchange through webinars and virtual meetings that bring together activist academics to discuss land governance and bespoke ways to towards supporting land space to produce sustainable and resilient livelihoods