A United Nations-backed report highlights the urgent need for strengthened political commitment and inclusive policies regarding land rights, especially as global focus intensifies on climate change, biodiversity, gender equality, and rural transformation. Despite governments adopting national and international frameworks and over 70 countries initiating land reforms in the past two decades, progress in securing land rights remains slow.
According to the report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Land Coalition (ILC), and France’s CIRAD, only 35 percent of the world’s land ownership, tenure, or usage rights are formally documented. This lack of formal documentation contributes to widespread ‘land insecurity,’ with over 1.1 billion people believing they are likely to lose their homes or property in the coming years.
‘Land Insecurity’ Fuels Inequality
Maximo Torero Cullen, FAO Chief Economist, stated, “Land insecurity is one of the most damaging forms of inequality, paid for in lower productivity, weaker resilience, and poorer nutrition. Secure land tenure enables sustainable investment and is the difference between short-term survival and long-term food security.”
Global Land Ownership Landscape Revealed
The report, “The Status of Land Tenure and Governance,” provides the first comprehensive global assessment of how land is owned, used, and governed. It reveals that states legally own over 64 percent of global land, though this includes customary lands with tenure rights but no documented ownership. Private ownership, by individuals, companies, or collectives, accounts for just over a quarter of all land. The tenure status of approximately 10 percent of land remains unknown. Specifically, private individuals and corporations own around 18 percent of the world’s land, totaling 2.4 billion hectares. In agriculture, the top 10 percent of landholders manage nearly 90 percent of all cultivated land, which represents about 37 percent of the global land area.
Diverse Land Tenure Systems Worldwide
Land tenure systems vary significantly across regions:
- In sub-Saharan Africa, 73 percent of land is held under customary tenure, but only one percent is formally recognized, with most falling under undocumented state ownership.
- Private land ownership stands at 32 percent in North America, 39 percent in Latin America, and 55 percent in Europe (excluding Russia, where state land is dominant).
Indigenous Peoples and Women Face Disproportionate Insecurity
Indigenous Peoples and other customary tenure holders occupy 5.5 billion hectares (42 percent of the world’s land), yet only one billion hectares have documented clear ownership rights. Furthermore, data indicates that women globally are less likely than men to own or have secure land rights for housing or agriculture, emphasizing the critical role of formal legal documentation.
Marcy Vigoda, ILC Director, commented, “Too many people still live with the fear of losing their land and homes, with women and young people remaining among the most excluded – a reality that undermines food security, climate action and biodiversity protection, and shows why secure land rights are foundational to achieving all three.”
The Vital Role of Customary Land Systems
The report delves into customary land systems, primarily managed by Indigenous Peoples, pastoralists, and tribal groups. These lands, including forests, grasslands, wetlands, and fisheries, are increasingly recognized for their crucial role in biodiversity and climate action, challenging earlier views of them as archaic.
Approximately 4.2 billion hectares of customary land have been mapped globally, representing over 32 percent of the Earth’s total land mass (excluding Antarctica).
Customary Lands Hold Significant Carbon Reserves, Under Threat
These territories contain an estimated 45 gigatons of irrecoverable carbon, or 37 percent of the global total, primarily in forest biomes. This carbon cannot be reabsorbed quickly enough to prevent climate damage if released. The FAO warns that customary lands are increasingly threatened by human activities like urban expansion, industrial agriculture, and resource extraction. Paradoxically, some climate solutions, including renewable energy projects and conservation efforts, can exacerbate these pressures on lands lacking formal recognition or protection.
