The law is increasingly experienced not as a shield of protection, but as a source of fear, trauma, landlessness, and deep humiliation

"His legacy lives on in the continuing struggle to free farmers from landlessness."

In the Caribbean, a unique vernacular architecture emerged where entire homes were built to be moved—lightweight timber frames on piers that could be dismantled and relocated, a response to hurricanes, landlessness, and the tropical climate.

From Amu tea estate to memories of Gorée Island, inherited labour, landlessness and cultural resistance frame renewed calls for reform across Bangladesh’s tea gardens today. Nearly two centuries after British colonial rule established tea estates in what is now Bangladesh, generations of workers remain landless, poorly paid and tied to a labour system whose roots lie in coercion, displacement and inherited servitude. The conditions facing tea workers have again drawn attention around August 23, observed as the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition, as workers press demands for a daily wage of Tk 500, cancellation of the Minimum Wage Board’s 2023 gazette, elections to the Bangladesh Tea Workers Union, or B-77, and permanent settlement of land used by tea garden communities. The history of the Amu tea estate in Chunarughat, in Bangladesh’s northeastern Habiganj district, reflects the origins of that system. The estate, owned by National Tea Company and located in Ahmedabad Union near the Tripura border, was established in 1870 after ancient sal forests, farmland and settlements of Manipuri, Tripura, Santal and Munda communities disappeared. British rulers brought Indigenous people by force from places stretching from Mayurbhanj to the Nilgiris and from Ranchi...

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The Association of Christian Communicators and Media (ACCM) is calling for urgent action to address Jamaica’s longstanding landlessness problem, arguing that the issue is rooted in the unequal distribution of land following the abolition of slavery and continues to contribute to social and economic insecurity. The association’s call comes amid renewed public debate over land […]

A ‘great reshuffle’ of the land is underway. It will force us to reconsider traditional ideas of property and ownership

Rudolf Gaiseb Gaos Julianne Gawa!nas of the /Khomanin Traditional Authority says she is having sleepless nights over the land issues her community is facing.  She says the 8 000 hectares of communal land from the combination of two farms the government handed over to them is not enough to accommodate them all. The Agriculture, Water and Land  Reform ministry recently handed over two farms (portion 1 of Farm Groot Korasieplaats and the remainder of the Farm Groot Korasieplaats) to the community.  The farms are located 140 km north-east of Windhoek. Gawa!nas said not knowing who to resettle at the farm pains her, as a great number of /Khomanin are landless.   She spoke during the /Khomanin Census and Congress on Saturday in Groot Aub.  “Foreigners have been prioritised in getting our land, and now our people are landless. How can the owners of the land not even have a plot while one foreigner owns up to six farms? We want to know from whom they bought these farms and for how much,” she demanded.   She added that their ancestors’ graves on land that was once their ancestral land have been destroyed.  Gawa!nas claims that although they live in an independent country, they are not independent.  The /Khomanin live in patches across the Khomas region, with many settled at Arovlei and Nauasport. Arovlei resident Ingrid Stuurman (59) told New Era the farm, which is also 8 000 hectares, has more than 2 900 residents.  “It is overcrowded. Grazing land is a problem and there is not enough water,” she said.  /Khomanin land and social justice activist Shaun Gariseb also called for more land expropriation.  “We cannot celebrate 8 000 hectares, as one general farm-worker has almost 100 goats and cows. That land is not enough for us. We want the government to look into expropriating more land from /Khomas region, not outside, and from people who own too much land. Find land for the /Khomanin in /Khomas,” Gariseb said.  There are farmers in the Daan Viljoen area, who each own up to six farms with 40 000 to 80 000 hectares.  Deputy executive director of land management within the ministry of land reform, Alfred Sikopo said while the hectares of land acquired for communal use in the Khomas region might sound little, the ministry believes it will make a huge difference in the lives of beneficiaries. “The establishment of communal land in the Khomas region was added to Schedule 1 of the Communal Land Reform Act, 2002, as amended. We will continue to work around the clock to ensure Khomas communal land is expanded in the near future, as we continue soliciting funds to buy more farms. The expansion of communal land in Khomas and other regions depends on the availability of money,” he said.  He added that for the existing farms such as Arovlei, Nauasport, Groot Aub and many others, the ministry still needs to consult key stakeholders before these farms can be proclaimed communal land.  “Most of these farms now fall within the jurisdiction of the City of Windhoek;. Thus, the municipality is another key stakeholder should it be decided to establish communal land on these farms, as it means they will need to be degazetted from the municipality boundaries,” he highlighted.  Meanwhile, Gawa!nas requested the ministry for the allocation of ear tags and brand marks to communities living on these farms.  “This is a request that is currently being considered by the  minister, and I was informed just yesterday that the minister intends to formally respond in writing regarding the request for ear tags and brand marks,” he added.  -rrgaiseb@gmail.com 

GOBABIS – The Omaheke Regional Council has called on the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform to allocate three additional resettlement farms in the region to address landlessness. Omaheke Regional Council’s Chairperson Ignatius Kariseb made the appeal during the o...