If the tenure of their productive lands is guaranteed, the rural population can play a decisive role as a driver of transformation of agri-food systems. This is the main message launched by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) during the Global Land Forum 2025, which is being held this week in Bogota, Colombia.
“Access and fair and transparent governance of land are key components to have rural development that is truly inclusive and that puts rural communities at the centre of management decision-making, including indigenous peoples, women and youth,” said Juan Carlos Mendoza, Director of IFAD’s Environment, Climate, Gender and Social Inclusion Division.
Land tenure frameworks are critical to ensuring the production of the food we eat. This is reflected in the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security, adopted by United Nations Member States in 2021.
To improve soils and adopt more sustainable and climate-adaptive agricultural processes, agricultural producers need to have future guarantees on their land tenure that protect and encourage their long-term investments to bet on solutions that increase their productivity.
“This Forum demonstrates the will to act together in order to seek solutions and emphasize the importance of land tenure, which can mark a path of peace and collaboration in the world,” Mendoza said. The IFAD representative highlighted the Fund’s strategic partnership with the International Land Coalition (ILC). The fund is a founding member and co-chair of the ILC Board.
Representatives of different governments, social organizations, activists, international organizations, and representatives of academia are meeting in Bogotá these days to reaffirm their commitment to equitable access to land, which includes legal security in land tenure, fair access to natural resources, and protection against forced evictions. These conditions are essential for the rural population to be able to invest in improvements with a view to increasing productivity and raising their living conditions.
The forum is jointly organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Colombia, International Coalition for Access to Land (ILC), the European Union and the Centre for Research and Popular Education/Peace Program (Cinep/PPP).
Economies for Life in Colombia – Side Event
On the occasion of the Global Land Forum, and in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, IFAD and the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), a side event titled “Economies for Life: Strengthening Peasant, Family, Ethnic, and Community Agriculture for Agrarian Reform and Peace” was organized today, with the aim of highlighting and valuing the local economies that sustain rural life in Colombia.
During the event, the experiences of rural organizations whose efforts have been fundamental to promote prosperity and build inclusive, sustainable and resilient territories in Colombian rurality will be presented. ASOJE, Asociación de Productores de San Cayetano (ASOPROSAN) – Programa de Desarrollo de la Microempresa Rural (PADEMER) and Asociación de Mujeres Productoras de Plantas Aromáticas Amazónicas, will share their experiences in recent years participating in projects led by the Ministry, in cooperation with international organizations such as IFAD.
