Beginning today, the United States government, through the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) LAND Project, will host its second annual National Land Research Agenda Workshop.
The workshop is co-hosted by the Ministry of Natural Resources, Rwanda Natural Resources Authority, with the support of the Institute of Policy Analysis and Research and will run through Wednesday, February 12th.
Each year the event brings together government ministries, research institutes and universities and civil society organizations to identify critical research priorities for informing the direction of land policy in Rwanda.
The workshop will apply a participatory process to collect the most urgent and potentially impact raising policy research, which in turn will be used to frame research topics that the LAND Project will support through competitive sub-awards.
Planned activities for the workshop include presentations of on-going research; recent policy-relevant empirical research on land; structured discussions in plenary and small group sessions, and gathering and debating of research priorities with the aim of selecting 3-4 priority areas to be supported by the Land Project this year.
“Land remains a critical development issue in Rwanda, and fully understanding and addressing land issues – whether land tenure, policy, or conflict – requires current and independent research,” said Peter Malnak, USAID/Rwanda Mission Director.
“Supporting local organizations to do this important work is a main component of the LAND Project, and we are very proud to be partnering with the Ministry of Natural Resources, Rwanda Natural Resources Authority, the Institute of Policy Analysis-Rwanda and other land sector stakeholders to accomplish it.”
Sub-grant recipients for last year’s research investigated topics such as Rwanda’s land consolidation policy, sustainable land use management, and land tenure.
It is expected that this year’s research will build off of the findings of those studies as well as delve into new areas.
“With participants from government and civil society having submitted 44 proposed research themes on a diverse array of topics, it is clear that there is a strong demand for research on land that can inform future policy directions,” said Anna Knox, Chief of Party for the LAND Project.
“The LAND Project is excited to support the research priorities that will be selected by this year’s workshop participants.”
The LAND Project is committed to strengthening the resilience of Rwandan communities, citizens and institutions through expanding the pool of high quality, evidence-based research on land issues which can inform land policy.
To achieve this aim, the project seeks to build the capacity of local research entities and civil society organizations to generate policy research related to land and advocate effectively for continuous adaptation of policy in the interest of ordinary Rwandan citizens.
UM– USEKE.RW
