Study Report an Analysis of Women's Land Rights &Territorial Rights Of
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STUDY REPORT AN ANALYSIS OF WOMEN’S LAND RIGHTS & TERRITORIAL RIGHTS OF SOMALI MINORITIES IN SOMALILAND Principal Consultant: Dr. Adam Ismail Smart Consultancy & Training Agency (SCOTRA) Hargeisa, Somaliland May 2016 Page 0 of 47 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ACRONYMS ............................................................................................................................3 LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES .............................................................................................................3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .......................................................................................................................4 Key findings: .............................................................................................................................................. 6 1. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY ........................................................................................................8 2. HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY OF SOMALILAND .................................................................................9 3. METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY .................................................................................................... 11 3.1 Study areas ........................................................................................................................................ 12 3.1 Questionnaire: .................................................................................................................................. 12 3.2 Focus group discussions (FGD):......................................................................................................... 13 3.4 Key informant interviews .................................................................................................................. 13 3.5 Case studies: ..................................................................................................................................... 13 3.6. Smartphone Data Collection ............................................................................................................ 14 4. STUDY RESULTS ........................................................................................................................... 14 4.1 Exclusion of women from customary structure ................................................................................ 15 4.2 Exclusion of minority groups from public institutions ...................................................................... 16 5. WOMEN’S ACCESS TO LAND ......................................................................................................... 19 5.1 Case study 1 ...................................................................................................................................... 21 5.1 Case Study 2 ...................................................................................................................................... 22 6. MINORITY GROUPS ACCESS TO LAND ............................................................................................ 23 6.1 Case study 3 ...................................................................................................................................... 24 7. ISSUES WITH LAND RIGHTS & IMPACTS ON WOMEN AND MINORITY GROUPS ............................... 25 7.1 Resolving conflicts ............................................................................................................................. 27 7.2 Way forward ..................................................................................................................................... 28 8. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ...................................................................................... 31 ANNEX 1: LIST OF OFFICIALS INTERVIEWED ....................................................................................... 33 ANNEX 2: THE PROFILES OF STUDY AREAS ........................................................................................ 33 Burao District (Togdheer region) ............................................................................................................ 34 Dila District (Awdal region) ..................................................................................................................... 34 Hargeisa District (Maroodi-Jeex region) ................................................................................................. 35 Odweine District (Daad-Madheedh region) ............................................................................................ 35 Berbera (Sahil region) ............................................................................................................................. 35 Bali-Gubadle District (Hawd region) ....................................................................................................... 36 Ainabo District (Saraar region) ................................................................................................................ 36 Eel-Afwayn District (Sanaag region) ........................................................................................................ 36 Las-Anod District (Sool region) ............................................................................................................... 37 ANNEX 3: ASSESSMENT TOOLS ......................................................................................................... 38 Questionnaire 1 (Women Land Rights) ................................................................................................... 38 Questionnaire 2 (Minority Groups Territorial Rights) ............................................................................. 41 Focus Group Discussions ......................................................................................................................... 44 Key Informant Interview Guideline Questions ....................................................................................... 45 ANNEX 4: REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................... 46 Page 1 of 47 ACKNOWLEDGMENT NAGAAD is grateful to FAO and EU for its financial and technical support which made this research possible. A special thanks to everyone who have assisted us in different ways including the survey respondents, focus group discussion (FGD) participants and key interview informants (KIIs) who gave us their precious time and shared with our team their experiences and views. We also wish to thank our local offices in all 6 regions that facilitated the study team access to local authorities and research participants. We are thankful to all supervisors and enumerators who made this study possible, at a time when the country was going through a severe drought that decimated the crops and the livestock of the pastoral people. Finally, NAGAAD would also like to thank the research participants, consultant and the office staff who conducted the study and submitted the report on time. Disclaimer: The information and issues in this report do not reflect the views or position of FAO or the European Union. Any errors are the sole responsibility of the author. Page 2 of 47 LIST OF ACRONYMS CG Central Government FAO Food and Agricultural Agency DFID Department for International Development FGD Focus Group Discussion FHHs Female-Headed Households KII Key Interview Informant MoA Ministry of Agriculture MoL Ministry of Livestock MoP&RD Ministry of Pastoral and Rural Development MoWR Ministry of Water Resources SNM Somali National Movement ToR Terms of Reference UNDP United Nations Development Program LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES TABLES: Table 1: Geographical coverage of the study Table 2: Summary of methods used Table 3: Distribution of FGD groups by districts Table 4: Ages of minority groups samples Table 5: Age of women samples Table 6: Exclusion of women and minority groups from public institutions Table 7: Issues that excluded minorities to own land Table 8: Ways of improving women’s land rights Table 9: Problem perception score among the minority groups Table 10: Ranking of impediment among the minority groups Table 11: Issues that excludes women to own land Table 12: Dispute resolution mechanisms Table 13: Land rights difficulties faced by minority FIGURES: Figure 1: How women acquired their lands Figure 2: How do minorities acquire their lands? Figure 3: Issues that stops minority groups to own land Figure 4: Major impediments faced by minority groups Page 3 of 47 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The increasing conflict over access to land resources for farming, agro-pastoral and pastoral livelihood systems as well as urban settlements means that women and minorities’ have not been faring well with huge implications on their future regarding access to, use and control of land resources and their livelihoods. In the rural areas, individuals are putting up thorn or wire fences and claiming commonly owned grazing lands as their own. At the same in the urban areas, property speculators have taken advantage of the weak land governance and used all means to illegally grab lands belonging to individuals and communities (often those with low social capital and clan status – women and minority groups). The purpose of this study is to develop an in-depth understanding of the extent to which land rights of women and territorial rights of minority groups are respected and protected by existing statutory, customary and Sharia laws and practices. In doing so this study has set