Resource Package 4: Guidance

RIPL Resource Platform

Landesa’s Responsible Investments in Property and Land (RIPL) Resource Platform offers practical, step-by-step guidance for companies, governments and communities to achieve socially responsible investments in agricultural land. The Resource Platform builds on existing guidance with the objective of synthesizing best practices, contributing concrete examples to address existing gaps and leveling the playing field by developing guidance tailored to multiple investment stakeholders.

This is the go-to resource for most stakeholders and contains many of the materials below

Land Portal

The Land Portal works to help partners to create, curate and disseminate land governance data and information to become part of a more inclusive, friendly and accessible information landscape. 

This database contains a huge amount of information and research. It can be a little overwhelming. Contact an Admin if you need assistance.

Namati – Community Land Protection

Namati’s Community Land Protection Program supports communities to use national land laws to protect their customary and indigenous lands. Our integrated approach combines the legal and technical work of mapping and documentation with the local governance work of resolving land conflicts, ensuring intra-community equity, and strengthening mechanisms for accountable and participatory management of land and natural resources.

Forest People’s Program Resources

Forest Peoples Programme supports the rights of peoples who live in forests and depend on them for their livelihoods. We work to create political space for forest peoples to secure their rights, control their lands and decide their own futures.

IFC Participatory Monitoring Guide

One way to help satisfy stakeholder concerns and promote transparency
is to involve project-affected stakeholders in monitoring
the implementation of mitigation measures or other environmental
and social programs. Such participation, and the flow of information
generated through this process, can also encourage local stakeholders
to take a greater degree of responsibility for their
environment and welfare in relation to the project, and to feel
empowered that they can do something practical to address
issues that affect their lives. Participatory monitoring also tends to
strengthen relationships between the project and its stakeholders

Open Land Contracts

OpenLandContracts.org is a repository of publicly available investment contracts for land, agriculture, and forestry projects. It features plain language summaries of key provisions and provides tools for searching and comparing contracts. Learn more

Land Links (USAID)

The USAID Land and Urban Office will help ensure that land governance systems are effective, accessible, and responsive. We will achieve this by testing innovative models for securing land tenure and property rights and disseminating best practice as it relates to securing land rights and improving resource governance within the USG and our development partners.

Why Agreements Matter (Rio Tinto)

Why agreements matter:
a resource guide for integrating
agreements into Communities and
Social Performance work at Rio Tinto.

Voluntary Guidelines on the Governance of Tenure of Land

The purpose of these Voluntary Guidelines is to serve as a reference and to provide guidance to improve the governance of tenure of land, fisheries and forests with the overarching goal of achieving food security for all and to support the progressive realization of the right to adequate food in the context of national food security.

Guide to Due Diligence of Agribusiness Projects that affect Land and Property Rights (AFD)

This publication draws on the work undertaken by members of the ‘Land Tenure and Development’ Technical Committee set up by AFD and MAE. It presents an Analytical Framework and a Guide that each institution can now appropriate and use to change their internal project evaluation procedures.

Respecting Land and Forest Rights: Guide for Companies (Interlaken Group & RRI)

The Interlaken Group and RRI developed this Guide to support senior-level and operational teams at companies an entry point to understanding and implementing the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forestry in the context of National Food Security (VGGT)

Analytical Framework for Land-Based Investments in African Agriculture

The Analytical Framework for Land-Based Investments in African Agriculture is designed to help investors ensure that their land-based investments are inclusive, sustainable, transparent and respect human rights.

Operational Guidelines for Responsible Land-Based Investment

This guide discusses USAID’s recommendations for best practices related to the due diligence and structuring of land-based investments, with the goal of reducing risks and facilitating responsible projects that benefit both the private sector and local communities

Governance of Tenure Technical Guides (FAO)

The Governance of Tenure technical guides are part of FAO’s initiative to help develop capacities in to improve tenure governance. Guides include:

• Responsible governance of tenure: a technical guide for investors
• Safeguarding land tenure rights in the context of agricultural investments
• Respecting free prior informed consent

• Governing land for women and men
• Valuing land tenure rights

Responsible Investing for Property and Land (RIPL) Guidebook Suite

Landesa’s RIPL translates international guidelines and best practices for responsible investments in agricultural and into step-by-step instruction guidebooks. Model Guidebooks included:

• Business Enterprises Considering Agricultural Investment
• Governments Considering Agricultural Investment
• Communities considering Agricultural Investment

Strengthening Community Understanding of Free, Prior and Informed Consent Trainer’s Manual (OXFAM)

This trainer’s manual strengthens and builds capacity of community activists, community based organisations (CBOs), other non-government organisations (NGOs) and community educators to support communities understand Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC).

Investors Survey on Land Rights Perceptions and practices of the private sector on land and resource tenure risk

This report identifies the drivers of tenure risk to land-based investment from the perspective of the private sector. This report then allows investors and operators to benchmark their own performance relative to others and learn about best practices which they may not have tried yet.

The Financial Risk of Insecure Land Tenure: An Investment View (TMP & RRI)

This paper investigates the real financial consequences of investing in land with disputed tenure rights. It demonstrates that companies which ignore the issue of land tenure expose themselves to substantial, and in some cases extreme, risks.

Communities as Counterparties (TMP)

This analysis describes the overarching pattern of conflict between companies and local communities in emerging and frontier market concessions. Identifying those patterns is the first step to establishing best practices for managing the risk.

Governing Land for Women and Men: A technical guide to support the achievement of responsible gender-equitable governance of land tenure (FAO)

This technical guide on Governing land for women and men aims to assist implementation of the Guidelines’ principle of gender equality through the achievement of responsible gender-equitable governance of land tenure.

FPIC Primer: Part of the Responsible Investment in Property and Land (RIPL) Guidebook Series

The Primer describes the four key elements of FPIC. The Primer provides detailed steps that business enterprises and governments can take to ensure compliance with FPIC alongside additional resources for further guidance on how to adhere to the principles of FPIC

Gender Primer: Part of Responsible Investment in Property and Land (RIPL) Guidebook Series

The Gender Primers provides step by step details, including a checklist of questions at each step, of what is required to ensure that women and men are aware of and benefit from a proposed land transaction.

Vulnerable Groups Primer: Part of Responsible Investment in Property and Land (RIPL) Guidebook Series

This Primer includes guidance for including and protecting vulnerable groups in the context of a land-based investment. It includes the following:

• An overview of who may qualify for inclusion in a vulnerable group and descriptions of specific vulnerable groups
• Step-by-step guidance tracking the RIPL Guidebook