WOMEN’S LAND RIGHTS

WOMEN’S LAND RIGHTS
When women have access and secure rights to land, they are better able to improve the lives of their families and themselves.

Unfortunately, women in many poor countries do not have access to land or lack secure property rights to the land they do possess. This dearth makes women even more vulnerable to poverty.
Land rights confer direct economic benefits as a source of income, status, nutrition, and collateral for credit. Access to agricultural land can mean higher household calories and consumption. However, women may not fully participate in these benefits as members of a household if they do not share formal rights to land.

How do women lose access and rights to land? Women can be excluded from the benefits of land rights formalization programs, and women are particularly vulnerable when the household breaks down—for example, in the event of male migration, HIV/AIDS, abandonment, divorce, or death