In Senegal, the Warkhokh and Fissel communities (which are in Linguère and Thiès respectively) initiated a process to develop and adopt local charters for land management. This aims to promote a concerted and transparent management. This was disclosed in a statement reported by the Agence de Presse Senegalaise (Senegal Press Agency).

Led by non-governmental organizations’ council for development support (CONGAD), thte initiative aims to “boost the capacities of actors in regards to voluntary land-related directives and promote the development of local land charters”. The statement indicates that the Warkhokh and Fissel are not the first places where the initiative will be experimented. Indeed, a local charter was successfully experimented at Fass Ngom. “An experimental phase of the local charter took place in 2013, in the Fass Ngom community, in the Rao district (Saint Louis) and whose populations praised its significant contribution regarding land management issues in the community,” the statement reads.

The publication also highlights that the initiative will soon expand to four other communities in the Kaolack, Saint-Louis and Matam regions.

Souha Touré