(Ecofin Agency) - The Conakry-located General University Lansana CONTE of Sonfonia, hosted an international conference entitled “Land tenure issues and sustainable development prospects: Challenges for Africa” (Problématique foncière et perspectives de développement durable: quels défis pour l’Afrique ?).

According to Guinée Matin which reported the news, this workshop was initiated by UNESCO Chair, composed of several universities including Paris I Sorbonne, Université Libre de Bruxelles, University Ouaga 1 and University of Sonfonia. It enabled both Guinean and foreign academics to help students better understand this sensitive subject in a context of land grabbing in Africa.

“Professor Ahmadou Oury Koré Bah, referring to the challenges of land tenure in Guinea, recalled the need to harmonize the Guinean land code and the country's notarial law in the context of land grabbing, difficult land access for rural populations especially women, and environmental degradation through gold mining and, industrial craft.,” Guinée Matin indicated.

According to Professor Moustapha Keita Diop, anthropologist jurist, dean of the Social Sciences Faculty at University of Sonfonia, “when land tenure issue is not well identified and managed, it can cause problems including instability, land grabbing, the exclusion of major actors such as women or the destruction of the forest environment”. He recalled that “after more than 50 years of independence, land management remains problematic in Guinea”.

Let’s recall the participants discussed topics such as the legal pluralism of land rights, land governance, the environmental approach to land challenges, women's access to land in Africa, particularly in Benin, and land grabbing in Mali and Mauritania.