Women’s Land Tenure Security in Sustainable Development

Abstract

Appropriate land ownership policy is critical issue in order for vast majority of population living in rural areas whose income is dependent on agricultural. For that land tenure security is momentous concern. Land tenure is Latin word, tenure, which means to hold. Thus, land tenure means a kind of system of land ownership or holding the land. The rules of the land tenure system define how property rights to land are to be allocated within societies. Land tenure security can increase farming productivity through an increased allocate efficiency, which reduces the problem of lack of credit faced by farmers with tenure insecurity. Security of tenure for women and men, so that they can make productive and sustainable use the land for different purposes, equitable access to land for subsistence, commercial and settlement uses, and the need to achieve a sustainable balance in between these. This research is engaged with the land tenure security which incorporates gender analysis based to ensure that particular constraints faced by women which are not overlooked and survey the contribution of women’s land ownership in sustainable development. For this study, data were collected from the selected offices namely, Health, Environmental Protection and Land Administration and Use, Female affairs, Agriculture, Finance and Education in Hawzen Woreda, Tigray. Both primary and secondary data sources were used. Questionnaires, interview, documentation and field survey were the methods conveyed. The collected data were analyzed through SPSS and Excel software and were interpreted qualitatively and quantitatively. Results show that majority of land owners are women either with her husband or women only. Hence gender equality access to land is intensively reformed in the Woreda which is extremely important for sustainable development and natural resources management. Land tenure security of women is critically important to get access of credit, complementary services, improve access to education services and improve access to health services. So these are enhancements in women's education and health which reduce women's poverty and enhance their economic and social status and, in turn, strengthen women's rights to land and their contributions to productivity and environmental management.