Experts have named Rwanda’s land policy reforms as the best on the African continent describing the achievements by the National Land Centre (NLC) as outstanding and impressive. In his speech, Dr Michael Taylor of the International Land Coalition (ILC) said he was particularly motivated by the ongoing land redistribution policy which is intended to have all Rwandans get equal share of land without discrimination. Taylor who is the Programme Manager, Africa region attributed the high ranking and exemplary performance of the Rwandan government to a strong civil society which has drawn a strategy to implement an excellent African framework and guidelines of the land policy. “It is surprising how a country as small and densely populated as Rwanda can be able to successfully implement good land reforms all over the continent,” Taylor told journalists yesterday. He was speaking ahead of a 2-day consultative workshop which starts in Kigali today (Tuesday) to disseminate the ILC report of undertaking relevant country level advocacy activities towards sound national land policies. The meeting which is co organized by the Rwanda National Land Centre brings together over 40 participants drawn from the African Civil Society, farmers’ organizations, sub-regional land policy departments and all relevant partners. Eng. Didier Sagashya, the Deputy Director General of NLC said that government’s good political will help to advance even further in our widely admired land policies. “We are closely working together to ensure that people do not entirely depend on land for survival because the country is heavily populated,” Sagashya said. According to statistics from the land office, each household in the country owns approximately 0.6 hectares of land which in some more densely populated regions the figure goes as low as 0.1hectares per household. Ends
