Siem Reap, 2018: Endorsed in 2012 by the Committee on World Food Security after a participatory process of consultation and negotiation, the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (VGGT) represent an unprecedented international consensus on tenure governance. The VGGT are the international global instrument on tenure and key accepted reference point for responsible practices that can be used by different actors working on the tenure of land, fisheries and forests.

In a world where natural resources are fast diminishing in both quantity and quality, there is growing competition for access to and use of land, forests and fisheries. Millions of people depend on access to farmlands and rangelands, to fisheries and to forests for their livelihoods. The way government and society manage these resources has a direct impact on food security, poverty alleviation, investment and environmental sustainability. Governments are challenged to respond to these growing pressures on their national resources and to regulate interactions in this increasingly dynamic environment.

Improving governance of tenure of land, forests and fisheries means increasing government and citizens’ capacity to understand, administer, secure and transfer legitimate tenure rights so that citizens will be able to enjoy secure and equitable access to the natural resources, and, consequently, increase food security, improve livelihoods, strengthen social and economic development and enhance the environment.

In this regard, the Ministry of Environment of Cambodia organized a four-day national workshop on the VGGT from 5th to 8th June, 2018, in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and with support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). 

Speaking at the opening of the workshop, H.E Kim Nong, Deputy Director of the General Directorate of Administration for Nature Conservation and Protection of the Ministry of Environment, stressed that “the rapid growth of population and the declining of natural resource in both quality and quantity leads to many problems that can impact food security. The government of Cambodia does prioritise the land tenure issue. As FAO is bringing to us a new lesson and tool, I hope we can absorb new knowledge about these VGGT and can generate an instrument to work and support the government to deal with this problem.”

This first VGGT workshop for national and subnational government officials from relevant ministries, working on agriculture, environment, land, fisheries and forests, gathered around 90 persons. The workshop fostered increased awareness on tenure governance, deepened ownership and encouraged application of the VGGT in Cambodia through promoting dialogue. The participants analysed the VGGT-related capacities to be strengthened, and identified the learning needs of the national “change agents” engaged in the governance of tenure to inform the design of future learning initiatives. These analyses will form the basis for a tailor-made approach to the development of further activities to strengthen existing capacities from now until June 2020 in the country.

According to Dr. Louisa Jansen, Land Tenure Officer, based at FAO Headquarters in Rome, “Governance of tenure is a priority for FAO at global, regional and national level and is being mainstreamed in all relevant works. In Cambodia, FAO is actively involved in translating this global mandate into support to the national priorities through a number of projects in agriculture, fisheries, forestry, and the cross-cutting issues of gender and climate change. That is why this present workshop focuses on strengthening capacities and identifying learning needs to implement the Voluntary Guideline and will provide an opportunity for the participants to discuss their application in this context.”