Presentation by Ruth Meinzen-Dick, Head of Collection Action and Property Rights (CAPRi) Research Program, and Senior Research Fellow in the Environment, Production, Technology Division (EPTD) at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), at the Global Landscapes Forum on December 5, 2015 in Paris, France.

1. Commons Tenure for a
Common Future
Ruth Meinzen-Dick
Collection Action and Property Rights (CAPRi) Research Program
Environment, Production, Technology Division
International Food Policy Research Institute

2. Time
Short Long
S
p
a
c
e
Farm
Com-
munity
Nation
Property Rights
C
o
o
r
d
i
n
a
t
i
o
n
State
CollectiveAction
Forests
Watershed
management
Terracing
New seeds AgroforestrySoil Carbon
Integrated
Pest
Management
Irrigation
Seed
Systems
Group

3. Importance of the Commons
• Whole landscapes or mosaics
• Livelihoods of the poor, women,
pastoralists, fishers, forest-dependent
communities
– Fuel, fodder, medicines etc.
– Often not marketed, not counted
• Environmental services: carbon, water,
soils, biodiversity, pollenation

4. Does this mean…
Property Rights =
Land Titling?
Collective Action =
formal organizations?

6. Defining property rights

7. Secure Commons Tenure Requires
• External recognition
– Collective tenure less likely to have state
recognition, so more susceptible to “land grabs”
• Internal regulation
– Provision rules: who needs to contribute what
– Extraction rules: who can use what resources,
when and how
– Knowledge of the resource
– Knowledge of the rules, monitoring, sanctioning
– Involvement of the users in setting rules

8. Further Resources
• Resources, Rights and Cooperation: A Sourcebook
on Property Rights and Collective Action for
Sustainable Development
• The six "ins" of climate-smart agriculture: Inclusive
institutions for information, innovation, investment,
and insurance
• This land is our land: Perspectives on land access
and restoration at the Global Landscapes Forum in
Paris
www.CAPRi.cgiar.org