Addis Ababa, October 11, 2022 - The African Land Policy Centre (ALPC) has today launched an anthology of short stories on land governance in Africa.  The anthology carries 17 stories from authors drawn from across the continent.  The authors include Thakhani RayofAfrica (South Africa), Temitayo Olofinlua (Nigeria), Taffi Nyawanza (Zimbabwe) Gloria Mwaniga Odary (Kenya), and David Akelumbona Ayariga (Ghana), among others.

Titled,  Finding Ground and Other Stories, the anthology shows the complexity of land issues in Africa and the opportunities that land provides to communities for, among others, food, identity, spirituality, culture, and heritage.  The launch is the culmination of a process of integrating the arts, culture and heritage in the continental agenda on land policies.  The stories were selected from over seventy stories submitted as part of the November 2021 Conference on Land Policy in Africa, jointly organized by African Union Commission, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, and the African Development Bank with support of Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development through GIZ.

In her remarks, Janet Edeme, the Head of Rural Economy Division in the Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture of the African Union Commission in Addis Ababa, congratulated the writers and thanked them for advancing the AU agenda on land.  She urged writers to take an interest in land policy issues.  “To thrive, the arts, culture and heritage also depend on the decisions made about land.  With bad land governance decisions, the cultural and creative sectors would suffer,” she said.

The stories are anchored on African perspectives about land and how decisions made about this heritage impact people’s lives and well-being. Leading the compendium is the story Boyi by Gloria Mwaniga Odary, closely followed by Everything Along the Line of Dolly by Tshepo S. Molebatsi and Finding Ground Beneath False Simulations by Thakhani RayOfAfrica.  

The virtual event also saw the launch of a special issue of Jahazi Journal on Land Governance, Culture and Heritage.  The journal carries articles on land governance, spirituality, culture, heritage, and community life.  Speaking at the launch, Caroline Mose, who is the Editor of the Journal called on African researchers to undertake studies that can have a positive influence on policies and practices.  “We have a responsibility to contribute to finding solutions for our people,” she said.

Click here to read Finding Ground and Other Stories.

About ALPC

The African Land Policy Centre - a joint initiative of the African Union Commission, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, and the African Development Bank.  Its purpose is to enable the use of land to lend impetus to the process of African development.  After having developed the Framework and Guidelines (F&G) on land policy in Africa, and received the mandate from the African Union (AU) to use it in support of national and regional land policy processes, the ALPC is now moving towards assisting AU Member States in developing or reviewing their land policies as well as in implementing and evaluating these policies.

Winning Story Citations

‘Boyi’ by Gloria Mwaniga Odary

When a local militia descends on a community, desecrating life where money is not on offer, a father produces his 14-year-old son to stand in as surety before he can procure the extortion fee.  This unleashes psychological trauma for the family, perhaps surpassing the physical violence from the militiamen, even as the military intervenes, consigning the community to a non-man’s land, victims from both sides of the conflict.  Gloria writes with sensitivity and subtlety, hallmarks of a writer who can only get better, and bigger.

‘Everything Along the Line of Dolly’ by Tshepo S. Molebatsi

In post-apartheid South Africa, a family subsists on the fringe of a game-park that draws in visitors from home and abroad, and where humans are, all too often, seen as an extension of the spectre in the wilds.  But Molebatsi goes beyond the cliché to craft an allegory centring on the dog in the household, and whose own fortunes have taken a turn, for the worse, in the new dispensation.  Witty and wise, this is a writer in firm control of his craft.

‘Finding Ground Beneath False Simulations’ by Thakhani RayOfAfrica

In this Afro-futurist exploration, set 30 years into the future, Thakhani postulates what land could mean, as well as the decadent human ethos that could doom humanity.  The story within story combines deft journalistic investigations and cutting-edge communication systems to expose nefarious politicians who, unfortunately, bear too much power in the oversight of our planet.  Thakhani appears to have found his footing in experimental writing, and he’s ready to soar.

 

Issued by:
Communications Section
Economic Commission for Africa
PO Box 3001
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Tel: +251 11 551 5826
E-mail: eca-info@un.org