EU Land Policy and the Right to Food

In 2004 the EU Commission published EU Land Policy Guide-lines: Guidelines for Support to Land Policy Design and Land Policy Reform Process in Developing Countries. This document was drafted by a task force comprising representatives of some EU member states and independent experts, and was endorsed by the European Council and Parliament. Although it is non-prescriptive, the document contains clear recommendations to governments and donors engaged in land policy, which are geared towards the defence and strengthening of small-scale family agriculture. It proposes that steps be taken to allow the legal recognition of customary rights and to strengthen the institutional capacities of customary structures that enforce them.