Land and Water Tenure

Hectares of irrigated land are distributed across interconnected canals and divided among multiple landowners. As a result, effective land tenure governance is often closely linked to water governance. Agricultural producers, particularly smallholder farmers, are intrinsically connected to water systems to cultivate their land. Systems such as spate irrigation are therefore shaped by tenure arrangements that determine how water is allocated among users, under what conditions, and for what periods of time. These arrangements may be governed by formal regulations and administrative systems, as well as informal customs, practices, and local institutions.

Secure land and water tenure frameworks help strengthen relations between land users and their access to natural resources. This is particularly important for water, where changing riverbeds, sedimentation, and shifting river courses add to the already unpredictable timing and availability of water from year to year.

Supporting clear and locally grounded systems of water rights and distribution rules, integrated into local administrative structures, is fundamental to reducing the risk of conflict between land users and improving productive livelihoods. Ensuring equity in water distribution and the legal recognition of legitimate tenure rights through non-discriminatory, gender-sensitive, and participatory processes is key to sustainable natural resource management.

This dossier provides insights from land and water tenure cases that aim to advance equitable and sustainable governance. Drawing lessons from conflicts and governance challenges across diverse contexts, it explores opportunities for more appropriate resource use grounded in locally relevant land and water tenure systems.

Blogposts

Symbiosis: Pastoralists and Farmers in Balochistan

Managing Mega Irrigation

Videos

Dossiers

• Land and Water Tenure
• Small Water Cycles and Local Climates
• Knowledge Repository for GFFA 2026
• Improved Laundry and Hygiene
• Ecologically-based Rodent Management
• Green and Blue Economy
• Vital Water Services
• Climate and Health
• Soil Management
• Green Transformation
• Green Infrastructure
• Dryland Development
• Agroecology
• Flood and Drought Management
• Locally-Led Adaptation in Practice
• Groundwater Management
• Water Governance and Development Partnership
• Preserving Assets - Operation and Maintenance in Delta’s
• Salinity Management
• Water integrity
• Water Productivity and Irrigation Management
• Managing Desert Locusts
• None left behind
• Mega Irrigation
• Cross-Cutting Topics