Abstract
Tenure governance is a complex and multi-dimensional issue that requires cross-sectoral and holistic approaches, gathering the resources, information and expert skills of a variety of actors while exploring innovative, polycentric multi-stakeholder governance arrangements to address collective action challenges. To do this, multi-stakeholder partnerships are formed where public and private partners pool their resources and competencies to address mutual goals more effectively. A coherent theoretical framework to analyze multi-stakeholder partnerships as part of multi-stakeholder governance is presented based on internal conditions and the external environment. The paper expands existing frameworks to analyze multi-stakeholder partnerships through introducing a new element the deliberative capacity, a decisive success factor for the effectiveness of multi-stakeholder partnerships for multi-stakeholder transformative governance at the national level. Moreover, the practical applicability of this expanded framework is illustrated in a real case example in South Africa. This country-driven, inclusive multi-stakeholder partnership process, which integrates a variety of actors in collective decision-making on the land reform process as part of a multi-stakeholder governance process, is used as an illustration of the above framework. Such a partnership linked to multi-stakeholder governance is the key instrument to attain agreement and recognition for the dedicated implementation and monitoring of the ‘Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security’ (VGGT). The investment made by the different stakeholders in this organically constituted partnership may add to a greater transformative potential in the VGGT implementation and monitoring process, and the probability that the situation on the ground will change sustainably given the explicit linkage to national governance arrangements.
Highlights
The acknowledgement that intricate and multi-dimensional topics, such as sustainable development, necessitate approaches that are related to different interconnecting cross-disciplinary issues, and the gathering of the resources, information and expert skills of a variety of actors, is increasing [1,2,3,4]
This paper proposes, after clarification of the terminology used (Section 2), a conceptual basis formed by the internal conditions and external environment, and combines this with the deliberative capacity for the assessment of multi-stakeholder partnerships for multi-stakeholder transformative governance (Section 3)
With the national multi-stakeholder platform created, this being co-chaired by DALRRD and Association for Rural Advancement (AFRA), and closely feeding into the empowered space, it is important that the synergies and complementarities between the National Engagement Strategy (NES) and the Land Observatory, chaired by AFRA and supported by the International Land Coalition, and the VGGT-related activities merge into a single approach to strengthening tenure governance, especially for the marginalized and vulnerable groups
Summary
The acknowledgement that intricate and multi-dimensional topics, such as sustainable development, necessitate approaches that are related to different interconnecting cross-disciplinary issues, and the gathering of the resources, information and expert skills of a variety of actors, is increasing [1,2,3,4]. The VGGT are intended to contribute to efforts towards the eradication of hunger and poverty, based on the principles of sustainable development and with the recognition of the centrality of land to development by promoting secure tenure rights and equitable access to land, fisheries and forests [19].The level of participation of representatives of government, CSOs (e.g., organizations of small-scale food producers and indigenous peoples), the private sector and research institutions in the negotiation of all words in the final text sets it apart This devoted time, effort and energy by the various actors may add to a greater transformative capability in the VGGT implementation process, and the probability that its real application and uses may be altered, especially for those mainly concerned with food insecurity and malnutrition [20,22,23]. Validation of the proposed conceptual basis would be the step
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