Three-quarters of the world’s poorest people live in rural areas where land is a key asset. Of those people, more than a billion lack legal rights over the land they use to survive, causing entrenched poverty cycles to persist over generations.
Efforts to help one landless family at a time are important. But Landesa works to advance durable land rights to bring transformational changes on a large scale. Secure land rights help create stable foundation for other important development work – like literacy, clean water, and nutrition – to take hold for generations.
In December, Seattle Times reporter Melissa Allison and Erika Schultz traveled to the Indian state of West Bengal to learn about Landesa’s “Security for Girls Through Land” project, which focuses on the advancement of the girls living in the lowest depths of poverty.
Landesa’s work was recently featured in the Seattle Times. We highly recommend that you check out this article which features stunning photos from the field!