SDG #5 is to “Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.”
Within SDG #5 are 9 targets, of which we here focus on Target 5.a:
Undertake reforms to give women equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to ownership and control over land and other forms of property, financial services, inheritance and natural resources, in accordance with national laws
Target 5.a has two indicators:
Indicator 5.a.1: (a) Proportion of total agricultural population with ownership or secure rights over agricultural land, by sex; and (b) share of women among owners or rights-bearers of agricultural land, by type of tenure
Indicator 5.a.2: Proportion of countries where the legal framework (including customary law) guarantees women’s equal rights to land ownership and/or control
Indicator 5.a.1 stipulates to disaggregate the data for the indicator by type of tenure. These types include public, private, communal, indigenous, customary, and informal.
Among the countries with data as of 2022, most are developing countries. Cambodia leads with 88% of women having secure agricultural land rights and 54% of the share of agricultural landowners. Malawi has the largest share with 56%, with Pakistan the least among those with data at 6%.
Indicator 5.a.2 measures gender equality of land ownership rights enshrined in law. Among those countries with data, Ethiopia and Lithuania have the highest guarantees. The lowest guarantees in the legal frameworks for equal land ownership are in Lebanon and Mauritania.
