[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_text]Access to land for settlement purposes is a strategic focus area with the capacity to act as a catalyst for further community development.   Afesis-corplan, together with a number of civil society organisations in South Africa, established the LANDfirst network in 2010.  The network is no longer active, but you can find archival information from this network at LANDfirst.

LANDfirst, as an approach to settlement development, emphasises the provision of planned secure land with basic services as a first step towards a longer-term housing and settlement upgrading process. LANDfirst provides an entry point for the homeless to access land and housing that does not rely on land invasion or waiting for government to provide a RDP house.

At the core of the LANDfirst concept is the desire to find innovative solutions to the growing discontent expressed by thousands of informal settlement and backyard shack dwellers that eke out a living on the periphery of society.

LANDfirst is a pro-poor approach to land access. It is also an emerging network of civil society organisations campaigning for ‘dignity through land’.[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]