Oxfam Education
www.oxfam.org.uk/education
Learn about Land (primary)
Age range: 8-11 years
Time: 1-2hrs
Outline
Using their understanding of the importance of land, pupils will discuss in role the arguments from different
groups of people that feel that they should have ownership of the land and to see how this affects small farmers
and their livelihoods. They will think about fairness and future sustainability.
Learning Objectives
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Resources
To encourage pupils to think about the importance of land
rights from the point of view of people affected
To explore how power can be used to influence.
To consider the problems caused if land is not controlled by
local people both for fairness and future sustainability
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A4 plain paper- one each
Role cards – one set per group of 4/5
Grow island power point
Land example of Tanzania worksheets
Curricular links
Keywords
Geography: land use and demand for land, access to
resources and sustainability, how power within society affects
decision making
Multinational companies, land, power, influence, resources
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Activity 1: Starter optional
Aim:
To encourage students to think about the importance of land, and why demand for land might be so high
Time:
10 minutes
Resources: A4 plain paper - one for each group
Pencils to write with
Use the PowerPoint presentation to set the scene in regards to how land is allocated in different areas of poor countries.
Put pupils in groups of 4 people. Give out a piece of A4 paper to each group, explaining that this paper represents a piece of land they
own.
Encourage pupils to think about 5 uses for the land for things they would like to do, e.g. playground, meeting place, cinema etc. Ask them
to write or draw these on their ‘land’ (the piece of paper).
Next ask the pupils to think of 5 ways to use the land to get things they need, e.g. food and shelter. Pupils again write or draw their ideas
on the paper. Share responses as a class.
Make a list on the board of all the things they have said. Get them to look at their pieces of paper and ask, ‘Is there enough land to do all
of these things?’ Encourage them to discuss why demand for land is so high, and why it might be expensive to buy it.
Lastly, ask pupils to vote on which of the things is the most important on the list. What could they not do without? Hopefully they will
realise that food is one of (if not the most) important.
Get them to make a list of top 5 fundamental needs (they will refer back to this later)
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Activity 2: Grow island debate
Aim:
To enable students to explore their ideas in role.
Time:
20-30 minutes
Resources: Role cards and argument template
Now tell pupils to pretend that the class owns a small island, and all the pieces of paper in the class represent the land on this island. Restress the idea that there are competing demands for the land.
Set the context that most of the people living on the island grow their own food on the land to eat, or sell food to buy food from
elsewhere.
Explain the role cards. There are different groups of people on the island who all want to use its land. Pupils are going to pretend to be
these different people, and have a debate to decide how their piece of land is used.
Give each group (of 4 pupils*) a set of Role Cards, so that each person has one of the following roles:
• 1 government representatives, who have decided to sell the land
• 1 farmer, who believes s/he is entitled to the land and wants to keep it to grow crops to eat locally (themselves or other locals)
• 1 business person from a rich country , who wants to buy it as an investment
• 1 business person representing a multinational company, who wants to buy it to grow crops for export
Explain they are going to have a debate in role over what happens to their piece of land (the piece of paper).
Give each person 5-10mins to determine how they will approach the debate, using the argument template sheet if they wish. Prompt
pupils to consider ways they could influence people to get what they want, e.g. making deals, and using money.
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Get each group to have a debate, and decide who will end up with the land. Pupils should have realised that the government has the
power to decide this. Therefore the farmer, business person and representative of the multinational company must persuade the
government why they should sell the land to them.
The government representatives (teachers) must decide who they would sell the land to.
*If you wish, you can put pupils into larger groups of 8, and have 2 pupils per role card so that pupils can help each other in preparing for
and arguing during the debate
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Activity 3: Feedback
To think about how decisions about resources are linked to the power of different people, the sustainability consequences
of land not being in control of local people, and how this relates to fairness
Time:
15-30 minutes
Resources: power point for reference
Aim:
As a whole class, ask all of the government representatives who they sold their land to and make a tally to see how many farmers,
business people from rich countries and multinational companies bought the land. Ask each of the government representatives to explain
their choice to the class.
Presumably, most of the government representatives will sell their land to the multinational company or the business person. Using the
tally, refer back to the island. Get them to imagine what the island will be like now.
In their groups, (reminding them they are no longer in role) give them some time to think about:
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Who will be better off on the island now?
Who will be worse off on the island now?
How will the island meet its 5 fundamental needs now? How will they meet their 5 fundamental needs in the future?
Is it a fair situation?
Feedback ideas. In general, did they think they will be better or worse off? Prompt pupils to consider whether food production for the
islanders will be a problem? Check pupils have spotted that if the rich businessman or the multinational company end up with the land,
either nobody or fewer people will now be able to farm the land to get income. Even if income is made by the multinational company
selling produce to other countries, only some people will have this money. How will other people get food?
Lastly go over what they found fair or unfair. What was the root cause of this unfairness? Prompt pupils to think about ownership, power
and money, and why resources such as land are contested in this way. Do they think this is like real life? Would the outcome and impact
be different if Grow island was a poor country or a rich country? Why might that be?
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Activity 4: Tanzania example and role play
To look at an example of where land has been sold to a large multinational company in Tanzania to see what the
consequences have been, and what the response of the Tanzanian government was.
Pupils also get the chance to consider what they would say as one of the people involved in this example.
Time:
15-30 minutes
Resources: power point to refer to
Tanzania overview sheet
Aim:
Pupils will now apply the principles of what they have learnt to a real case of a land purchase by a large multinational company. The
context of this is the increase in biofuels production. You will need to explain to pupils that these are plants which can be burnt to make
energy instead of fossil fuels. Many large companies are buying land in developing countries to make biofuels to sell, as the land is
relatively cheap and biofuels are heavily subsidised at present.
The key point for young people is to think about the impact of this on small farmers using the land, how power seems to be at work (who
has more and who has less in the situation) and what the long term issues may be.
Running the activity:
1. Explain the context of the example, and that they will look at an example of a piece of land being purchased from the point of view
of the Tanzanian government, the large company involved and the farmers effected
2. Give them time to read over in pairs/groups the case study
3. When they have finished, ask each group to discuss how this was similar or not to their earlier activity. Ask them to think about
a. Who had more or less power here? How do they know?
b. Did it seem fair? Explain their answer
c. What would they think if they were a small farmer here?
d. Why do they think the Tanzanian government decided to stop selling land for a while?
4. Discuss this as a class. What are the general opinions? Does it link to what they thought about earlier?
Extension
If time there is the opportunity for pupils to use the role cards to think a bout a meeting of these 4 people. What would each of them say to
each other? What might they think and feel?
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Wallchart opportunity…
… and don’t forget the wider Food for Thought project
When pupils have completed some/all of these tasks
this is an opportunity to complete a section of their
wallcharts.
Make sure that once
you have taken your
pupils through the learn,
think and act stages
they go online at
Class for Change to
share their experiences
with other pupils across
the world.
Class for Change
launches in March 2012
as part of the Oxfam Food
for Thought project.
See www.oxfam.org.uk/foodforthought
Other extension Ideas
Suggested follow up:
Learn-think-act
A problem solving activity in which pupils are given a real plot of land in their school (e.g. a school nature garden) on which they have to
come to an agreement as to how to use it effectively. They should work in teams to draw up ideas, present their ideas to the class,
conduct a vote and make compromises and adaptations in order to agree on a final decision as to how to use the land. Authenticity is an
important motivation tool to help pupils learn about differing views and benefits.
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Oxfam Education
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Design and Technology
Ask pupils to design a usage for a small piece of land. They should draw / model their idea and create a poster or leaflet to explain its'
advantages to the local community.
English
Pupils could write argument letters in the role of a small farmer explaining to the fictitious government why the land is so important to
them and the reasons why it should be saved for local farmers and not multinational companies.
Supporting resources:
Education for Global Citizenship: A Guide for Schools
Oxfam's comprehensive guide to the how, why and what of Education for Global Citizenship
Terms of use
Copyright © Oxfam GB
You can use the resources provided for educational purposes. Please ensure that the way you use the material is consistent with all
contextual information provided and credit any images used with the named author and Oxfam. All information associated with these
images relates to the time and date that project work took place
Special thanks to Amy Strachan, a primary teacher in London, who assisted in the production of this resource.
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