Includes country context, legal and institutional frameworks, 4 case studies. The new government of South Sudan has begun promoting large-scale private investments as a shortcut to rapid economic development. Recent major land deals threaten to undermine the land rights of local communities. Lack of a regulatory framework encourages opportunistic companies and is a potential source of future conflicts. Need to place limits on land-based investment until an appropriate regulatory framework is in place.

Research conducted under the UN Peacebuilding Programme in Acholi where land conflicts have increased after the peace agreement. Involved community members and statutory and traditional leaders. Examined existing practices for the sustainable transformation of land related conflict. Revealed efficacy of existing community level mechanisms in effectively resolving land disputes. Need to resolve the legal status of local councils.

Argues the need to transition the people’s demand for land from ‘land reform’ and ‘land tenure security’ to ‘land sovereignty’. A peoples’ enclosure campaign is needed to help farmers to proactively assert their political control over their remaining lands against potential and actual threats of corporate or state enclosure.

Includes summary; global land resources and projections for the future; soils and soil policies; ecosystems’ services; biofuels and impacts on land use; biofuel production and land use in Brazil; land and national self-sufficiency; land use and increasing production; overseas land investments (often called ‘land grabbing’); land rights and ownership – the Rwandan example; international voluntary guidelines for land investment; conclusion.

Aims to provide detailed guidance to support the adoption and effective implementation of laws, policies and programmes to protect women’s rights to land and other productive resources. Presents an overview of international and regional legal and policy instruments recognizing women’s rights to land and other productive resources, and discusses ways of advancing a human rights-based approach to them. Sets out recommendations in a range of areas accompanied by explanatory commentaries and good practice examples and case studies from countries.

Examines international evidence on the relationship between asset ownership and growth and the impact of redistributive land reform, plus evidence of the impact of land reform in Zimbabwe. Asks why it appears that resettled farmers are among the poorest in the population. Concludes that asset redistribution can be a viable strategy to enhance growth, that the performance of resettled farmers in Zimbabwe is better than is conventionally believed, and that if a land reform programme is well designed, it can have a large impact on equity as well as productivity.

Provides a socioeconomic analysis of the pre and post fast track resettlement agrarian employment structure in Zimbabwe’s commercial farming sector. Finds that the extent of employment on farms prior to fast track has been overstated, while the re-absorption of former farm workers into the agricultural sector has been greater than previously understood. Job losses have not been as pervasive as widely claimed.

Contains 6 chapters: introduction, accountability issues in urban land management, transparency and accountability in communal land management, corruption and land reform programmes, accountability issues in large scale land deals, gender, youths and land corruption. The findings show that land governance is fragmented creating opportunities for corruption in and across institutions.

Includes country context, characteristics of land investment, how land is acquired, impacts. Several large hedge and equity funds are involved in acquiring land, farm blocks are plagued by problems, there is lack of consultation, no transparency, little protection for small-scale farmers, and serious concerns about conversion of land from food to agrofuel production

Recent UNRISD research finds that the new generation of land tenure reforms introduced in the 19990s is not necessarily more gender equitable than earlier efforts, even though women’s ability to gain independent access to land is increasingly on the statutes.

A practical guide focusing on investigating accountability and accountability politics in the context of the current global rush for land and other natural resources. Purpose is to provide practical information to rural communities in Mali, Nigeria, Uganda and South Africa, that they can use in collective action and engagement strategies aimed at strengthening their tenure of land, fisheries and forest.

Includes women and livelihoods; gender equality in land policy and policy development; the Communal Land Reform Act; women’s rights to land and livestock; conclusion and recommendations.