The current framework of economic growth and development includes a general trend towards the privatization of land rights and a collapse of collective structures in agriculture as well as a move towards reliance on land markets as the means of peasant access to participation in the development process. Despite the removal of land reform as an explicit part of the policy agenda, it is clear that the situations which led to the activation of land reforms in past decades are still in place.

Secure access to resources is now recognised in human rights discourse as a universal condition of human well-being. This paper aims to contribute to the theoretical and empirical understanding of land tenure as a human rights issue, by analysing recent land tenure policy in South Africa. Specifically, the paper analyses the implementation of the Transformation of Certain Rural Areas Act (Trancraa) in Namaqualand, Northern Cape Province during 2001 and 2002.

The recognition by the Constitution that all land belongs to the people of Kenya and that such land can be held by the people as communities has sought to correct a historical fallacy that has existed in Kenya since the start of the colonial period. The Colonial Government, introduced laws and policies whose effect was to disregard communal approaches to land ownership and use and instead prefer private land tenure arrangements. The justification for this approach was both juridical and economic.

2017 internal displacement figures by country

Mainland Southeast Asia (MSA) has seen sweeping upland land use changes in the past decades, with transition from primarily subsistence shifting cultivation to annual commodity cropping. This transition holds implications for local upland communities and ecosystems. Due to its particular political regime, Myanmar is at the tail of this development.

Why are the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests important?

In Sierra Leone, the well-being and livelihoods of many people, particularly the rural poor, are based on secure and equitable access to land, fisheries and forests. Increasing pressure on these resources in recent years has led to an escalation of conflict over access to natural resources.

October 2013 — This report analyses Ghana’s Land Bill, Draft 3, and provides recommendations for how the Bill could more clearly and adequately accomplish its stated purpose and reflect the principles and mandates of the Constitution and National Land Policy. Appendix I contains a summary of all recommendations. This report was produced as part of the Land Access and Tenure Security Project (LATSIP).

March 2014 – This paper assesses the extent to which Rwanda’s progressive legal framework has eliminated gender-based discrimination in access and control over land by taking a nuanced look at women’s ability to make land-related decisions and at the factors that affect their decision-making power.

March 2014 –  This paper discusses a pragmatic, adaptive framework for understanding and taking action to strengthen women’s land tenure security in the context of customary tenure. The Framework defines secure land rights in terms of five elements, which each serves as the basis for distinct, measurable indicators upon which to base project assessment, design, and evaluation. This paper presents the Framework and suggests its potential as an analytical foundation for assessing the security of land rights, for designing projects or developing policies that protect and stren

March 2014 – In most of Africa, land is at the heart of economic, social and political life. Therefore, land and natural resource rights and governance issues profoundly affect and are affected by development initiatives across the continent. To fully succeed and contribute to ending extreme poverty in the post-2015 world, development initiatives must recognize and strengthen the land and natural resource rights of local people, especially the rural poor and women. However, while there is growing awareness of these issues, they are often overlooked.

March 2014 – This paper critically examines how lease farming can be a viable livelihood option for landless rural poor, especially women in India. In the absence of land ownership and education, the majority of landless and semi-landless rural women are engaged as low wage agricultural labourers and remain trapped in poverty and indebtedness. Lease farming by landless women in Kerala and Andhra Pradesh shows a pathway for reducing their poverty and enabling upward social mobility.