This policy brief explores the importance of land issues in forced displacement in Kenya, drawing out their implications for current humanitarian and early recovery interventions in the wake of the violence and displacement that followed the 2007 elections. Key messages nclude:

Since the early 1990s, the dominant consensus in the debate on land rights reform in sub-Saharan Africa has been that external interventions to privatise land rights are usually inappropriate and likely to remain so.

This paper examines the fundamentals of Mozambican land policy from a livelihoods perspective and identifies considerable potential for improving the sustainability of rural livelihoods and the flexibility and cost effectiveness of policy instruments aimed at increasing security of tenure.The paper examines the impact of the cancellation of private land applications in one province, and argues that, notwithstanding the apparent official reluctance to implement this element of the policy, the impact has been almost wholly beneficial for local community groups.Challenges to land policy framew

An overlap in the regulation of access to land and resources between customary and state management systems is causing problems of contradiction and conflict. This report analyses the pros and cons of both systems and makes a series of recommendations.State administration of land is found to have worked against poorer elements in Ghana. Whilst the Lands Commission and other institutions have made some positive achievements there is no evidence of practical benefits for the majority. Compulsory acquisition has resulted in displacement, landlessness and social unrest.

The Indian state of West-Bengal saw two major turnarounds in its rural sector in the eighties. The growth rate of rice production jumped from 1.8 per cent during 1960-80 to 4.7 per cent during 1977-94, and rural poverty fell from 73 to 31 per cent between 1973 and 1999, greatly surpassing achievements of other Indian states.This coincided with the 1977 election of a coalition of left-wing parties, led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPM, which held uninterrupted power for the following 26 years.

Although many African countries have adopted highly innovative and pro-poor land laws, lack of implementation hinders their potentially far-reaching impact on productivity, poverty reduction, and governance. To assess the effects of these pro-poor land laws and analyse whether the existing doubts are justified, this report draws on the experience of Ethiopia which, over a period of 2-3 years, registered the majority of rural lands in a rapid process at rather low cost.

This paper first introduces the concept of land redistribution of land through agrarian reform, that would allow for a more inclusive model of development. The author then demonstrates how land concentration leads to displacement (migration) of rural populations, and as a consequence increased pressure in urban centres.

The Gujarat state government has followed a strategy focussed on industrialisation and urbanisation with an open door policy ever since its inception in 1960. Economic reform measures at the centre with an explicit emphasis on trade and industry considerably benefited Gujarat, making its economic performance outstanding. During the process of economic policy reforms and liberalisation in the 1990s, the constraints and regulation on economic activities by the centre in different segments of the economy got relaxed.

This paper summarises the findings of a short exercise to identify land issues in present-day Afghanistan.

This article discusses the enclosure of rangelands and registration of exclusive rights to grazing by individuals or groups of pastoralists. This trend has been increasing greatly over the last twenty years. This occurs because:it is encouraged by governments, planners and multi-lateral donor agencies in an attempt to 'rationalise'the use of rangelands.

Recent food security crises in Africa have revived the debate on whether current land tenure systems constrain farmer innovation and investment in agriculture. Both direct and indirect linkages between land tenure and food security have been suggested. This study aims for a better understanding of these linkages.

Chapter list in HTML, chapters are in PDF formatAlthough recent analyses of land markets show a growing concern for policy and regulatory issues, the literature still lacks a robust framework capable of showing how land markets function, the major policy and regulatory constraints to their efficient operations, and the implications for reform.This chapter is a step in that direction. The first section sets out to characterize land markets -- their emergence, closely associated with the evolution of property rights; major imperfections; and key spatial aspects.