We use nationally representative survey data from two neighboring countries in Southern Africa – Zambia and Malawi – to characterize the current status of rural land rental market participation by smallholder farmers. We find that rural rental market participation is strongly conditioned by land scarcity, and thus is more advanced in Malawi than in lower-density Zambia. In both countries, we find evidence that rental markets contribute to efficiency gains within the smallholder sector by facilitating the transfer of land from less-able to more-able producers.

Date: août 2017

Source: Foncier & Développement

Par: Jean Philippe Colin

Depuis quelques années, la question foncière dans les pays du Sud et en transition est abordée avec pour thème privilégié les « grandes acquisitions » de terres agricoles par des opérateurs  internationaux. La place des élites nationales dans la reconfiguration des structures agraires reste souvent ignorée.

Unprecedented pressures on land and its governance have been created. As evident around the globe, where land governance is deficient, high levels of corruption often flourish. Under such a system, land distribution is unequal, tenure is insecure, and natural resources are poorly managed.

Pour qu'un barrage contribue avec succès au développement durable de la société, les populations locales doivent également en bénéficier. Cette vidéo de 5 minutes examine les défis relatifs à l’obtention d’une compensation équitable pour les personnes affectées par la construction de grands barrages, et définit les différentes étapes pour s'assurer que les agriculteurs expropriés puissent bénéficier d’un accès sécurisé à de nouvelles terres

For a dam to successfully contribute to the sustainable development of the society, the local populations should also benefit from it. This 5 minute video examines the challenges to obtaining an equitable compensation for the people affected by the construction of large dams and defines the various steps to make sure that the farmers who were disowned of their land can have secured access to new land.

Date: juillet 2017

Source: Foncier & Développement

Moçambique é hoje um excelente exemplo para ilustrar a relação de reciprocidade entre desenvolvimento económico e o Direito. De facto, as dinâmicas económicas que se têm verificado no país, caracterizadas por sucessivas descobertas de recursos naturais, e que colocam o país numa posição de destaque sob ponto de vista económico, têm estado a contribuir para uma intensa actividade legislativa e normativa para responder aos desafios económicos que o presente e o futuro apresentam para o país.

Phuhlisani was the lead agency in a consortium appointed by the Commission on Restitution of land Rights and funded by Belgian Technical Co-operation tasked with the development of a strategy for the provision of effective post- settlement support required for land reform to be successful. While the focus was on Restitution to start with the brief expanded to address land reform as a whole. This document provides an accessible summary of the final proposals. While endorsed by the then Minister of Land Affairs the strategy was never implemented.

Mozambique has a land governance system that allows for strong protection of community-based land rights, community consultation with respect to partnerships with investors, and also secure rights to land for investors. However, the implementation of legislation has been slow and the capacity among state actors is weak. Tensions exist between a government keen on promoting foreign investment and agro-industry and a rural population that is insufficiently aware of and not always able to exercise their legal rights.

Extension services are a keystone of information diffusion in agriculture. This paper exploits a large randomized controlled trial to track diffusion of a new technique in the classic Training and Visit (T&V) extension model, relative to a more direct training model. In both control and treatment communities, contact farmers (CFs) serve as points-of-contacts between agents and other farmers. The intervention (Treatment) aims to address two pitfalls of the T&V model: i) infrequent extension agent visits, and ii) poor quality information.

The North Eastern Region (NER) in India is endowed with rich energy resources but faces significant bottlenecks in electricity access and availability levels. The per capita power consumption in NER is one-third of the national average. The region has a shortfall of about 500MW installed capacity against peak demand of about 1950 MW. No significant generation capacity has been added in the recent past. Therefore, inadequate power supply continues a critical constraint to sustainable growth and economic development in the NER.

This study aims to achieve a better understanding of the agricultural risk and risk management situation in Tanzania with a view to identifying key solutions to reduce current gross domestic product (GDP) growth volatility. For the purpose of this assessment, risk is defined as the probability that an uncertain event will occur that can potentially produce losses to participants along the supply chain.