Using the case of past and ongoing land tenure reforms in Mozambique, this paper aims at assessing the determinants of tenure security for households and the implications of such tenure security on their observed behavior in undertaking long-term land-related investments. An attempt is made to distinguish the source of risk of tenure insecurity as: (i) effective risk (mainly dependent on past experiences of households); and (ii) potential risk (i.e., long-term perception of tenure security).

In rural areas, land is the basis for agricultural production and the source for securing natural

resources through fishing, hunting, pasturing or other activities. Land is used by many people for

different purposes (e.g. for agricultural production, housing, industry, services and government).

Land also has social, cultural and political functions related to each country’s history.

Because land is used for so many purposes, land and property rights have broad impact on people’s

This paper offers an overview of land reform processes in the CEECs and their outcomes and impacts and analyzes current and emerging structures in rural areas. Different types of land consolidation are defined and their potential impacts are assessed. The paper then looks in depth at land consolidation processes, especially in the context of land management, and outlines preconditions and cornerstones for various approaches. Environmental aspects and principles for land funds and land banking are also drawn in.

The effect of HIV/AIDS on Africa and the issues it creates for women in African societies, especially unmarried women, is a difficult one that will not soon go away. These two volumes [ The Land and Property Rights of Women and Orphans in the Context of HIV and AIDS : Case Studies from Zimbabwe, and Reclaiming Our Lives: HIV and AIDS, Women’s Land and Property Rights and Livelihoods in Southern and East Africa: Narratives and Responses] are important and useful additions to the literature of the problem and should be found in academic and research collections dealing with the topic

Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) affects more than 3.5 people in the developing world. More than half of pregnant women (56 percent) and 44 percent of nonpregnant women are anemic (ACC/SCN 2000). IDA contributes to approximately 20 percent of maternal deaths in Africa and Asia (Ross and Thomas 1996). In Africa alone, some 20,000 maternal deaths per year could be prevented with anemia treatment.

Although several institutional and management approaches that address the degradation of the rangelands have been tested in the dry areas of Central and West Asia and North Africa (CWANA), impact has been limited. Nonetheless, the development of National Action Plans to combat desertification highlights the interest of governments to tackle this issue. Payment for Environmental Services (PES) may be a viable policy option, though, to date, most PES programs have focused on the management of different resources (forests, watersheds).

Institutions of collective action and systems of property rights shape how people use natural resources, and these patterns of use in turn affect the outcomes of people’s agricultural production systems. Together, mechanisms of collective action and property rights define the incentives people face for undertaking sustainable and productive management strategies, and they affect the level and distribution of benefits from natural resources.

The authors address questions such as: (1) how do parents allocate land and education between sons and daughters? (2) how do changing returns to land and human capital affect parents' investments in children? (3) what do gender differences in land and schooling mean for the welfare of men and women? (4) is gender equity compatible with efficiency and growth? The book is based on intensive household surveys in Ghana, Indonesia, and the Philippines." -- From Text

Households face many collective action situations, with members working together to produce livelihoods and allocate goods. But neither unitary nor bargaining models of the household provide frameworks to analyze the conditions under which households work collectively and when they fail to do so.

"Payments for environmental services (PES) are increasingly discussed as appropriate mechanisms for matching the demand for environmental services with the incentives of land users whose actions modify the supply of those environmental services. While there has been considerable discussion of the institutional mechanisms for PES, relatively little attention has been given to the inter-relationships between PES institutions and other rural institutions.

En el mundo entero, los gobiernos buscan cada vez más gestionar sus bosques con la colaboración de la gente que vive cerca de ellos. Por lo general, los ministerios forestales o sus equivalentes lo hacen ofreciendo a la población local acceso a productos forestales seleccionados o a tierras de bosques, ingresos provenientes de los recursos forestales u oportunidades de comunicarse con las autoridades forestales gubernamentales.

Land tenure institutions in customary land areas of Sub-Saharan Africa have been evolving towards individualized ownership. Communal land tenure institutions aim to achieve and preserve the equitable distribution of land (and hence, income) among community members. Uncultivated forestland is owned by the community or village, and as long as forest land is available, forest clearance of forest is easily approved by the village chief.