This 2012 Global Food Policy Report is the second in an annual series that provides an in-depth look at major food policy developments and events. Initiated in response to resurgent interest in food security, the series offers a yearly overview of the food policy developments that have contributed to or hindered progress in food and nutrition security. It reviews what happened in food policy and why, examines key challenges and opportunities, shares new evidence and knowledge, and highlights emerging issues.

Even with abundant evidence of the urgent need for action on climate change mitigation, there are still those who consider mitigation strategies a burden. In the agricultural sector, climate change mitigation calls for changing some agricultural and resource management practices and technologies and often requires additional investment. However, there is an opportunity in agriculture for net benefit streams from a variety of zero- or low-cost mitigation opportunities ranging from agroforestry practices and restoration of degraded soils to zero-till and other land-management practices.

Efforts to distribute land titles to low-income rural Afro-Brazilian communities, known as quilombos, have been disappointing despite the provision of ample government resources. Until now, research on the implications of Brazil s land reform policies has not considered quilombo communities in an economic context. The unique case of the quilombo communities provides an interesting context to advance the understanding of the role of land titles in rural income generation.

This 2012 Global Food Policy Report is the second in an annual series that provides an in-depth look at major food policy developments and events. Initiated in response to resurgent interest in food security, the series offers a yearly overview of the food policy developments that have contributed to or hindered progress in food and nutrition security. It reviews what happened in food policy and why, examines key challenges and opportunities, shares new evidence and knowledge, and highlights emerging issues.

Once relatively prosperous, Côte d’Ivoire is still emerging from crisis. Two waves of armed conflict and violence – in 2002 and following presidential elections in 2010 – both led to massive population upheaval, displacing around a million people on each occasion. Subsequent conflicts have exacerbated tensions over land between autochtones, allochtones and allogènes. Women have largely borne the brunt of the country’s conflicts and its protracted displacement crises.

Population growth, globalisation and climate change have all increased pressures on land. Combined with a growing demand for land for investment in developing countries, this poses a risk to land tenure security, particularly in areas where formal property rights are in short supply.

This rapid evidence assessment seeks to address the question of which policies and interventions or approaches have been successful in fostering compliance with legitimate land tenure rights and what impact these strategies have had on development outcomes.

In many parts of the world, women’s rights to land and property are systematically denied. Women have fewer or less secure rights than men, and discriminatory attitudes and practices undermine them. This leaves many women vulnerable, and almost entirely dependent on the men in their lives for basic economic survival. 

Dependance on men can lead to entrapment in abusive relationships, less control over sexual relations, and less ability to produce food or secure food.

This booklet arises from GLTN's work on Islamic dimensions of land which began in 2004 with the commissioning of research leading to Sait and Lim’s “Land, Law and Islam: Property and Human Rights in the Muslim World” (London: Zed Press/UN-Habitat, 2006). Based on this research a training course on "Islamic Land, Principles and Housing Rights in the Muslim World" has been produced in 2010. This booklet was translated into Arabic language in 2014.

Land and Property Tax: a Policy Guide is a companion for government officials and land and property professionals seeking to understand how to establish a viable and vibrant land-based taxation system. Using various examples, alternatives and illustrations around the World, the Guide provides a compelling case for generating local revenue through land and its improvements.

This training course from the Global Land Tool Network is part of the Network’s activities on Islamic dimensions of land. In most Muslim countries, Islamic law, principles and practices make an important contribution to shaping access to land. GLTN therefore has as one of its objectives the identification and development of Islamic land tools and case studies through a cross-cultural, interdisciplinary and global process, owned by Muslims, but also including other civil society and development partners.

This publication, from the Global Land Tool Network, presents a mechanism for effective inclusion of women and men in land tool development and outlines methodologies and strategies for systematically developing land tools that are responsive to both women and men’s needs. Equal property rights for women and men are fundamental to social and economic gender equality. However, women often face discrimination in formal, informal and customary systems of land tenure.

This booklet arises from GLTN's work on Islamic dimensions of land which began in 2004 with the commissioning of research leading to Sait and Lim’s “Land, Law and Islam: Property and Human Rights in the Muslim World” (London: Zed Press/UN-Habitat, 2006). Based on this research a training course on "Islamic Land, Principles and Housing Rights in the Muslim World" has been produced in 2010.