While early attempts at land titling in Africa were often unsuccessful, the need to secure land rights has kindled renewed interest, in view of increased demand for land, a range of individual and communal rights available under new laws, and reduced costs from combining information technology with participatory methods. We used a difference-in-difference approach to assess the effects of a low-cost land registration program in Ethiopia, which covered some 20 million plots over five years, on investment.

There is widespread belief among development specialists that land tenure security is a necessary but not sufficient condition for economic development.

This study assesses the economic implications of land ownership security in rural Thailand. It uses data from this country to rigorously analyze several aspects of land ownership security. It provides both qualitative and quantiative information on the effects of ownership security. The study presents a conceptual model and literature review and is followed by separate discussions on the evolution of land rights in Thailand; the study methodology and the nature of the data; and the credit market.

Property rights to land represent the key institutional asset on which rural people build their livelihoods. In fact, in many countries, landlessness is the best predictor of poverty. The nature of farmers’ property rights to land substantially impacts their willingness and ability to adopt productivity-enhancing inputs and investments.

In the present report, submitted to the Human Rights Council in accordance with Council resolution 13/4, the Special Rapporteur on the right to food discusses the threats to women's right to food, identifying the areas that demand the most urgent attention. The report examines successively the obstacles women face in access to employment, social protection and the productive resources needed for food production, food processing and value chain development.

The UN-Habitat, World Bank and the Global Land Tool Network (GLTN) host of the Global Land Indicators Initiative (GLII) 1 in collaboration with Global Donor Working Group on Land (GDWGL)2 jointly hosted a side event titled Land Tenure Security Monitoring in the SDGs: Leaving no one behind at the 2 nd High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF).

The World Bank Group and UN-Habitat as co-custodians of the SDG Indicator 1.4.2, in collaboration with the Global Land Indicator Initiative (GLII) organized an international Expert Group Meeting (EGM) at the World Bank Headquarters in Washington D.C. from 25 -26 May 2017 in preparation for the reclassification process of the SDG Indicator 1.4.2.

L’analyse des aménagements hydro-agricoles en Afrique de l’Ouest permet de tirer des leçons concernant l’affectation foncière, qui peuvent servir pour orienter les aménagements en cours, ou ceux qui sont prévus dans les années à venir. Sans affectation foncière adéquate, les objectifs principaux des barrages – la lutte contre la pauvreté et l’amélioration de la production nationale de céréales – pourront difficilement être atteints.

Political reactions ‘from below’ to global land grabbing have been vastly more varied and complex than is usually assumed. This essay introduces a collection of ground- breaking studies that discuss responses that range from various types of organized and everyday resistance to demands for incorporation or for better terms of incorporation into land deals. Initiatives ‘from below’ in response to land deals have involved local and transnational alliances and the use of legal and extra-legal methods, and have brought victories and defeats.

The Global Donor Working Group on Land releases this policy brief to reiterate its commitment on the SDG indicator 1.4.2 for achieving global land tenure security. The policy brief clarifies the status of indicator 1.4.2 towards its implementation by countries, as well as informs how the Global Donor Working Group on Land is supporting the custodian agencies for this indicator (UN-Habitat and WB) to have it re-classified by the Inter-Agency Expert Group on SDG Indicators by October 2018.

International Land Coalition infographic on why Land Rights are central to achieving the SDGs.

Presentation at the LandAc conference in June 2017, by Thea Hilhorst, representative of the World Bank, custodian agency of the development of SDG indicator 1.4.2. 

Thea Hilhorst presents the approach to measuring this indicator and the available data that can be used.