This document outlines the necessity of formulating development policies specifically targeted at pastoralists and their livelihoods. The author reports that pastoralists have generally been ill-served by development policies and actions because of myths suggesting that pastoralists were 'backward'. Previous policies focused on changing pastoralists into something more ‘modern' or progressive.

This article synthesises findings on various topics relating to drought strategies and land use in African pastoral systems. These include:an exploration of the ecology of african rangelandsan investigation into pastoral strategies for mitigation of droughta look at the importance of opportunistic behavior and mobility as a strategy for pastoralistsan exploration of the factors contributing to a gradual breakdown of nomadism.

The paper is a desk study prepared as a basis for discussion and further field research into land tenure and conflict in the region.The first section provides an overview of land tenure and land utilization issues. This section includes an analysis of gender and other demographic issues as they relate to land tenure and access to natural resources.

Landlocked developing countries (LLDCs) are disadvantaged in a myriad of ways and they have special needs which require special attention. Challenges such as undiversified economies, vulnerability to climate change and climate variability, land degradation and desertification, among others, are undermining the economic potential of many LLDCs. This has been exacerbated by weak export base of many LLDCs centered on a few primary agricultural and/ or mineral commodities.

Farmland consolidation is the act of consolidating a series of fragmented and irregular farmland plots to enlarge plot their size and support sufficient irrigation. Farmland consolidation also combines and groups the proprietor’s farmland into one area by administrative give-and-take as well as division-and-junction of their land. Moreover, it also includes the rearrangement of farmland, which is small or lacks sufficient infrastructure due to farmland consolidation or earthwork waterways projects that were done in the past.

This book presents the findings of a nine-month action research process in Karamoja. Over the months, the broad topics of the research – land, peace and customary law – were refined to three precise areas of focus on how decisions are made: herder-cultivator disputes and Karimojong governance; peace and the links between customary and state law; and land alienation and associated state laws and policies. The research team, 23 young men and women from Karamoja, developed the initial text for this book in September 2013.

Examines the relationship of people’s rights in land to the manner in which they may be involved in the management of forests in Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Namibia, Mozambique, Lesotho and to a lesser degree Botswana and Swaziland.Includes examination of property relations, state power, land reform, recognition of customary rights, the changing nature of tenure, and the impact of new land law on community forest rights.

Improving land governance is key in assuring that land resources can be enjoyed by all parts of the population. Donors can play an important role in combatting corruption in land administration and building a well-functioning land administration by both supporting domestic government efforts as well as engaging in international and multi-country initiatives. However, donors are advised by experts and civil society organisations to be mindful of the possible impact of their interventions on issues of land grabbing and forced relocations.

In India, the Schedule Tribes have remained on the fringes of growth, but less so in the majority tribal areas of the North East. This has increased the interest in the Sixth Schedule, the special constitutional provision relating to these areas, recognising the tribal communities’ rights of ownership and control over their land and natural resources.

In contemporary South Africa, land use management may be considered to be a crucial, but weak link in the transformative project attempted by the overall land management system, and planning activity in general. Land use management is increasingly recognised to have been a neglected area of engagement, and this neglect has had significant consequences.

This document takes a historical view of the relations between individual and collective actors in local water management in the Mekong Delta in southern Vietnam.

The paper begins by outlining Chinese grassland policy in the reform period and then describes key aspects of actual local level arrangements for grassland management. This description is based on the authors’ field studies at different sites on the Tibetan plateau (within Sichuan and Yunnan Province and the Tibetan Autonomous Region) and Xinjiang-Uygur Autonomous Region1. A considerable difference between grassland policy and local-level arrangements is found, and the next section justifies these arrangements in terms of the social, ecological and economic context.