Following adoption of the Voluntary Guidelines (VGs) on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security in May 2012 and as the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) approaches negotiations for the Principles for Responsible Agricultural Investment (PRAI) – as well as other global discussions taking place such as Millennium Development Goals and post-2015 Development Agenda that focus greater attention on creating better land tenure security to promote food security, increased economic income, and better natural resource managemen

Major development in recognition of customary property rights in Kenya
Through its Kenya SECURE Project, USAID, in cooperation with the Kenya Ministry of Lands, recently developed the Community Land Rights Recognition (CLRR) Model, a process for providing legal registration of land held by communities under customary law. This is the first recognition of land owned as a result of customary usage in Kenya and will promote investment, better natural resource management and, in some parts of the country, reduce land grabbing.

By M. Mercedes Stickler, Land Tenure and Evaluation Specialist, USAID.
Last month, I had the opportunity to take part in the inaugural Conference on Land Policy in Africa. This event—organized by the Land Policy Initiative—highlighted the fact that land is one of the most important development issues facing Africa today.

Property rights are inexorably linked to taxes, largely because property taxes are often one of the easiest taxes to collect, particularly in developing markets with significant informal sectors. Indeed property taxes are often levied and paid around the world even when citizens lack deed or title to their property.

Oxfam is running a series of blogs on the Future of Agriculture. Day 6’s discussion includes a post by Madiodio Niasse, Secretariat Director of the ILC. Mr. Niasse focuses on the importance of securing women’s rights to land tenure as a strategy to improve agricultural productivity and food security.

By Peter Giampaoli, Climate Change Specialist, Land Tenure and Property Rights Division, USAID. Clear, secure rights to manage and use forests are an important aspect of sustaining traditions and economic opportunities. Although this web site often discusses property rights in the context of developing countries, insecure title and undocumented land rights can undermine smallholder ownership in the United States as well.

Last week, the World Bank's 14th Annual Conference on Land and Poverty – which was sponsored by USAID along with several other organizations – brought together more than 800 participants from 90 countries, representing government, private sector, civil society, academia, and development partners. The large attendance from a diverse set of participants reinforces the increasing recognition that good land and resource governance is central to a variety of development objectives. The theme of this year’s conference was “Moving towards transparent land governance: Evidence-based next steps”.

Here's a nicely done, interesting, and largely on-point, article from the Irish Times about the need to give Chinese farmers more secure rights to land.

Tim Fella, Land Tenure and Conflict Advisor - USAID, moderating the panel discussion.

By Dr. Gregory Myers, USAID Division Chief, Land Tenure and Property Rights On July 30, I had the pleasure of joining Landesa President Tim Hanstad at Global Washington in Seattle for a rich discussion of the Global Farms Race: Implications of Food Security, Poverty, and Foreign Investment. At the heart of this conversation are the rights of communities and individuals to decide for themselves how to use and profit from land. Do they possess clear and documented land and resource rights? Who has the power to make decisions?

This research paper from USAID calls attention to the challenges faced by vulnerable populations with respect to land. The paper identifies five vulnerable groups who have weak claims on land rights and are particularly vulnerable to changes in land tenure systems and property rights reform:
Women
Households that have been directly affected by HIV/AIDS
Pastoralist communities
Indigenous populations

Ms. Fayzinisso Ashurova and her five children were unjustly evicted from their home after her husband passed away. The USAID Land Reform Project took Fayzinisso’s case to the Supreme Court, which decided in her favor.
In Tajikistan, as in many developing countries, a range of cultural, social, and political factors combined with a lack of awareness regarding legal issues prevent women from enjoying their rights to land and property, often subjecting them to unjust and sometimes fraudulent practices.