Land Tenure Working Paper 14: Growing land scarcity and concern about land-related conflicts and rising levels of rural impoverishment have brought land to the fore once more. The main difference with the recent past is the wide spectrum of actors who want to take part in the elaboration of the land policies, as well as the more and more recognized need to root the proposals in the particular context of each specific country.

The objective of this study was to identify areas of land degradation in sub‐Saharan Africa as

observed from space by tracking the greenness of the vegetation signal expressed as

Normalize Differenced Vegetation Index (NDVI). A series of additional databases was used,

and, through a step‐wise amalgamation of these, conclusions were drawn about the type of

(agro) ecosystems under threat. The datasets (based on 8x8 km2 pixels) of weather and NDVI

(as a proxy for net primary productivity of the land) were averaged annually from monthly

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

The first detailed study of large scale land acquisitions in Africa analyses the modalities and likely impacts. The study highlights the possible opportunities (investments, rising agricultural productivity and rural incomes), if things are managed well and warns about the risks (uncompensated loss of land rights for the rural poor) if contracts are not properly negotiated and enforced. It makes recommendations to the main stakeholders to make this new trend useful for food security and rural development.

The articles in this issue supplement the recent publication "Good governance in land tenure and administration" (Land Tenure Studies No. 9), which provides practical advice for land professionals on improving governance in a land administration system or other land tenure arrangement.

One of the striking features of transition from plan to market in CIS agriculture is the

dramatic shift from the predominance of large corporate farms (kolkhozy and sovkhozy,

generally referred to as agricultural enterprises) to individual or family agriculture based on a

spectrum of small farms. The individual sector, combining the traditional household plots and

the new peasant farms that began to emerge after 1992, accounts for most of agricultural

production and controls a large share of arable land. This is a dramatic change from the pre-

What are the impacts of the increasing spread of biofuels on access to land in producer countries, particularly for poorer rural people? Biofuels could revitalise rural agriculture and livelihoods or, where there are competing claims on land exclude poorer land and resource users. This study documents current knowledge on current and potential impacts of commercial biofuel production for access to land in Africa, Latin America and Asia, charting both negative experiences and promising approaches.

FAO has a long interest in addressing the management of conflict to reduce uncertainty and improve wellbeing, particularly for the most vulnerable in society. This manual focuses on how to manage and resolve conflicts over land tenure rights, security of tenure and land access in the field of rural development. It results from complementary activities undertaken within FAO’s Livelihood Support Programme (LSP) and Land Tenure Service.

This guide explains what compulsory acquisition and

The 70s saw the emergence of worldwide concerns for the capacity of the planet to feed its growing population while ensuring the conservation of its natural resources and the protection of the environment. As a global inventory of soil resources was being conducted under the auspices of FAO and UNESCO, an internationally accepted methodology was elaborated concurrently to assess the potentialities as well as the limits of the world’s land resources for development. The Land Evaluation Framework, which

Many countries of the Asia-Pacific region share long land borders across which many consignments of plants, plant products and other regulated articles pass through land border entry points. While long-distance trade in large consignments exists and uses the established regulatory systems, a large proportion of cross border trade concerns the local trade of large numbers of small consignments which require specific border region import regulatory systems. Dealing with the trade of small amounts of plant material is a major problem at many land border entry points.

In September 2008, the FAO-Dimitra project organised its third workshop with all its partners in Brussels, on the theme:“Information and communication strategies to fight gender inequality as regards land access and its consequences for rural populations in Africa”.

This document presents a synthesis of the workshop’s

activities as well as the different articles which were prepared for the workshop by the participants – the partners of the network and FAO colleagues.