A Japanese study illustrates how farmers created an agricultural market in spite of the military government’s bureaucrats...

"Economic Disparity in Rural Myanmar" by Ikuko Okamoto. National University of Singapore Press, 2008...
"THE devastation caused by Cyclone Nargis and spiraling global food prices have placed even more pressure on the agricultural sector of Burma, once the world’s largest rice exporter and potentially one of Asia’s most prodigious producers of agricultural staples.

...This study will examine the food (rice) availability at the national level using the official and FAO data. Second, a case study in the rice deficit region (Dry Zone) will present the characteristics and food security status of the farm and non-farm rural households (landless) and the determinants of food security. The Dry Zone was chosen to study because the EC & FAO (2007) classified this region as the most vulnerable area of the country. Furthermore, the FAO projected that the Net Primary Production would be decreased significantly in the Dry Zone in the next two decades.

... Large-scale agricultural investments – in plantations, processing plants or contract farming schemes, for example – have increased in recent years, particularly in developing countries. Investment in the agriculture sector can bring much needed support for rural development, but communities have also witnessed significant negative impacts. Some of the most serious involve local landholders being displaced from their lands and losing access to

O caminho percorrido para que as questões do género e do desenvolvimento e em especial a sua interligação sejam assuntos importantes e alvo de atenção tanto académica como política, foi longo. Várias áreas do conhecimento, como a sociologia, a antropologia e a economia, contribuem para a construção do conhecimento neste domínio, a par de outras mais recentes como os estudos feministas e os estudos póscoloniais. Como resultado, as teorias e os conceitos sobre a relação das mulheres com o desenvolvimento e os efeitos deste sobre as mulheres têm sido vários.

This guide aims to support the process of valuation of unregistered land and property for the public and private agencies that undertake this exercise. It will be relevant for policy makers, local authorities, international finance institutions, investors, property developers, banks, civil society organisations, citizens, land owners, local communities and women’s groups.

Includes historical perspective – native land settlement scheme, Lifa land purchasing programme, Rural Development Areas Programme, some lessons learned, prospects for land reform, Land Policy objectives and principles.

Introduction to a new book, At the Crossroads: Land and Agrarian Reform in South Africa into the 21st Century, based on a PLAAS/NLC conference of July 1999. In addressing whether land and agrarian reform has a future in South Africa and who might benefit, the book’s editor discusses the political context of the conference; integrated rural development; the new policy directions announced in February 2000; and the structure and contents of the book

Official report from the European Forum on the sessions relating to land tenure reform and poverty reduction. Details the panel discussion involving Robin Palmer (Oxfam), Julian Quan (DFID), Christian Graefen (GTZ), Annelies Zoomers (CEDLA), Philippe Lavigne-Delville (GRET), followed by summaries of two working groups, on Madagascar and Mali and Latin America, and concludes with agreed action points.

Case study includes conceptual framework, rationale for land reform in Rwanda, assessment of choices, implementation. Highlights from the thematic dialogue include discussions on participation, decision making for optimal land use, land and the rural-urban interface and livelihoods, lessons learned and challenges. Third part examines possibilities for future co-operation.

Recommendations of Land Policy Review Commission. Include qualification and capacity to hold title to land and to own land; outlawing gender discrimination on land; fallow and underutilised land; surveying, mapping and registration; block farming; commercial farming; range management; protection of wetlands; urban sites; rural development; institutions involved in land matters, including District and Local Land Boards; dispute resolution mechanisms; mining; forestry.

Stresses views of conference participants that agrarian reform is an alive issue on the political agenda of many countries. A wide consensus on the positive contribution that more equal access to land and other assets makes to the fight against poverty. Meaningful reform must involve the transformation of property rights. Agrarian reform must involve state regulation to overcome the failure of markets to deliver equitable outcomes. Also a wide consensus on the need for strong and effective state action.

The investigation of soya production in Central Mozambique presented here suggests small-scale farming can produce similar profits to large-scale operations and better social outcomes. Concentrating only on large-scale investments can mean forgoing opportunities for rural development and poverty reduction. With the right support, poorer households can develop market-oriented farming that contributes to local value chains at many levels.