Examines international evidence on the relationship between asset ownership and growth and the impact of redistributive land reform, plus evidence of the impact of land reform in Zimbabwe.Asks why it appears that resettled farmers are among the poorest in the population. Concludes that asset redistribution can be a viable strategy to enhance growth, that the performance of resettled farmers in Zimbabwe is better than is conventionally believed, and that if a land reform programme is well designed, it can have a large impact on equity as well as productivity. [author]

Many  African  countries  rely  on  sporadic  land  transfers  from customary to statutory domains to attract investment and improve agricultural performance. Data from 15,000 smallholders and 800 estates in Malawi allow exploring the long-term effects of such a strategy.

Despite advances in the international rights regime, persistent discrimination evident in the customary laws which regulate women's status in most traditional societies was a constant factor across cultural, social and political divides. The case-histories and testimonies recorded by the Kigali Consultation provide an insight into changes in land and inheritance rights brought about by conflict and its attendant social disruptions.

Through the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, in 2013 G8 countries are seeking to mobilise the private sector and multi-national corporations to boost African agriculture. This new Future Agricultures / PLAAS briefing (pdf) looks at how African countries are engaging with the New Alliance. The authors argue that large-scale acquisitions of land for corporate agriculture, which may result from New Alliance projects, pose a serious challenge for local markets and smallholder farmers.

Series of papers on land tenure issues including: Piloting local administration of records in Ekuthuleni, KwaZulu-Natal, by Donna Hornby (AFRA, South Africa)Ivory Coast’s Plan Foncier Rural: lessons from a pilot project to register customary rights, by Camilla Toulmin (IIED) Customary land identification and recording in Mozambique, by Chris Tanner Supporting local rights: will the centre let go?

This paper provides an analysis of the effectiveness and equitability of West African judicial, legal and administrative institutions for:providing accessible dispute resolutionprotecting the security of the urban and rural poor to hold and use land.The authors compare legislation of customary and non-state regulatory institutions in Ghana, with the greater Pluralism of Côte d’Ivoire.

In a new guide published today and aimed at decision-makers, key policy advisors, NGOs and governmental institutions, FAO shows how agroforestry can be integrated into national strategies and how policies can be adjusted to specific conditions. The policy guide provides examples of best practices and success stories, as well as suggesting ten major tracks for policy action, including:

Under the socialist regime that prevailed until the start of the 1990s, Mongolia made great progress in improving human development indicators, and poverty was virtually unknown. Through innovative service delivery mechanisms to nomadic pastoralists, almost universal coverage of primary health care services was achieved and adult literacy reached 97%.Political and economic transition in the 1990s ushered in a rapid rise in asset and income inequality, and a third of the population have been defined as living below the poverty line since 1995.

This proceedings issue from a mini conference held in November 2004 presents six papers summarising attempts to establish best practice equity-share schemes on two commercial farms in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. The main object of this participatory research was to test and refine land reform policy influencing the role of equity-share schemes as instruments of land and agrarian reform in South Africa.The papers presented were as follows:Land redistribution in Kwazulu-Natal: an analysis of Farmland transactions from 1997 until 2002 by Stuart Ferrer and Allan Semalulu.

Article looks at a specific case of racial oppression manifesting itself within development programs. At a more general level, the article looks at how ecological project can become politicised.An example of this is South-East Asia, where valley-based states have regularly attempted to sedentarize or repress hill-dwelling ethnic minorities. Racist patterns and processes in the region have been sustained and strengthened through the activities of international environmentalists and developmentalists.

A recent eighteen-month economic study of the benefits of alternative uses of forest and in Ratanakiri province recommends the exclusion of customary forest land from current and future commercial concessions. The study compares the economic benefits of using forest land in Ratanakiri for the traditional collection of non-timber forest products by ethnic communities, with the benefits of commercial timber harvesting. The main conclusions of the study are that non-timber forest products (NTFP) are worth a lot, much more than previously thought.

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