This thematic issue on land tenure and disaster risk management (DRM) stems from the recent work done at FAO on normative aspects of land tenure governance that address natural disasters through the DRM framework. The Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security provide, among other issues, guidance on improving tenure governance and strengthening tenure security of vulnerable people in line with the DRM framework.

Le Service des Régimes Fonciers de la FAO a identifié, dans le cadre de son programme de travail pour la période 2006-2007, le thème de l’accès des ruraux pauvres aux informations et procédures légales pour la sécurisation des droits fonciers comme un élément important de son thème de travail.

In this issue, we will be introducing the new Land tenure e-journal, which has just launched its first issue. This e-journal is dedicated to land-related issues, including land tenure. We will also learn about the recently issued report, the State of the World’s plant genetic resources for food and agriculture and we will introduce you to the new web site gearing up for the 2012 event marking the twentieth anniversary of the Earth Summit - FAO@Rio+20.

Vous trouverez dans ce numéro une série d’articles sur des thèmes très variés mais qui ont tous en commun la volonté d’améliorer les conditions de vie des populations rurales, en particulier en Afrique. Il est intéressant de noter que deux aspects ressortent avec force de cette variété thématique: la nutrition et le rôle des jeunes, deux aspects du développement qui sont aussi au coeur des activités de la FAO.

Does forest tenure matter? In what way does it matter? What are the links among tenure, sustainable forest management (SFM) and poverty alleviation (PA)? This paper presents the main findings of research that was conducted by FAO and partners from the Asia Forest Partnership with the aim of analysing and understanding the role of tenure arrangements, their enabling impacts and their limitations. The paper presents a summary of different tenure instruments’ performance in supporting SFM and PA, and provides recommendations for more effective forest tenure systems.

This training manual is for people working in natural disaster risk management and response as well as for people who work in the land tenure sector. In a self-training format this publication aims to provide an overview of the major land tenure issues that may arise following a natural disaster which need to be considered and included in the decision-making processes associated with the whole disaster risk management phases.

Institutional capacity of government organizations, programmes/ projects, and civil society to support forest tenure reform exists but is insufficient. Major capacity gaps are found in relation to conflict and grievance management, responding to climate change and emergencies, and governance of private sector. Programs have relatively better capacity than government organizations and civil society organizations as they are able to provide direct support at local levels to improve the livelihoods and income of forest dependent communities.

Los pueblos indígenas1 deben ser considerados como una parte interesada imprescindible en un programa de desarrollo configurado por un mandato de este tipo. Estimaciones recientes indican que, aunque los pueblos indígenas constituyen aproximadamente el 5 % de la población total del mundo, comprenden alrededor del 15 % de la población pobre mundial2. Las adversidades afrontadas por los pueblos indígenas han aumentado en las últimas décadas, aunque también lo ha hecho el reconocimiento de su capacidad para contribuir al desarrollo sostenible y la ordenación de los recursos naturales.

El manual es una herramienta dirigida a los responsables de proyectos y programas y contiene un procedimiento en seis pasos para facilitar el proceso de CLPI, al tiempo que muestra sus beneficios y provee el marco regulatorio que debe ser usado cuando se integren los derechos de los pueblos indígenas en las políticas y normas de las organizaciones.

FAO Notes sur les régimes fonciers 2

This guide on Gender and access to land has been prepared to support land administrators in governments and their counterparts in civil society who are involved in land access and land administration questions in rural development. It is frequently the case that gender issues are left out or misunderstood in such situations, often with negative results. This guide is designed to show where and why gender inclusion is important in projects and programmes that aim at improving land tenure and land administration arrangements.

This paper summarizes the good practices by nine selected OECD countries that seek to promote responsible foreign investment in developing country agriculture, primarily by investors in their territory or jurisdiction. The study provides examples of the increasing trend of home countries in establishing binding legal norms and other mechanisms as safeguards that are relevant for agricultural investment.