“Land matters” – more than ever! Can land be dealt with like other resources or – in terms of an economic perspective– forms of capital. Or does it attract particular meanings, sentiments, interests, acquisition strategies or social relations?

This country level analysis addresses land governance in Laos in two ways. First, it summarises what the existing body of knowledge tells us about power and configurations that shape access to and exclusion from land, particularly among smallholders, the rural poor, ethnic minorities and women.

This Topic Guide covers: the trends in and drivers of large-scale land acquisition, and the associated costs, risks and benefits; the provision of and access to more accurate data on large-scale land acquisitions, and key international and regional initiatives to provide guidelines to enhance sec

Almost all societies acknowledge the concept of state or public landownership in which property rights are vested in a public body on a national, regional or community level. State and public land tenure arrangements define rules for the distribution, use and protection of publicly vested lands.