We investigated wheat price relationships between the import-dependent countries in Central Asia and the South Caucasus and the Black Sea wheat exporters to assess wheat market efficiency. This is crucial for ensuring availability and access to wheat and for reducing food insecurity. Results from linear and threshold error correction models suggested a strong influence of trade costs on market integration in Central Asia, while those costs were of minor importance in the South Caucasus.

This report assesses the costs and effectiveness of responsible investment practices in emerging market contexts. Its results make the business case for investments in social risk mitigation and avoidance practices. Such practices include community engagement efforts, impact assessments and the establishment of grievance resolution mechanisms. Implemented correctly, responsible investment practices engender confidence and trust between investors and local communities, which secures social buy-in and mitigates the financial risks associated with disputes.

El proceso de las grandes transacciones de tierras (GTT) se encuentra en debate y está centrado en temas como la deforestación, el cambio de uso del suelo, la gobernanza de la tierra, el modelo agrícola, o la seguridad alimentaria, entre otros. En América Latina las grandes transacciones de tierras están asociadas al acaparamiento de tierras, a partir de la extranjerización y la concentración de tierras.

The Summary Report of the 3rd Mekong Regional Land Forum provides a comprehensive review of the key messages from the event including a synthesis of keynote speeches, key take-aways, the links to all presentations and additional documentation.

The “Responsible Governance of Investments in Land” (RGIL) project in Ethiopia aims at ensuring that investments in land are productive, contribute to sustainable land management, and respect the rights and needs of local populations, in particular vulnerable groups and women.

The “Responsible Governance of Investments in Land” (RGIL) project in Uganda fosters investment quality promotion to ensure that agriculture and forestry investments in land are productive, contribute to sustainable land management and respect the rights and needs of local populations, including vulnerable groups and women.

Georgia is a country with a favorable geographical location, soil, climate conditions, natural and civilization resources, culture, human capital. Georgia is at the ancient transport crossroads which connected and connecting the countries of the North and South, West and East. The old Silk Road was the main artery crossing the country and connecting Europe and Asia. Georgia borders the Black Sea. To the east, via Azerbaijan, the country has historically been linked to the Caspian Sea and then to Central and Eastern Asia.

A new wave of agricultural commercialisation is being promoted across Africa’s eastern seaboard;by a broad range of influential actors – from international corporations to domestic political and business elites. Growth corridors;linking infrastructure development;mining and agriculture for export;are central to this;and are generating a new spatial politics as formerly remote borders and hinterlands are expected to be transformed through foreign investment and aid projects.

In advance of the release of the World Bank’s 2019 Enabling the Business of Agriculture (EBA) report;the Oakland Institute exposes the Bank’s new scheme to privatize land in the developing world. It details how the Bank’s prescribed reforms;via a new land indicator in the EBA project;promotes large-scale land acquisitions and the expansion of agribusinesses in the developing world. Initiated as a pilot in 38 countries in 2017;the land indicator is expected to be expanded to 80 countries in 2019. The project is funded by the US and UK governments and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Chapter in a book;“Rethinking land reform in Africa;opportunities and challenges” by the African Natural Resources Centre;edited by Cosmas Milton Obote Ochieng for the African Development Bank. A think piece reflecting on changing commercial pressures on land in low and middle-income countries; the role of law in shaping the ways those pressures manifest themselves; the limits of business standards in driving systemic change; and the case for comprehensive law reform to secure rural land rights.

In the last two decades, the best agricultural lands in Bolivia have been put into commercial production by large-scale producers closely linked to foreign investors, particularly Brazilians. Foreigners now control more than one million hectares of prime agricultural and ranching lands in Bolivia, primarily in the eastern lowland department of Santa Cruz, an important agroexport region dominated by transnational corporations and what has been termed “trans-Latina” corporations or TLCs.

This Guide provides an entry point to understanding and implementing the principles of responsible governance of land tenure set out in the VGGT for companies involved in land-based investment. It provides a more manageable presentation of the VGGT, along with steps to ensure that a company acts consistently with them and includes thorough due diligence on the tenure rights of project-affected communities.