Land and land-based natural resources are the foundation of livelihoods for millions of people and are related to social, cultural and spiritual identity. This is particularly the case for drylands people, who, due to low and variable rainfall and water availability, have developed adaptive strategies in response to seasonal, climatic and environmental change. Gender role norms play an important role in these dynamics, where men and women often undertake different livelihood activities to manage difficult ecological conditions. 

The Rural Agricultural Livelihood Survey (RALS) is a new panel survey designed to obtain a comprehensive picture of Zambia’s small- and medium-scale farming sector using the 2010 census sampling frame. An earlier household panel survey for rural Zambia was the Supplemental Surveys (SS) of 2001, 2004 and 2008, which enabled the publication of a large set of important research outputs by IAPRI, Michigan State University and a range of Zambian and international partner organizations.

There is increasing awareness that integrating gender into development frameworks is critical for effective implementation of development strategies. In working to alleviate rural poverty, the CGIAR Research Program on Aquatic Agricultural Systems (AAS) recognizes that “business as usual” gender integration approaches will not deliver lasting and widespread improvements in agricultural productivity, poverty reduction and food security. In response, AAS operationalized a gender transformative approach (see Cole et al. 2014a, 2014b).

Regulamento sobre o processo de Avaliação do impacto Ambiental (Decreto 54/2015)

Mozambique has become a hot spot in the global rush for land in the last decade. Growing investments in sectors such as mining, hydrocarbons, forest plantations and industrial agriculture most often target rural land held by local communities under customary law, and conflicts between communities and investors often arise. Existing laws regulating land are poorly implemented and enforced, which is due to the power imbalances existing between the government, companies and local communities.

In Asia, land issues affect women in ways that call for serious deliberation and action. Suffice it to say, the legitimate concerns of females transcend generations and geographical borders. Attaining a stable livelihood, meeting basic resource needs and having adequate housing are just some of the issues that affect women. There is, however, a pressing need to heed the woes of rural women in particular. The poor are swelling in numbers and the condition of poor rural women lies on the fringes of the global economic agenda.

The Landesa Center for Women’s Land Rights has created four new practice guides, which are practical resources for development practitioners, researchers, lawyers, advocates, and scholars to assess the situation for women’s land rights in three countries: Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. They address both the formal legal structure and the customary framework that impact women’s secure access to land. A fourth guide, International Agreements and How to Build a Legal Case for Women’s Land Rights, provides insights and guidance on using international conventions (e.g.

The Burkina Faso-SIGI country study is a tailor-made policy and research tool, adapting the methodology and conceptual framework of the global SIGI to the national context. The adapted Burkina Faso-SIGI framework is the result of consultations, workshops, in-depth research and field surveys.  

Although there is global consensus that women’s land rights are fundamental for the realization of food security and rural development, accurate and reliable statistics to monitor the attainment and realisation of these rights are still lacking. Indeed, the lack of clear and accurate statistics on landownership and land management– that are disaggregated by sex - is problematic for developing clear policy responses to, and for monitoring of, inequalities faced by women and men in rural areas (Doss et al. , 2015).

In Myanmar, movements for gender justice strive to foster personal and collective security, vibrant livelihoods, and political engagement during a period of rapid and uncertain transition. This article draws from the experience of the Gender Equality Network (GEN), a coalition of over 100 organisations in Myanmar. It examines three cases in which GEN sought to document existing forms of resilience and expand these mechanisms through national-level advocacy. The first describes current attempts to publicise, and eventually eliminate, violence against women (VAW).

This two-part infographic explains the importance of social equity in forests and the basics on putting it into practice. The infographic defines equity and provides an easy to understand overview of the key elements that will empower forest-dependent communities. Through understanding equity, forest communities will better understand their rights and be prepared to participate in the decision-making process so they gain a fair share of benefits from forest resources.

We examine the consequences of land tenure insecurity on economic growth in Brazil. We use an overlapping generations model with two sectors: an agricultural sector and a manufacturing sector. Land is specific to the agricultural sector and capital goods are specific to the manufacturing sector. Moreover land is a fixed production factor. Saving takes the form of either land or capital goods purchases, and saving composition depends on transaction costs generated by land tenure insecurity.