The International Development Law Organization (IDLO) and the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) assessed the legal frameworks for major resource sectors in Zambia, Tanzania and Mozambique to analyze whether and to what extent they enable sustainable investments. Relevant international standards suggest that sustainable investments integrate socioeconomic and environmental concerns, bound together by the rule of law.

What is the future of food in South Africa? What might the food system look like in 2030, in terms of production, processing, distribution and consumption? Many people are asking similar questions and producing vision statements, policies and forecasts to enable anticipation and planning in a volatile system. They are all telling stories about the future – some optimistic, some dire. But these stories tend to be disconnected, narrated past each other to different audiences. The four scenarios contained in this document tell a more connected set of stories.

Plano operacional para o desenvolvimento agrário de Moçambique (2015 - 2019)

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

Ces dix dernières années, le Mozambique est devenu une cible privilégiée de la ruée mondiale vers les terres. Les investissements croissants dans les secteurs de l’exploitation minière, des hydrocarbures, des plantations de forêts et de l’agriculture industrielle visent le plus souvent des terres rurales qui, en vertu du droit coutumier, sont détenues par les communautés locales. En découlent de fréquents conflits entre les communautés et les investisseurs.

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.

As Vietnam embraces the market economy, and a number of state policies promote reforestation and rural market integration, land use and land cover (LULC) changes are occurring in the country’s northern uplands in increasingly complex and fragmented ways. Yet understandings of the degree and consequences of LULC changes in this diverse agro-ecological region are incomplete. We conduct a systematic literature review of research reported in academic articles tracing and analysing LULC change in Vietnam’s northern regions.

The development of modern high efficiency bioenergy technologies has the potential to improve energy security and access while reducing environmental impacts and stimulating low-carbon development. While modern bioenergy production is increasing in the world, it still makes a small contribution to our energy matrix. At present, approximately 87% of energy demand is satisfied by energy produced through consumption of fossil fuels.

Projected land demands for bioenergy fall well within conservative estimates of current and future land availability (240 to 905 Mha). Estimates for the amount of modern bioenergy needed to meaningfully mitigate climate change range from 80 to 200 EJ in the 2050 timeframe. At the upper end of this range, we estimate that about 200 million hectares would be required. This may be compared to most estimates for the amount of land available for bioenergy, which exceed 500 million hectares.

The land use sector represents almost 25% of total global emissions. These emissions can be reduced. There is also great potential for carbon sequestration through the scaling up, and scaling out, of proven and effective practices. Improved land use and management, such as low-emissions agriculture, agro-forestry and ecosystem conservation and restoration could, under certain circumstances, further reduce the remaining emissions gap by up to 25%. These climate-smart land management practices nearly always come with adaptation co-benefits.

Despite myriad challenges, Kenya has emerged in recent years as one of Africa’s frontier economies, with headline growth in the most recent decade propelling the country toward middle-income status. Less well understood is how risk dynamics associated with production, markets, and policy adversely impact sector performance, in terms of both influencing ex ante decision making among farmers, traders, and other sector stakeholders and causing ex post losses to crops, livestock, and incomes - destabilizing livelihoods and jeopardizing the country’s food security.

This work summarizes background papers prepared for the World Bank Group with significant input from government counterparts and other development partners. It takes stock of major recent developments and argues that a lot has been achieved in the last decade in terms of production of commodities for export and food consumption, with favorable impact on rural poverty reduction. It also argues that the two factors driving the recent agricultural performance, namely favorable international prices and expansion of the agricultural frontier, have reached their limits.