News on Land

The Structural Transformation of African Agriculture and Rural Spaces (STAARS) fellowship program, a multi-institution collaboration managed by Cornell University with support from the CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM), announces its annual call for research proposals.

Main photo: the new law was proposed in the light of developments in Cambodia’s property sector. KT/Pann Rachana

A proposal that will lead to substantial changes to the existing law governing land management and urban planning in Cambodia is moving forward.

The Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction (MLMUPC) conducted an online consultative meeting regarding the proposed law. The meeting was led by Pen Sopahal, secretary of state, with other senior officials of the MLMUPC.

Women in Botswana celebrate changes to the country’s land ownership law that now gives them the right to own land independently of their spouses, unlike before when they were treated as part of their husband’s property.

• A report by Global Witness has found that more than 100 Indonesian palm oil mills supplying agribusiness giants ADM and Bunge have been accused of land and human rights violations and environmental destruction.
• Global Witness found that neither company is addressing the majority of these allegations through their formal grievance processes, and effectively passing on this “conflict” palm oil to major consumer brands such as Nestlé, Unilever and PepsiCo.
• ADM and Bunge have denied any failure to police their suppliers, but have also pledged to look

Main photo: Koh Kong province, Cambodia. Prum Khoem, 45, says he used to have 10 hectares of land before it was taken. Photograph: Enric Català/The Guardian

Tate & Lyle has been accused of betraying 200 families in Cambodia who have fought for years to secure compensation for land they say was taken from them to make way for a sugar plantation.

LAND grabs and encroachment on protected forest are becoming more rampant in northern Cambodia, said environmental activists.

Cambodian forest and wildlife conservationists said it was increasing, especially in the Phnom Tnout-Phnom Pok Wildlife Sanctuary, which spans two districts in Preah Vihear province and one district in Siem Reap province.

They said it was a bad sign for the future of Cambodia's wildlife sanctuaries if the trend continued.

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 1 — A group representing Musang King durian farmers in Raub, Pahang today decried the district land office’s attempt to evict them ahead of their court appeal.

Dr Sharon Brown, the President of the Malku Institute of Technology says the Institute will set up a farmers’ training centre at Walewale in the North East Region to train young people on commercial agriculture to enhance food security.

The Institute is an international organisation with its headquarters in Florida, and was established in Ghana in July 2013 with the aim of equipping the youth with employable skills through innovation, research and technology.

Main image: photo of Grabbing char land, influentials have been digging ponds for fish farming in Sonagazi upazila of Feni. Dhaka Tribune

Leaders of plain land indigenous people demand to be supervised under a separate ministry

The indigenous people of the plain land are still victims of various discrimination and their demands, including constitutional recognition, stay in limbo. They are struggling to protect their lands from encroachers.

Adan Medina, a vocal activist in disputes with loggers and landowners, was shot and killed by a group of men

An indigenous leader and activist was killed in northern Honduras, officials said on Wednesday, the second such murder in the Central American country in less than a week.

Adan Medina, 46, of the Tolupan indigenous community, was shot and killed by a group of men on Sunday after returning from work in the town of Candelaria, according to Noe Rodriguez, the president of a local indigenous federation.