Land registration and titling in Africa has been seen as a means of legal empowerment of the poor that can protect smallholders’ and pastoralists’ rights of access to land and other landbased resources.

The Ingonyama Trust Board (the Trust) presented its Annual Report for the 2014/2015 financial year. The Trust had committed R6 000 000 for the purchase of tractors to support production on communal land and noted that substantial sums of money were paid out for the benefit of 120 Learners. Employment, HR and vacancy figures were given. The Trust highlighted some performance statistics. In this year, the Board had approved 1 100 tenure rights, falling short of the target of 1 200.

The Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (DRDLR) and the Minister briefed the Committee on the performance, outcomes and challenges of the Land Rights Management Facility, presenting the Fourth Quarter 2014 report, and also touching on the Extension of security of tenure (land) Amendment Bill. It was noted that the Land Rights Management Facility (LRMF) tried to facilitate provision of specialised legal and mediation services to indigent communities and individuals faced with violations of their rights pertaining to land and livelihood.

The Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (DRDLR) and the Ingonyama Trust Board presented their fourth quarter performance and financial reports for 2014-15. The Committee also received at status report on the Riemvasmaak community claim.

Across Africa, Asia and Latin America, investors are increasingly approaching rural communities seeking land for logging, mining, and agribusiness ventures. Even in those situations where the investors have followed FPIC guidelines and undertaken a formal “consultation” with the community, these consultations are generally conducted in a context of significant power and information asymmetries. Part of the power imbalance comes from communities’ lack of information about the value of community lands and natural resources.

A community paralegal, also known as a grassroots legal advocate or a barefoot lawyer, is a community resource person and mobiliser, trained in basic law and legal procedures and in skills like mediation, negotiation, education, and advocacy.

Landjepik, diefstal van land, gebeurt vaak in Nederland. Een huiseigenaar trekt bewust maar onopgemerkt een strook gemeentegrond bij zijn tuin of verplaatst het hek op het land van zijn buurman. Een boer vergroot bewust zijn akker door een deel van de grond van zijn buurman bij zijn land te ploegen.

In view of the lack of human resources with specific competencies in customary land rights, within the past two decades FAO and various non-governmental organizations have developed materials and methodologies for the dissemination of the Land Law and the participatory delimitation of rural communities. Materials and methodologies were developed based on practical experience of several land projects implemented over a period of approximately 20 years.

On 18 October 2014 the Myanmar government released a much-awaited draft national land use policy. Land and how it is governed is of fundamental importance for Myanmar society. The current laws mainly benefit private companies and not small-holder farmers in the country, who represent more then 75% of the population. The current laws also do not respect traditional and customary practices of the country's ethnic minority groups. This new TNI briefing examines the draft national land policy and assesses whether it is pro-business or pro-poor.

This report is the fruit of collaboration between ILC, IFAD and FAO. It provides information on the historical background of the Convention and its Optional Protocol, the working methods of the Committee, as well as a summary of information provided in reports of selected countries. NOTE: See also the 2010 update of this document.

Over the past decade, Laos has experienced a land rush by foreign investors seeking to gain large tracts of land for hydropower, mining, and plantation projects. The rapid pace of the phenomenon has prompted signif icant concern by international observers, Lao civil society, and certain sections of the government, regarding the impacts upon farmers that are dispossessed of their land and communal resources. However, both investors and peasant communities alike have differing experiences with the investment process.