The preservation, development and sustainable use of agricultural land are of vital importance to ensure longterm food security in South Africa. These principles of food security as well as an integrated, inclusive rural economy underpin the core focus areas of the National Development Plan, Vision 2030 (NDP).

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.

The Committee received submissions from the Langa Livestock Farmers Association, The Congress of South African Trade Unions and its affiliate, the National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union, the Legal Resources Centre and the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies on the second day of public hearings on the Recapitalisation and Development Programme (RADP).

The Chairperson introduced the first day of public hearings on the Recapitalisation and Development Programme (RADP) in the agricultural sector by noting that the Committee had done oversight in the Northern Cape of the farms that were beneficiaries of the programme, and now wanted to hear the outcomes of the independent evaluation of the programme, and also hear from beneficiaries.

The draft report on the public hearings on the Implementation of the Recapitalization and Development Programme (RDP) of the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (the Department) was presented before the Committee for approval and comments. The main issues that arose in the approval of the draft report were the oversight role of the Committee, sustainability and implementation.

This Handbook aims to explain how satellite Earth Observation (EO) are an essential tool in the development of the information and evidence required by many of the SDG Targets and Indicators.It has been prepared for national agencies, UN bodies and other SDG stakeholders working towards a collective implementation of the 2030 Agenda and towards a cost-effective response of countries to the SDG monitoring and reporting challenges.

This note is for private sector project implementers and financers (development finance institutions, international development agencies, commercial lenders and equity investors) seeking to invest responsibly in new greenfield sites in low and middle- income countries. It aims to provide practical guidance on identifying and addressing community land conflicts to prevent them escalating into disputes between the project and local communities.

Cada vez más necesitamos maneras de asegurar patrones de desarrollo que sean sustentables, es decir, que sean ambiental, social y económicamente apropiados para nosotros y para las generaciones venideras. Los indicadores de desarrollo sustentable son una herramienta promisoria que permitiría "aterrizar" el concepto de sustentabilidad, apoyando la manera en que se toman las decisiones. En Chile existen pocas experiencias sobre el tema. Este artículo presenta el trabajo realizado para desarrollar indicadores de desarrollo sustentable en cuatro regiones del país.

This report presents the results of the multi-country assessment carried out in 17 countries across the world. The findings of this assessment is expected to directly inform the work of the co-custodian agencies for land Indicator 1.4.2 (UN-Habitat and World Bank) in formulating a coherent capacity development strategy for NSOs at country level, and strengthen their collaboration with land agencies for enhanced data infrastructure needed to regularly report on this indicator.

This report reviews the options for support to grassland restoration in the context of demand growth for livestock products and climate change mitigation. Key messages are: Grasslands provide crucial economic, social and environmental outputs Gasslands cover a total of 52.5 million km2 , or about 40% of the world’s ice-free terrestrial surface area. Extensive grasslands contribute about 7% of global beef production, 12% of sheep and goat meat production and 5% of global milk supply.

Sustainable development of pastoral and agro-pastoral systems, dominated by collective and/or tribal ownership of rangelands, is a key issue for the West Asia and North Africa region. These two systems are located in arid and semi-arid areas and are increasingly threatened by desertification process. The policy responses to tackle this complexity have been a sectorial and fragmented, “top-down” approach, putting forward technical solutions and neglecting the social context.