A toolkit of 26 items designed for people designing or improving community-based paralegal programmes. It draws lessons from both grassroots experience and research. Includes

The first of 7 Working Papers presented at an FAO regional technical workshop for sub-Saharan Africa on legal empowerment of the poor (LEP) in Nakuru, Kenya, in October 2006. Divided into 7 issues: land markets, individualised land tenure, and land titling; pluralism; informal settlements in urban and peri-urban areas; gender; decentralisation and institutional development; pastoralism; dispute settlement. Each issue is examined through four dimensions: the international, the colonial, the national, and the social.

Impossible to have imagined 50 years ago that Africa’s ruling political elites would have come to despise their own small-scale farmers and pastoralists and to look kindly on foreign-run large plantations. Impact of decades of structural adjustment programmes forgotten. Sceptical about claims that land grabs can be stopped within 3 years. Looks at variety of responses attempting to address power inequalities at local levels. Research a not unproblematic area. Concludes with case studies of legal empowerment in Mozambique and Namati’s community land protection programme.

Successive governments in India have emphasized the need for industrial expansion and privatization as the foundation for economic stability and growth. This focus has led to the policy-induced transformation of rural and peri-urban landscapes into use for industry and infrastructure. These transformations have caused social conflicts and ecological impacts for land and resource-dependent people.

Since the 1960s, and particularly in the last decade, Southeast Asia has been attracting significant foreign investments. Myanmar, despite its land titling and registration tangles, is no exception. Investors all across the globe are vying for a piece of the “Golden Land” and the country is responding with equal fervor. The building of a modern industrialized nation through agricultural development is one of the country's economic objectives. Foreign investments are being encouraged, private businesses are being pushed, and attractive tax and duty rebates are being offered.

Since the 1960s, and particularly in the last decade, Southeast Asia has been attracting significant foreign investments. Myanmar, despite its land titling and registration tangles, is no exception. Investors all across the globe are vying for a piece of the “Golden Land” and the country is responding with equal fervor. The building of a modern industrialized nation through agricultural development is one of the country's economic objectives. Foreign investments are being encouraged, private businesses are being pushed, and attractive tax and duty rebates are being offered.

Over the last 50 years, most Asian countries have gone through a shift from subsistence agricultural systems to industrialized economies. In Indonesia, the major shift came in 1966, when General Suharto successfully staged a military coup. Under his presidency, Indonesia experienced the “New Order”. A key aspect of this regime was trade and industrial expansion. Changes were made to foreign and domestic investment laws to facilitate growth, including the removal of most controls on private investments.

ABSTRACTED FROM LA VIA CAMPESINA PRESS RELEASE: The UN Declaration aims to better protect the rights of all rural populations including peasants, fisherfolks, nomads, agricultural workers and indigenous peoples and to improve living conditions, as well as to strengthen food sovereignty, the fight against climate change and the conservation of biodiversity. The endorsement of the UN Declaration also constitutes an important contribution to the international community’s effort to promote family farming and peasant agriculture.

La investigación como un tejido de relaciones, complicidad y empatía
Ruth Bautista Durán

ABSTRACTED FROM EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: During the critical years following the 2012 land reforms undertaken in the midst of Myanmar’s political transition, Gret conducted an in-depth study combining qualitative and quantitative surveys in nine villages of Bogale and Mawlamyinegyun townships (Delta) and nine villages in Monywa and Yinmabin townships (Dry Zone). The full report and the synthesis are the result of more than two years in-depth research and 13 months of eldwork that involved an inter-disciplinary team of 11 international and Myanmar researchers.

WEBSITE INTRODUCTION: This thematic study presents a country-level overview of customary tenure arrangements in Lao PDR. It examines the extent of customary tenure and land formalization in the country, key policy changes that have impacted on customary arrangements, the degree to which customary land is recognized legally and in practice, and explores opportunities for better recognition. Customary tenure covers a wide range of land types and resources, and provides livelihood security for a majority of the Lao rural population, particularly ethnic minorities and women.

WEBSITE INTRODUCTION: In the Mekong region, conflicts between local communities and large scale land concessions are widespread. They are often difficult to solve. In Cambodia, an innovative approach to conflict resolution was tested in a case involving a private company, Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL), and several indigenous communities who lost some of their customary lands and forests when the company obtained a concession to grow rubber in the Province of Ratanakiri.