Thispaper characterizes the structural and rural transformation of the Asia and the Pacific region(APR), highlighting the implications for rural youth opportunities and challenges, and identifying andelaborating on the characteristics, opportunities and challenges related to rural youth inclusion. Nearly half of the population in Asia is urban, with the proportion projected to rise to 59 per cent by 2035.

Significant progress has been made over the past decade or so in the development of policy and legislation that support the recognition of customary rights to land, with important legal rulings in Tanzania, Uganda, Mozambique, South Sudan, and South Africa. At the same time, the strengthening of communities’ traditional rights to use resources has progressed through community forest reserves and community conservation areas.

Across sub-Saharan Africa agriculture is the backbone of the economy, accounting for 30-40% of nations’ gross domestic product, and a leading source of jobs for over two-thirds of the population. Improving the
productivity, profitability and sustainability of agriculture on the millions of farms that cover the African continent is essential for ending poverty and boosting shared prosperity in the region.

The economic and social organization of rural societies has a high level of gender differentiation in terms of rights, activities
and responsibilities. This interacts with other aspects of social stratification based on factors such as ethnicity, statutory groups, religion and level of wealth. Consequently, women do not represent a homogeneous category, but a group whose interests are sometimes conflicting and which are equally subject to power relations. Some observations:

While academics have largely shifted their focus from ‘women in development’ to addressing women and men as
part of broader ‘gendered’ social relations, this shift is yet to be fully translated into development practice. This
requires development practitioners to be sensitive to local contexts and to the various inequalities they contain
with regards to land rights and land use (based on class, gender, age, migration status etc.).

While nearly 80 percent of food consumed in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia is produced by smallholder farmers, the Bank negates the importance of small-scale farming for sustainable rural development and food security. Family farmers account for 80 percent of all holdings in the developing world, therefore smallholders’ own investments—not FDIs—are the main force sustaining agriculture and should be encouraged.

This paper examines the intersections between youth access to land, migration decisions and employment opportunities using nationally representative and multi-year data from multiple African countries. We document evidence on the evolving dynamics in land distribution and ownership patterns, the effect of land access on youth livelihood choices and development of rental and sales market in the region.

The aim of this study is to analyse modes of access to land and agreements regulating the exchange of plots between families and between villages. It is based on a quantitative survey of 95 smallholders and over 300 plots (49 of which are cultivated by women), as well as qualitative analysis using transcriptions of interviews with groups of dignitaries, men and women. The main means of access to land identified are via inheritance and gifts, which together accounted for access to 80% to 90% of the plots surveyed.

Cet article s'attachera à analyser la situation du conflit entre les djihadistes de Katiba Macina et les donsos dans la zone de Niono (région de Ségou, centre du Mali), ainsi que le processus qui a conduit à l'accord de paix entre les belligérants. La dynamique du conflit dans le centre et l'accord de paix permettent de comprendre les rouages complexes de la violence dans le centre du Mali.

Más de 10 años después de la oleada de grandes transacciones de tierras (las GTT) en países en desarrollo y que siguió al aumento, de finales de la década del 2000, en los precios de las materias primas agrícolas, la Iniciativa Land Matrix hace balance de la “carrera mundial por la tierra”, y de sus repercusiones ambientales y socioeconómicas. A partir de la base de datos Land Matrix y de una revisión bibliográfica para analizar y comprender mejor los amplios efectos de las GTT, nuestras conclusiones son aleccionadoras y, en parte, alarmantes.

Los recursos de aguas, tierras y suelos del mundo están sometidos a presiones debido a que deben satisfacer la mayor demanda de alimentos. La agricultura reviste importancia para mitigar estas presiones y contribuir positivamente a los objetivos relacionados con el clima y el desarrollo. Las prácticas agrícolas sostenibles pueden dar lugar a mejoras directas en el estado de la tierra, el suelo y el agua, así como generar beneficios ecosistémicos y reducir las emisiones derivadas de la tierra.

The Global Programme 'Responsible Land Policy' (GPRLP) is part of the Special Initiative 'One World, No Hunger' of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), which aims to reduce extreme poverty and hunger.