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.

ABSTRACTED FROM WEB INTRODUCTION AND EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: In order to inform Myanmar’s first multi-stakeholder national dialogue workshop on land tenure and user rights (held November 24th & 25th, 2012), Forest Trend’s Senior Law & Policy Advisor Rob Oberndorf was asked to conduct an in-depth analysis of recently enacted land legislation in the country, and suggest ways in which the legal frameworks relating to rural land management could be improved. This report is the result of that research and analysis assignment.

In this chapter, I adapt the game approach to examine the differences and conformities between formal legal laws and under-law regulations of the party-state institutions and the real practices of the Red river delta villagers on the holding and use of agricultural land. More specifically, this chapter emphasizes official norms, in this case the study of agricultural land claims regarded as formal legal laws and under-law regulations of the party-state institutions.

ABSTRACTED FROM THE OPENING PARAGRAPHS, AND THE BOOK BLURB: The decentralization of control over the vast forests of the world is moving at a rapid pace, with both positive and negative ramifications for people and forests themselves. Th[is] chapter examines LFA from the decentralized forest management perspective. In particular, it examines the process by which the policy was implemented and considers whether it helped build sustainable forest management at the community level. [It] first reviews the history of LFA and the major actors involved.

Đổi Mới, the name given to the economic reforms initiated in 1986 in Vietnam, has renewed the party-state’s ambitious scheme of industrialization and has intensified the process of urbanization in Vietnam. A large area of land has been converted for these purposes, with various effects on both the state and society. This article sheds light on how land conversion has resulted in farmers’ resistance and in what way and to what extent it has transformed their livelihoods in the transitional context of contemporary Vietnam.

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.

"The hour of capitalism's greatest triumph," writes Hernando de Soto, "is, in the eyes of four-fifths of humanity, its hour of crisis." In The Mystery of Capital, the world-famous Peruvian economist takes up the question that, more than any other, is central to one of the most crucial problems the world faces today: Why do some countries succeed at capitalism while others fail? In strong opposition to the popular view that success is determined by cultural differences, de Soto finds that it actually has everything to do with the legal structure of property and property rights.

While early attempts at land titling in Africa were often unsuccessful, the need to secure land rights has kindled renewed interest, in view of increased demand for land, a range of individual and communal rights available under new laws, and reduced costs from combining information technology with participatory methods. We used a difference-in-difference approach to assess the effects of a low-cost land registration program in Ethiopia, which covered some 20 million plots over five years, on investment.

There is widespread belief among development specialists that land tenure security is a necessary but not sufficient condition for economic development.

This study assesses the economic implications of land ownership security in rural Thailand. It uses data from this country to rigorously analyze several aspects of land ownership security. It provides both qualitative and quantiative information on the effects of ownership security. The study presents a conceptual model and literature review and is followed by separate discussions on the evolution of land rights in Thailand; the study methodology and the nature of the data; and the credit market.

Land is an important source of identity and a precious asset with significant emotional connection in India. It is also the main source of rural and feudal power structure for most of India’s history. Land is a symbol of social status, cultural identity and an expression of political power. The value of land is deeply ingrained in the consciousness and well-being of the poor farmers and indigenous communities who make up a substantial portion of India’s total population.

Rural areas are key elements that underpin the social and economic European territory and shape its landscape. The rural setting is a dynamic concept, able to distinguish three stages on how the European Union (EU) understands "rural": rural as image, rural as local, and rural as a social construction. The evolution of the concept is reflected in the need to adapt the approach used to address rural issues, and consequently the political design for rural development.