Recognition of the potentially deleterious implications of inequality in opportunity originating in a skewed asset distribution has spawned considerable interest in land reforms. However, little attention has been devoted to fact that, in the longer term, the measures used to implement land reforms could negatively affect productivity. Use of state level data on rental restrictions, together with a nationally representative survey from India, suggests that, contrary to original intentions, rental restrictions negatively affect productivity and equity.

This review focuses on the role of local institutions in adaptation to climate change. It does so under the belief that climate impacts will affect disadvantaged social groups more disproportionately, and that local institutions centrally influence how different social groups gain access to and are able to use assets and resources.

Although opinions on impacts of land market transfers are sharply divided, few studies explore the welfare and productivity effects of land markets on a larger scale. This paper uses a large Indian panel spanning almost 20 years, together with a climatic shock (rainfall) indicator, to assess the productivity and equity effects of market-mediated land transfers (sale and purchase) compared with non-market ones (inheritance). The analysis shows that frequent shocks increase land market activity, an effect that is mitigated by the presence of safety nets and banks.

The ways in which people obtain land in Uganda are changing fast. Land that used to be secured through inheritance, gifts or proof of long-term occupancy is now more commonly changing hands in the market. Those with wealth and powerful connections are frequently able to override local rules and gain access to land at the expense of poorer individuals. Government-backed agribusiness investors receive large areas of land with benefits for some local farmers who are able to participate in the schemes, while other smallholders see their land access and livelihoods degraded.

The current pressures on land are huge and expected to continue growing: there is rapidly escalating competition between the demand for land functions that provide food, water, and energy, and those services that support and regulate all life cycles on Earth.

The Mekong Region Land Governance (MRLG) project, MLIKE (Mekong Land Information and Knowledge Exchange),  and the Land Portal co-facilitated an online dialogue on “Responsible Large Scale Agricultural Investments in the Mekong Region” on 09-27 October 2017. The full dialogue can be read here. This report delineates the key messages emerging from the dialogue.

The  study  looks  into  the  work  of  two  organizations-  the  Foundation  for  Ecological Security (FES) and BAIF Research Foundation, towards Common Land Developmentin the two States of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

This study was commissioned by the South Asia Pro-Poor Livestock Policy Programme (SAPPLPP), a joint nitiative of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) and the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO).

The study was undertaken to identify pertinent and emerging issues that have implications for biodiversity conservation and livelihoods and the inter-relationship between them. A detailed review of the current national and state policies was undertaken along with the strategies being implemented by the government and various multi-lateral and bi-lateral agencies and other organizations, focused especially in the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand and Orissa as provided in the scope of the study.

RCDC pursued a bio-resource governance programme during the period of 2009-11 in four tribal districts of Odisha with an objective of developing model GPs on bioresource governance. Land use being a major factor in natural resource governance, changes in land utilization, particularly forest land diversion, has been a matter of concern for these areas. In this backdrop, RCDC intended for an in-depth analysis of the dynamics of the changes in land utilization pattern in the state with focus on forest land diversion.

The Hill Area Development Program (HADP) has been introduced by the Government of India to initiate socio economic development in the hill areas of India since the inception of the Fifth Five Year Plan. The main objective of this program is to ensure „sustainable‟ development of hill areas, keeping in view the basic needs of the hill people and generating ample livelihood options for the local community. With the progress of the Five Year plans, the focus has been shifting to preservation of biodiversity and rejuvenation of hill ecology.

The Border Area Development Programme (BADP) was introduced in the Seventh Plan as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) with the objective of infusing a sense of security among the people and building the much needed social and physical infrastructure to propel normal development activities.