This note recounts that by the early
2000s, the Government of Mexico and the Secretariat of
Agrarian Reform, in particular, had come to see investment
in "the more dynamic young segment of the population
endowed with more human capital" as the key to
revitalizing the moribund rural economy of the
country's social sector. Approaching this objective
programmatically would entail establishing a land fund from

Ensuring food security under changing
climate conditions is one of the major challenges of our
era. Agriculture must not only become increasingly
productive, but must also adapt to climate change while
reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Soil carbon
sequestration, the process by which atmospheric carbon
dioxide is taken up by plants through photosynthesis and
stored as carbon in biomass and soils, can support these

As in other societies in Southeast Asia
and the Pacific, customary social organization features
strongly in rural Timor-Leste. As well as providing avenues
for conflict resolution, the influence of customary systems
extends to land tenure. As the state, development partners,
private investors, non-governmental organizations (NGOs),
and others seek to promote rural development in Timor-Leste,
they will be forced to engage in some way with customary

The project initially focused on
building upon the 1998 Registration Law to develop
registration procedures, and on getting the Legislative
Reform Office (LROs) up and running. Cost, affordability,
and quality of services were important considerations. The
Project benefited from the country's high education
levels and relatively low labor costs. Since independence in
1991, the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic has sought to

Declining soil fertility due to
inadequate farming practices, deforestation and overgrazing
are among the primary impediments to increased agricultural
productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa. These causal factors,
driven by social, economic and political forces, manifest
themselves in market, policy and institutional failures,
inappropriate technologies and practices. This is also the
case in Tanzania where over 90 percent of the population is

Brazil has developed a community-led,
market-based approach to land reform in which poor rural
laborers and farmers, either landless or with insufficient
land for subsistence, form beneficiary associations through
which to obtain financing to buy agricultural properties,
for which they negotiate directly with willing sellers. The
financing package includes complementary funds for
investments to enhance land productivity (water,

India's Uttar Pradesh Sodic Lands
Reclamation Project has two objectives. First, it seeks to
reverse the decline of productivity through sustainable
reclamation of sodic lands. Second, it is intended to
prevent additional increases in sodicity through
strengthening local institutions and enabling effective
management of such programs with strong beneficiary
participation and nongovernmental organization (NGO)

Tajikistan is highly vulnerable to the
adverse impacts of global climate change, as it already
suffers from low agricultural productivity, water stress,
and high losses from disasters. Public awareness of the
multiple consequences of climate change is high, with
possible impacts on health, natural disasters, and
agriculture of greatest public concern. Climate change can
potentially deepen poverty by lowering agricultural yields,

The World Bank, with the financial
support of the Japan Social Development Fund (JSDF), is
implementing the Alternative Indigenous and Afro-Descendants
and Agroforestry Project (COCOA-RAAN) in the indigenous and
Afro-descended (Miskito) regions of Nicaragua. The
implementing agency, the Agro-forestry coordinating
association of indigenous peoples and farmers, is a regional
Non government Organization (NGO) 'focused on seeking

As the world begins to feel the effects
of climate change, the frequency of droughts is increasing
in the Horn of Africa. In Kenya, the drought and food crisis
affect welfare through two main channels. The first channel
is the increased mortality of livestock in drought-affected
areas, which are home to 10 percent of the country's
population. The second channel is by exacerbating increases
in food prices, which are largely driven by worldwide price

Over the last century, the world has
seen a sustained decline in the proportion of people living
in poverty. However, there is an increasing concern that
climate change could slow or possibly even reverse poverty
reduction progress. Given the complexities involved in
analyzing climate change impacts on poverty, different
approaches can be helpful; this note surveys the results of
recent research on climate change impacts on poverty.

Smallholder banana farmers are beginning
to understand that their old farming methods are
contributing to the planet's drying up or suffocating
in fields of garbage. They are convinced that they have to
change their ways for the good of their farms, their
communities, and their children. But what really drives them
to adopt new and sustainable practices? What will ensure
they continue to do so? International Finance Corporation