The FAO initiative for the adoption of guidelines for land and natural resources tenure is timely as it would fill a serious policy gap. Different constituencies like women, indigenous and tribal peoples, fisherfolks, peasants and landless, forest communities, pastoralists, urban poor and other communities have been organizing themselves in order to articulate their views and demands regarding land and natural resources tenure. Their voices should be fully taken into account throughout a future process of adopting guidelines on governance of land tenure and natural resources.

The land management practices of pastoralist Maasai communities have a major bearing on landscapes and wildlife habitats in northern Tanzania. Pastoralists manage lands according to locally devised rules designed to manage and conserve key resources such as pastures and water sources. Dry season grazing reserves are an important part of traditional land management systems in many pastoralist communities, providing a ‘grass bank’ for livestock to consume during the long dry season when forage invariably becomes scarce and domestic animals are stressed for water and nutrients.

This discussion paper has been prepared by FAO’s Land Tenure and Management Unit to seek views and comments on voluntary guidelines on responsible governance of tenure of land and other natural resources.

Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa. The 2006 provisional census counted over 140 million people (United Nations 2007), 64 percent of whom live in rural areas. These rural areas are undergoing radical, noticeable change, particularly in the agricultural sector. The agricultural sector is increasingly market-oriented and has seen a diversification of income opportunities and an increasing division of labor. It is therefore important to have a highly efficient rural service sector that fosters agricultural productivity and development outcomes.

"In 1993, India introduced quota-based political reservations for women in rural areas with the objective to promote gender equality in human development by making rural service provision and local governance inclusive and responsive to the needs of women. Recent evidence shows that reservation policies for women (1) stimulate the political participation of women in rural areas, (2) shift rural service provision to public goods that reflect gender preferences, and (3) improve the access to and the quality of public services.

Drawing on a household survey collected in eight woredas in seven Ethiopian regions in 2009, as well as on qualitative fieldwork in four of the eight woredas, this paper provides analysis of agricultural extension delivery in Ethiopia. While overall extension services are relatively accessible in Ethiopia, there are differences in access between men and women, and particularly stark differences by region.

In urban areas, the poor struggle to access well located land in cities and legal, institutional and procedural constraints impede secondary residential property markets from functioning effectively in black townships. The purpose of this paper is to examine how municipal property rates policies are, or could be, used as an instrument to promote access by the poor to urban land markets.

The townships of Inanda, Ntuzuma and KwaMashu (INK) are about 25km north of the Durban city centre. The area covers 9340ha of land, and is home to about 580,000 people (18 per cent of Durban’s population) in 115,136 households.

In the aftermath of the post-election crisis, the issue of land has gained increased urgency. Land reforms represent a central part of Kenya’s reform agenda and indeed, the national reconciliation agenda as negotiated by President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga under the aegis of Kofi Annan in early 2008.

Botswana Tenth National Development Plan (NDP 10) marks the last leg in achieving the aspirations of Botswana's long-term vision, Vision 2016- Towards Prosperity for All. The plan, based on the principles of rapid economic growth, social justice, economic independence, and sustainable development, will run from 1st April 2009 to 31st March 2016, a total of 7 years.To make agriculture more productive and sustainable work will be focus on three main components: livestock, arable production, and agricultural business development programme.

L’objectif de la stratégie de développement de la riziculture (SNDR) est d’amélioration de la productivité et de la compétitivité de la riziculture à travers : (i) la réalisation d’aménagements hydro-agricoles ; (ii) l’accès aux intrants agricoles (semences, engrais , herbicides, insecticides) ; (iii) l’accès au foncier rural ; (iv) la mécanisation de la production agricole ; (v) le renforcement de la capacité de la recherche et de l’encadrement ainsi que le transfert des innovations technologiques ; (vi) l’amélioration de la qualité des produits par la modernisation des opérations post-réc

Confrontée à la précarité quant à l’accès aux ressources; la vulnérabilité du paysage et du bassin versant avec des risques d’érosion, de glissements de terrain et d’inondation; la réduction des approvisionnements et augmentation des prix des produits forestiers non ligneux; et la raréfaction produits énergétiques issus du bois, la République centrafricaine a en 2009 adopté la Stratégie de développement et plan pour la promotion de la foresterie urbaine et périurbaine de la ville de Bangui.