This paper examines regulatory approaches for informal livelihood activities within cities. Informality is generally conceptualised in terms of activities, workers and governance. Scholars have concentrated much advocating development of micro enterprise and improvement of capital goods. Little focus has been put on the conceptualisation of regulatory approaches for informal livelihood activities spatially, which sought to be the aim of this paper.

 Peri-urban areas in Ethiopia like that of other African countries are places where much of urban growth is taking place and as a result the competition for land between agriculture and nonagriculture (urban built-up property) is intense. It is there that new properties and property rights emerge and at the same time the existing traditional or customary rights may also disappear or dissolve. This study has attempted to assess and demonstrate the process of built-up property formation process in the transitional peri-urban areas of Ethiopia.

In various countries around the world, land expropriation is considered as a major tool used by governments to assemble tracts of land for various activities aiming at public interest. However, determination of compensation which is regarded as a pre-requisite for land expropriation has been a source of controversy in this process. This paper attempts to find out how land valuation for compensation during expropriation is carried out in Rwanda, considering two expropriation projects in Kigali city.

Large scale land acquisition is a buzzword of the day in the world, more so in Ethiopia. The issue is indeed polarizing, in one hand it is dubbed as land grab and seen as ultimate scramble for land. On the other hand, it is often depicted as key to development, technology transfer and boost in productivity of an otherwise idle land available in Ethiopian lowlands, or somewhere else.

Under Mozambique’s Constitution and Land Law (1997), communities may legally govern their lands and natural resources according to customary norms and practices, so long as local customs do not contradict national law. However, rising land scarcity and associated increases in land value are leading some families to “reinterpret” custom as sanctioning the dispossession of widows from their marital lands.

Achieving sustainable food security (i.e., the basic right of people to produce and/or purchase the food they need, without harming the social and biophysical environment) is a major challenge in a world of rapid human population growth, large-scale changes in economic development and in the face of climate change.

In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), production on smallholder farms is critical to the food security of the rural poor and contributes the majority of food production at the national level.

For cities to be sustainable, they need to simultaneously address the vulnerability of people, places and sectors that may be affected by a changing climate; mitigate their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; and ensure adequate access to basic urban services such as water, food and energy to their growing populations. 

This first progress report for the five-year Sida programme provides a comprehensive review of programme activities, progress towards outcomes, risks encountered and lessons learned in the first 18 months – from 1 October 2013 to 31 March 2015. It also discusses adjustments required to Year 2 implementation as a result of these findings.

This Topic Guide addresses the threat that climate change poses to food security and poverty reduction achievements. The peer-reviewed guide explains how programming around climate-smart agriculture can help adapt and build resilience to climate change – at the same time stimulating economic growth and poverty reduction in the agricultural sector.

The new India’s Right to Food Campaign website was launched in March 2014 at the campaign’s fifth convention. It is an action-oriented website, with lots of action-oriented material on the right to food in India including primers, articles, survey reports, court orders, campaign tools and much more As explained in its foundation statement, the right to food campaign is an informal network of individuals and organisations committed to the realisation of the right to food in India.

Lesotho regularly features in the African and international media as a country blighted by drought, hunger and food insecurity. Much of the discussion about the causes and remedies for food insecurity, including within Lesotho itself, focuses on the rural population and the precipitous decline in domestic food production in recent decades. This report argues that the rural bias of both donors and government ignores the fact that poverty and food insecurity are increasingly important urban issues as well.