En las últimas décadas, el mundo ha hecho un progreso impresionante para mejorar la calidad de vida de millones de personas; sin embargo, todavía sigue inconclusa la tarea de garantizar la seguridad alimentaria a los más pobres de una manera sostenible. La explosión demográfica, la expansión urbana, la desnutrición y la mala salud persistentes, las tierras agrícolas degradadas y el agua escasa, la carencia de poder de las mujeres, la globalización acelerada y la rápida aparición de nuevas tecnologías - todos estos y muchos otros factores están influenciando este esfuerzo continuo.

"In contrast to popular predictions of Africa’s worsening economic decline, recent research supports an alternative and more positive vision of Africa’s future. New political commitment and African ownership of the development agenda, combined with a renewed focus on and investments in smallholder-led agriculture, have the potential to halt or reverse the current downward spiral of hunger, poverty, environmental degradation, disease, and civil strife.

"As part of its 2020 Vision for Food, Agriculture, and the Environment Initiative, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) has articulated a vision of what the world should look like in 2020: it should be a world free from poverty, hunger, malnutrition, and unsustainable natural resource management.

In het landinrichtingsgebied Olst-Wesepe is de consequentie van het vigerende water- en natuurbeleid dat er een relatief groot oppervlak gronden aan de landbouw moet worden ont-trokken (aankoop) om zaken als ruimte voor waterberging, landschap en natuur te realiseren. De landinrichtingscommissie heeft ALTERRA opdracht gegeven te onderzoeken of er alternatieven zijn voor aankoop: kunnen die doelstellingen ook gerealiseerd worden door aanpassingen in de agrarische bedrijfsvoering voor te stellen, zodat meerboer(en) kunnen blijven, maar ook de beleidsdoelstellingen duurzaam gewaarborgd zijn.

De landbouw kan worden getypeerd met vier ontwikkelingsrichtingen: grootschalige grondgebonden productie, geconcentreerde agroproductieparken, belevingslandbouw en agrarisch natuur- en landschapsbeheer. De richtingen hebben uiteenlopende perspectieven en ruimtelijke effecten: deze worden beschreven. Tevens zijn kaarten opgenomen met kansrijke locaties

O estudo demonstra claramente as deficiências dos modelos lineares que separam os processos de elaboração de políticas da sua implementação. Ambos os estudos de caso mostram que a legislação e os regulamentos podem ser modificados, reinterpretados ou simplesmente ignorados quando se trata de implementá-los, quando as relações de poder a nível local se tornam críticas. Esta constatação tem duas implicações directas.

The new political dispensation in South Africa was the result of a political compromise, which depended on a crucial agreement to leave many of the existing power and wealth relationships intact. The advent of democracy in South Africa presented African people with long awaited political freedom but minimal social and economic liberation. The wealth was to remain in the hands of the few and any attempts by government to reverse the status quo was thwarted by the realities of the harsh global capitalist market system.

Ethiopia has combined its fourth and fifth reports to the United Nations Committee that monitors the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). This report outlines the status of women in Ethiopia and initiatives on the part of all government and non-governmental actors to address the goals set out by CEDAW. Institutional commitments to address gender issues are in place. However, the socioeconomic status of women, particularly in rural areas, remains lower in Ethiopia's male-biased social structures.