El proceso de las grandes transacciones de tierras (GTT) se encuentra en debate y está centrado en temas como la deforestación, el cambio de uso del suelo, la gobernanza de la tierra, el modelo agrícola, o la seguridad alimentaria, entre otros. En América Latina las grandes transacciones de tierras están asociadas al acaparamiento de tierras, a partir de la extranjerización y la concentración de tierras.

Georgia is a country with a favorable geographical location, soil, climate conditions, natural and civilization resources, culture, human capital. Georgia is at the ancient transport crossroads which connected and connecting the countries of the North and South, West and East. The old Silk Road was the main artery crossing the country and connecting Europe and Asia. Georgia borders the Black Sea. To the east, via Azerbaijan, the country has historically been linked to the Caspian Sea and then to Central and Eastern Asia.

This report is part of the Bertelsmann Stiftung’s Transformation Index (BTI) 2020. It covers the period from February 1, 2017 to January 31, 2019. The BTI assesses the transformation toward democracy and a market economy as well as the quality of governance in 137 countries. More on the BTI at https://www.bti-project.org.

Between 2017 and 2019, the quality of democracy in Indonesia continued to slowly but noticeably decline. While President Jokowi was able to de-escalate the conflict between the government and Islamist groups to some extent, he only managed to do so by integrating some Islamist themes and actors into the government structure. This, in turn, moved Indonesia ideologically and politically to the (religious) right. Religious, social and political minorities were the biggest losers of this shift.

Malaysia’s democratic transformation took a historical turn between 2017 and 2019. The opposition coalition, the Pakatan Harapan (Alliance of Hope, PH) won the May 9, 2018, general elections, setting the stage for Mahathir Mohamad, the chairman of the coalition, to become the 7th prime minister of Malaysia (he had previously served as the 4th prime minister). This was the first victory by an opposition coalition after 61 years of rule by the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition led by the United Malays National Organization (UMNO).

The “Responsible Governance of Investments in Land” (RGIL) project in Uganda fosters investment quality promotion to ensure that agriculture and forestry investments in land are productive, contribute to sustainable land management and respect the rights and needs of local populations, including vulnerable groups and women.

The extractive industry can be an important source of human development, economic growth, government revenues and foreign investments. When well-managed, the sector provides possibility to create employment, build human capital, advance peoples mobility by improving infrastructure, and ultimately enhance the overall human development with a positive impact on poverty reduction efforts.

In 2007-8, the Cambodian government granted Economic Land Concessions (ELC) to two rubber companies, namely Socfin-KCD and Dak Lak Mondulkiri Aphivath in Bousra commune, Mondulkiri province. Through a comparative approach, the Case study examines the impact of these rubber concessions on local land tenure systems. It examines how each company took into consideration the land claims of affected people and communities, and the effectiveness of the conflict resolution approach.

This paper examines the effect of foreign direct investment (FDI) on youth unemployment in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region using panel data from the World Bank World Development Indicators for the period 1994–2017. Results from the Feasible Generalized Least Squares (FGLS-Parks) technique show that FDI has an insignificant effect on reducing youth unemployment in the SADC region. This could be because the type of FDI in the region is partly mergers and acquisitions, which has fewer jobs creating capacity compared to Greenfield investment.

In advance of the release of the World Bank’s 2019 Enabling the Business of Agriculture (EBA) report;the Oakland Institute exposes the Bank’s new scheme to privatize land in the developing world. It details how the Bank’s prescribed reforms;via a new land indicator in the EBA project;promotes large-scale land acquisitions and the expansion of agribusinesses in the developing world. Initiated as a pilot in 38 countries in 2017;the land indicator is expected to be expanded to 80 countries in 2019. The project is funded by the US and UK governments and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

A new wave of agricultural commercialisation is being promoted across Africa’s eastern seaboard;by a broad range of influential actors – from international corporations to domestic political and business elites. Growth corridors;linking infrastructure development;mining and agriculture for export;are central to this;and are generating a new spatial politics as formerly remote borders and hinterlands are expected to be transformed through foreign investment and aid projects.

This paper examines how far Afghanistan’s Land Acquisition Law complies with standards required for World Bank financing of public interest projects that unavoidably extinguish or diminish existing land rights in the project area. For this purpose, the law was compared with standards laid down in World Bank ESS5 on Involuntary Settlement. Additional reference was made to ESS1 on social risk and impact assessment, and to ESS7, in regard to communities whose socio-culture and livelihoods rely distinctively and historically upon collectively-based tenure or land use.