The Voluntary Guidelines to support the Progressive Realisation of the Right to Food have served the very useful purpose of placing the right to food squarely on the international development policy agenda.To avoid practice lagging behind theory, concerted efforts are required by governments,…

A lot is expected of poverty reduction strategies, and high hopes have been placed in the Voluntary Guidelines on the right to food. One question frequently raised is whether it is possible to integrate the right to food into the established instrument of poverty reduction strategies.The present…

Following unanimous approval of the Voluntary Guidelines (VGs) on the Right to Adequate Food by FAO member states, with civil society's broad support, the question of «next steps» arises. To explore how to put this important new tool to use, the German government, with support from FAO and…

Fragile states, posing a major challenge of our times, are increasingly becoming a focus of attention in international politics and development cooperation. But very often, the viewpoint of the people affected by fragile statehood is not sufficiently heard. Parts of the international community…

Development policy has to deal with the full spectrum of fragility in developing countries, which can range from individual deficits, for example in guaranteeing security, to the total collapse of state structures.The scope available to development policy and other external actors is always…

Urbanisation and economic transformation - the growth of non-farm, industrial and service sectors - offer many opportunities for improvements in poor people's lives.The crucial challenge is to ensure that places work better for people, providing an enabling and supporting environment for…

Although «urban» and «rural» development are often considered as in opposition to each other and seen as competing with each other for investment and support, many urban centres owe much of their economic base to agriculture. Ironically, one of the best tests of whether rural development is…

The relationship between urban and rural areas has undergone great change in recent years. It is now often difficult to clearly define the borders between the two; instead we find a continuum ranging from agricultural zones to suburbs, informal settlements and urban centers. But do countries and…

For the first time in the recent history of rural development there is a possibility of creating an infrastructure that dramatically reduces the isolation of rural life. Although ICTs may seem a fragile basis on which to build far-reaching change, a meeting organized by CTA showed that they can…

In much of Central and Eastern Europe, the land tenure structure includes many small and fragmented farms. Land consolidation can be an effective instrument to make agriculture more competitive and to improve rural conditions. This guide provides advice on what countries can do to start a land…

Gender issues are often ignored in projects that aim to improve land tenure and land administration. To support land administrators in governments and their counterparts in civil society, this guide shows where and why gender inclusion is important in projects. In order to help inform policy and…

Increasingly land tenure institutions are required to support the decentralization of services to local governments. One expectation of decentralization is improved delivery of services by the level of government that is closest to the beneficiaries of those services. While the scope of services…