En 1999, la FAO publiait la première version française du Thésaurus multilingue du foncier. Cette version avait surtout pour vocation d'être mise à l'épreuve du terrain, c'est-à-dire soumise aux critiques constructives tant des usagers à la recherche d'informations et d'éclairages nouveaux que des experts du foncier. En effet, sur le fond comme sur la forme, sont apparus un certain nombre de points forts mais aussi des lacunes, relevés depuis 1999 par l'équipe des rédacteurs et par de nombreux autres spécialistes du foncier.

La temática relativa a la tenencia y explotación de tierras está de nuevo a la orden del día. Así, son muchos los países que manifiestan un renovado interés por los diferentes modos de acceso a los recursos naturales en un marco de posibles reformas territoriales, ya sea en el contexto de la seguridad alimentaria, de la lucha contra la pobreza en el mundo, de la preservación del ambiente o de la calidad de la vida.

The paper looks at land tenure in Mozambique, where ever since independence in 1975, property in land has been vested in the state, and despite the political and economic shift to a multiparty system and market economy, this underlying principle has remained in place: no land may be sold, mortgaged, or otherwise encumbered or alienated. Local traditional land management systems meanwhile have retained a robust role as the de facto land management system of Mozambique.

This case study looks at the land tenure in Namibia, where for a century of colonial rule indigenous Namibians were dispossessed from rights to both land and resources – by German and then white South African settlers establishing commercial farms and related businesses. Access to freehold tenure was reserved for white settlers and tenure security for indigenous Namibians largely disappeared. In non-white areas, rights were provided under indigenous tenure systems whose legal status was somewhat murky. Urban tenure was denied as blacks were not allowed ownership of residential land.

The study aims to clarify the various issues regarding land security of poor and other marginalized groups in Malian rural areas. It looks into questions relating to how poor and vulnerable groups obtain access to land and natural resources, and what factors cause their exclusion. It analyzes existing methods for formalizing land rights and land transactions and their impacts on the poor. Specific attention is given to the practical organization of the procedures for formalization and recording land rights.

FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), Germany, IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development), Finland, GTZ (Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit), UN-Habitat, World Bank and UNDP, and IPC (International NGO/CSO Planning Committee for Food Sovereignty), Food First International Action Network (FIAN), ILC (International Land Coalition), FIG (International Federation of Surveyors) and other development partners are working together with countries to prepare Voluntary Guidelines that will provide practical guidance to states, civil society, the private se

FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), GTZ (Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit) and other development partners are working together with countries to prepare Voluntary Guidelines that will provide practical guidance to states, civil society, the private sector, donors and development specialists on the responsible governance of tenure.

The Eastern and Anglophone Western Africa Regional Assessment meeting was organized by a task force consisting of FAO, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, African Land Policy Initiative, the United Nations World Food Programme, United Nations Development Programme, the International Fund for Agricultural Development and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme officials in Ethiopia.

This thematic issue of the Land Tenure Journal brings together theories and practices related to land tenure and climate change both from the mitigation and adaptation perspectives. Articles look at the implications that REDD+ and Payments for Environmental Services pose to land tenure and administration, propose approaches to deal with the new challenges and analyse the adaptation of local tenure systems and livelihoods to climate change.

Most of the world’s poor work in the “informal economy” – outside of recognized and enforceable rules. Thus, even though most have assets of some kind, they have no way to document their possessions because they lack formal access to legally recognized tools such as deeds, contracts and permits.