We developed interpolated climate surfaces for global land areas (excluding Antarctica) at a spatial resolution of 30 arc s (often referred to as 1-km spatial resolution). The climate elements considered were monthly precipitation and mean, minimum, and maximum temperature. Input data were gathered from a variety of sources and, where possible, were restricted to records from the 1950 2000 period. We used the thin-plate smoothing spline algorithm implemented in the ANUSPLIN package for interpolation, using latitude, longitude, and elevation as independent variables.

Increasing temperatures and declining rainfall patterns as well as increasing frequency of extreme climate events such as droughts and floods are the expected future weather patterns within the tropics. Africa, particularly Southern Africa, is projected to be the region most vulnerable to the impacts of climate variability and change especially in agriculture and water. This has dire consequences as most people in Southern Africa depend on agriculture for their livelihoods.

The application of computer technology in land administration is touted as one way of ensuring efficient and transparent land administration. Although this true, one major concern is not only how to create a computerized land information system that is interoperable across different government departments responsible for different land administration functions, but also how to ensure interoperability between national and devolved levels of government departments responsible for land administration.

Despite a history of more than 100 years and the introduction of provisional maps to support land registration, the Kenyan cadastre is largely incomplete. It consists of a patchwork of maps of different positional qualities, which would not be readily integrated to create a nation-wide coverage. This paper outlines the structure of the Kenyan cadastre and analyses the quality of the cadastral maps with regard to the requirements of modern land administration.

Land administration arrangements and practices in any country influence the pace and outcomes of social and economic developments. Since the United Nations adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), nations have been encouraged to take initiatives to attain the SDG targets. As a key factor in development therefore, how land administration arrangements and governance practices contribute to the attainment of the SDG goals becomes an important national, regional and global question.

Pastoralism has been under pressure due to a number of factors including climate change, population pressure and socioeconomic dynamism. These factors have affected the relationships among different pastoral groups and the functioning of the customary institutions in managing natural resources. Interference of the state structures into pastoral areas, land alienation for large scale investment and delineation of protected area from communal grazing areas have negatively affected the relationships between pastoralists and the state.

1 Background The Pastoral and Agro-Pastoral Land Tenure and Administration Study (PALTAS) was launched because of the compelling need to identify and recommend policy that clarify and strengthen the land rights of pastoralists and agro-pastoralists and put in place appropriate administrative mechanisms to enforce their rights. It was designed to assess the land tenure problems in the pastoral and agro-pastoral areas of Oromia, SNNP, Gambella, Afar, and Somali regional states.

Protection of pastoralist land resources has taken on a new urgency in light of the rapidly expanding global and national demand for land and land-based natural resources for large-scale commercial agricultural production, conservation initiatives, and mining. These activities threaten pastoralist land use systems.

Mwongozo wa Uwandani wa kusaidia Kupanga Mpango na Usimamizi wa Nyanda za Malisho ikiwemo kupanga Mpango wa Matumizi Bora ya Ardhi ya Kijiji

Marsabit County is situated in the northern part of Kenya, bordering the Republic of Ethiopia to the north and Lake Turkana to the west. With approximately 66,000 square kilometres of which 4,956 km2 are covered by Lake Turkana, the foremost part of Marsabit County is an extensive plain which lies between 300m and 900m above sea level. It is characterized by a population density averaging 2 persons per km2 and a distribution varying between 1 person up to 22 persons per km2, depending on the scarcity of water as well as the amount of permanent and semi-permanent settlements.

Recently dubbed “Africa’s Lion” (in allusion to the discourse around “Asian Tigers”), Ethiopia is celebrated for its steady economic growth, including a growing number of millionaires compared to other African nations. However, as documented in previous research by the Oakland Institute, the Ethiopian government’s “development strategy,” is founded on its policy of leasing millions of hectares (ha) of land to foreign investors.

'In Somalia, land issues are particularly complex. Those involved in both policy and practice need to understand this complexity better if durable political solutions are to be identified and property rights for individuals and communities secured. Lee Cassanelli explains the complex nature of land use, as well as the concept of ‘home’ in the Somali context. His paper is food for thought for all those interested in land reform.'