This paper attempts to contribute to the understanding of the impacts of secure rural agricultural land rights on labour structural transformation from agriculture to non-agriculture as well as on urbanization, with a specific focus on Thailand. Using province-level panel data and instrumental variable strategy, partial land right entitlement (known in Thailand as SPK4-01 titling) is found to have a positive impact on labour movement towards the non-agricultural sector. In particular, approximately 27 per cent of this impact can be explained by enhanced farm productivity.

OVERVIEW: The Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) is a landlocked country situated in Southeast Asia, bordering Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, China and Myanmar. Despite a recent increase in the rate of urbanization and a relatively small amount of arable land per capita, most people in Lao PDR live in rural areas and work in an agriculture sector dominated by subsistence farming. Lao PDR’s economy relies heavily on its natural resources, with over half the country’s wealth produced by agricultural land, forests, water and hydropower and mineral resources.

OVERVIEW: Thailand is facing the challenges of a transition from lower- to upper-middle-income status. After decades of very rapid growth followed by more modest 5–6% growth after the Asian financial crisis of 1997–98, Thailand achieved a per capita GNI of US $3670 by 2008, reduced its poverty rate to less than 10% and greatly extended coverage of social services. Infant mortality has been cut to only 13 per 1000, and 98% of the population has access to clean water and sanitation.

In a widely read paper, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, World Bank and others propose systematic property rights formalization as a key step in addressing the problems of irresponsible agricultural investment. This paper examines the case of Cambodia, one of a number of countries where systematic land titling and large-scale land concessions have proceeded in parallel in recent years.

To disentangle the issue concerning which dimensions of land rights, among security, tradability and pledgeability, affect agricultural outcomes, this paper exploits a unique partial land rights entitlement programme in Thailand, which guarantees only security, allows a limited access to credit, and prohibits any land sale. Based on an instrumental variable strategy, I find that the entitlement increases (1) second rice but not major rice productivity, (2) land use intensity, and leads to changes in (3) land use pattern, (4) land-related investment, and (5) better soil quality.

ABSTRACTED FROM EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: This report deals with land concessions in Cambodia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Thailand – a much contended topic which leads discussants from issues such as land ownership and utilization to social structures, human rights and beyond. Overall, this report aims to examine changes in relative competitiveness in selected tradable commodities of Thailand and whether they are impacted through increases of land concession in selected countries in the subregion.

ABSTRACTED FROM INTRODUCTION: Many of the economic, demographic, and social changes animating land disputes in Vietnam are also sweeping across other countries in East Asia. The aim of this Report is to provide comparative insights into land-taking disputes in three East Asian countries—China, Indonesia, and Cambodia—that are relevant to Vietnamese conditions. It is not the intention of this Report to provide a comprehensive account of land-taking disputes, but rather to identify trends in dispute resolution.

LaUnión de Organizaciones Campesinas de Esmeraldas (UOCE) y la Asociación Ecocacao, se han convertido en instrumentos de resistencia para defender y proteger la tierra y territorio, a través del trabajo comunitario y la entrega en posesión de la tierra a las familias, manteniendo así las vertientes de agua, el bosque y la producción de alimentos.

Caso sobre la persistencia y la vigencia de la lucha por la tierra en el Ecuador, sobre todo en territorios donde se profundiza el modelo de acumulación capitalista en el campo. Las organizaciones campesinas pasan de la posesión de la tierra a procurar su legalización; proceso en el que se involucran con la política pública que termina desalojándolas de esos predios.

Caso de la otorgación estatal de un título de propiedad comunal y sus límites a la comunidad Kichwa Ayapata con una serie de conflictos de por medio, y su repartición a 40 familias de la comunidad

El caso señala a una niña que logra titular una porción de tierra a su nombre. Se trata de una mujer que logra ejercer su derecho a la sucesión y acceso a la tierra. La experiencia de Dania, su momento histórico en una comunidad andina cambiante, la convierten en un referente para las decisiones agrarias, al expresar una acción admirable por precautelar su bienestar y seguridad jurídica.

O caso dos camponeses de Cachoeirinha engloba três gerações de posseiros, que ocuparam a região norte de Minas Gerais (Brail) desde o início do século XX, pelo menos. É um caso típico da ocupação de terras por posseiros no Brasil. A preocupação pela legalização da propriedade só se dá mediante o conflito com o Estado ou com outros atores que tentam questionar a propriedade da terra.