Through the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, G8 countries are seeking to mobilise the private sector and multi-national corporations to boost African agriculture. Looks at how African countries are engaging with the New Alliance. Argues that large-scale acquisitions of land for corporate agriculture, which may result from New Alliance projects, pose a serious challenge for local markets and smallholder farmers. Underlying assumptions need to be challenged.

Includes the context of forced evictions in Luanda; the right to adequate housing; forced evictions and demolition in Luanda; national and international responses; recommendations. Argues that a critical underlying factor was insecure land tenure, which made residents particularly vulnerable and was derived from inadequate land legislation and lack of public information about land rights and urban management policies, inadequate registration procedures, and a consequent false perception of security of tenure by residents.

Includes key issues in land and development patterns; land tenure in Africa: theory and practice; debates about ‘land grabbing’ in sub-Saharan Africa; outcomes of and responses to ‘land grabbing’; ways to mitigate conflict, social and political unrest.

Divided into 4 Sections: growing interest in land: large-scale land acquisition; reactions to rising interest in land at the national and international level; land reform and policy: types, impacts (including gender) and risks; land in fragile and conflict-affected states. A number of Topic Guides are being produced for DFID’s Climate, Environment, Infrastructure and Livelihoods Advisers. They are designed to be useful to development professionals.

A comprehensive research report covers the literature, includes a large survey of farm households throughout Ethiopia, and surveys the opinions of professionals. Land tenure is now a hotly debated issue; land scarcity and degradation are serious. Tenure security is seen as more important than the form of ownership. Almost three-quarters of farmers surveyed fear future distributions of land. Government is afraid that moving from state to private ownership will lead to massive evictions through distress sales, but over 90% farmers said they would not sell their land if they could.

Includes land and food security; an overview; a short literature review (food security, governance); the impact of large scale land acquisitions on food security and nutrition (environmental and social impact assessments, national versus international investors, gender and food security, new research).

The EU Land Policy Guidelines (November 2004) are intended for EU donors when supporting interventions in rural land policy and administration. They are divided into Part I policy framework, Part II operational guidelines. Part I includes what is land policy and why does it matter?; links between land policy and other major policy areas (e.g. poverty reduction, gender equality, conflict, governance, environment); elements of a land policy programme; central issues for the design of land policy and land reforms (e.g.

Includes agriculture, pro-poor growth and rural livelihoods: debates, scales and guidelines; land, farm size and food security; supermarkets and contract farming; gender and agricultural growth; promoting agriculture in post-conflict states. A number of Topic Guides are being produced for DFID’s Climate, Environment, Infrastructure and Livelihoods Advisers.

Official report from the European Forum on the sessions relating to land tenure reform and poverty reduction. Details the panel discussion involving Robin Palmer (Oxfam), Julian Quan (DFID), Christian Graefen (GTZ), Annelies Zoomers (CEDLA), Philippe Lavigne-Delville (GRET), followed by summaries of two working groups, on Madagascar and Mali and Latin America, and concludes with agreed action points.

Includes context, project objectives, coverage, cost, delivery and achievements, beneficiaries – communications and targeting, gender, innovations, employment and training, lesson learning, flexibility, geographical scope, government ownership and political will, sustainability, capacity of the justice sector to address land disputes, reliability and scalability of approach taken.

Discusses the human rights issues raised by large-scale land deals for plantation agriculture (‘land grabbing’) in low and middle-income countries. Finds that it is a serious issue requiring urgent attention. Conceptualises the link between land deals and human rights, reviews relevant international human rights law and discusses evidence on actual and potential human rights impacts. Finds that important human rights dimensions are at stake and that compressions of human rights have been documented in some contexts.

Includes study objectives and context; technology briefing; projects capturing data around land acquisitions; key success factors and challenges; lessons learned from Congo Basin Projects.