The current solutions to delivering land administration services have very limited global outreach; 75 percent of the world's population do not have access to formal systems to register and safeguard their land rights. The majority of these are the poor and the most vulnerable in society and without any level of security of tenure they constantly live in threat of eviction.

The land valuation regime has undergone one of its most important modifications at the hands of the 2008 Land Act and its 2011 Regulation. According to the so-called objectivity principle - which defines all established methods for the new basic situations of land - and according to the stated prohibition of taking into consideration building expectations arising from granted planning permission, the fact is that the existence of circumstances that are not a natural consequence of landowner investments made on the property is easily deducible.

Across Africa, Asia and Latin America, investors are increasingly approaching rural communities seeking land for logging, mining, and agribusiness ventures. Even in those situations where the investors have followed FPIC guidelines and undertaken a formal “consultation” with the community, these consultations are generally conducted in a context of significant power and information asymmetries. Part of the power imbalance comes from communities’ lack of information about the value of community lands and natural resources.

A chapter from the Guide that explains the Valuation activity, designed to build awareness of the value of common lands and natural resources and increase community motivation to complete the community land protection process.

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In Nigeria, the recurring impoverishment and other negative socioeconomic impacts endured by landholders affected by expropriation are well-documented and call into question the Land Use Act’s (LUA) effectiveness in protecting local land rights. The World Bank’s Land Governance Assessment Framework found that, in Nigeria, “a large number of acquisitions occurs without prompt and adequate compensation, thus leaving those losing land worse off, with no mechanism for independent appeal even though the land is often not utilized for a public purpose”.

The challenges associated with determining fair compensation for expropriated land have been extensively discussed and debated among scholars, practitioners, policymakers, and the public. However, to date, a comprehensive study of national-level compensation procedures established by law considering whether such procedures meet internationally recognized standards on compensation valuation has not been conducted. This article aims to bridge this gap by serving as a reference point and informing “expro” debates among scholars, practitioners, and policymakers.

This guide aims to support the process of valuation of unregistered land and property for the public and private agencies that undertake this exercise. It will be relevant for policy makers, local authorities, international finance institutions, investors, property developers, banks, civil society organisations, citizens, land owners, local communities and women’s groups.

A case study of the situation in Lamu, Isiolo and Siaya Counties by the Land Development and Governance Institute (LDGI).

The tool presented in this guide aims to assist policy-makers and land administrators to adopt appropriate technologies and methodologies for land administration services more efficiently, cost effectively and with options most appropriately tailored to national and sub-national contexts. It was developed after recognizing the need to modernize the budgetary approach to land agencies and to provide effective, cost-efficient, affordable and sustainable services, particularly in developing countries.

Since the 1970s, federal policies promoting migration and encouraging agricultural development of large farms, logging, and ranching have led to the deforestation of vast areas of the Amazon rainforest.Though these policies have largely been replaced, deforestation continues. What effects do current macroeconomic and regional policies and events have on deforestation and on the well-being of settlers on the agricultural frontier?

This study investigates attitudes towards legalizing land sales and Willingness to Accept (WTA) sales prices and compensation prices for land among smallholder households in four different areas in the Oromia and SNNP Regions in the southern highlands of Ethiopia.

Household panel data from 2007 and 2012 are used. The large majority of the sample prefers land sales to remain illegal, and the resistance to legalizing land sales increased from 2007 to 2012. In the same period, perceived median real land values increased sharply but also exhibit substantial local variation.