Institutions of collective action and systems of property rights shape how people use natural resources, and these patterns of use in turn affect the outcomes of people’s agricultural production systems. Together, mechanisms of collective action and property rights define the incentives people face for undertaking sustainable and productive management strategies, and they affect the level and distribution of benefits from natural resources.

Las instituciones de acción colectiva y los sistemas de derechos de propiedad moldean la forma en que la gente usa los recursos naturales.A su vez, estos patrones de uso afectan los resultados de los sistemas de producción agrícola de la gente. Juntos, los mecanismos de acción colectiva y los sistemas de derechos de propiedad definen los incentivos a los que la gente accede por llevar a cabo estrategias de gestión sostenible y productiva, y afectan el nivel y distribución de los beneficios de los recursos naturales.

Contending Views and Conflicts over Land in the Red River Delta since Decollectivization is an anthropological study in which I offer a new approach exploring the viewpoints of various parties to analyze their attitudes, relations and conflicts over land in Vietnam's dynamic Red River delta after decollectivization. I also evaluate how and in what ways industrialization and modernization, as well as the effects of urbanization, marketization, and to a lesser extent globalization, have affected Red River Delta villagers' views and relations towards agricultural land.

Agricultural growth will prove essential for improving the welfare of the vast majority of Africa’s poor. Roughly 80 percent of the continent’s poor live in rural areas, and even those who do not will depend heavily on increasing agricultural productivity to lift them out of poverty. Seventy percent of all Africans— and nearly 90 percent of the poor—work primarily in agriculture. As consumers, all of Africa’s poor—both urban and rural—count heavily on the efficiency of the continent’s farmers.

Las instituciones de acción colectiva y los sistemas de derechos de propiedad moldean la forma en que la gente usa los recursos naturales.A su vez, estos patrones de uso afectan los resultados de los sistemas de producción agrícola de la gente. Juntos, los mecanismos de acción colectiva y los sistemas de derechos de propiedad definen los incentivos a los que la gente accede por llevar a cabo estrategias de gestión sostenible y productiva, y afectan el nivel y distribución de los beneficios de los recursos naturales.

This brief defines property rights and collective action and discusses the links to sustainability of natural resource management and agricultural systems and to poverty reduction, as well as the implications for policy and practice.

The development experience indicates a strong link between rural development and poverty reduction. In Pakistan agriculture is the major source of economic growth, employment and livelihood. The agricultural productivity is low and many factors are responsible for its low productivity. Majority of rural population is marginalized in terms of access to physical and social assets, and in terms of institutions and inequality. Rural poor lack access to instruments to mitigate and cope with shocks that affect their well being and ability to come out of poverty.