Rights-based conservation depends on institutions that give citizens clear and enforceable rights to manage lands and natural resources. Such rights hinge on citizens’ abilities to strengthen and defend their rights and on the operation of the rule of law and impersonal forms of government for legal reforms to take place and have meaning.

A publicação deste livro pretende ser um contributo do Instituto de Estudos Sociais e Económicos (IESE) para as reflexões e para os debates sobre o presente e o futuro de Moçambique.

This article outlines the legislative history of the Land Acquisition Act (Cap 152, 1985 Rev Ed) and the philosophy behind the legislation. The main thrust of the article is its analysis of the circumstances leading to the amendments to the Land Acquisition Act. In so doing, it also examines the development of the compensation framework and its implications for landowners. A number of landmark cases on interesting issues have also been referred to and these serve to illustrate the changing paradigms of the State and the landowners with the passage of the laws on compulsory acquisition.

Includes gender in the existing literature, entrenched gender discrimination, case studies from Ethiopia, Zambia and Rwanda, ways forward, conclusion. Based on a larger study for the International Land Coalition.

Large-scale land acquisitions can have lasting repercussions for the future of agriculture, including both agribusiness and family farming. Rather than rushing into land deals, governments and investors should properly consider the wider range of options to invest in agriculture. In many parts of the world, family farmers have proved efficient and dynamic. Working with them can generate healthy returns, avoid the risks associated with land acquisitions, and improve farmers’ livelihoods.

Since the 2008 food price crisis, foreign investors have been acquiring more and more land in poor countries for producing foodstuffs and biofuels for their own use. Such investments have the potential to promote rural development and food security worldwide. By the same token, however, there is the danger of countless small farmers losing their land, of food insecurity increasing in many places, and of social and ecological systems collapsing through pure "land grabbing".

As the world continues to experience a severe food crisis, with over one billion people going hungry, land grabbing – the purchase or lease of land by wealthy, food-insecure nations and private investors from mostly poor, developing nations in order to produce food crops for export – is gaining momentum. Some governments and international agencies believe that the in? ux of money and technology can turn land grabbing into a win–win situation for all involved. But is this really the case?

Large land acquisitions can have a deep, lasting e? ect on livelihoods, food security and the future of agriculture, so there is a need for strategic thinking, vigorous public debate and government responsiveness to public concerns, especially in recipient countries

Land is an asset of enormous importance for billions of rural dwellers in the developing world. Recent trends are prompting a massive increase in global commercial interest in land and natural resources, and this is creating unprecedented pressures on land resources, especially in developing countries.

Lessons learnt from India prove that people empowerment through self-help groups and target group orientation still matters for sustainable rural development. However, this is only true if economic, socio-cultural, political and environmental empowerment interlock. This article makes an argument for a grassroot-level and participative approach of people empowerment in regional rural development.

Smallholder communities in the Bolivian highlands have managed to conquer hunger: cheese production o? ers great hope to the people of the Peñas Valley. Cheese provides healthy nourishment for their children, generates additional income for families, and stimulates the local economy. Education is a decisive factor.