China's economic rise and consequent demand for a reliable and steady supply of inexpensive natural resources have led to a rapid increase in Chinese foreign direct investment stretching all the way to Africa and Latin America. Southeast Asia's Mekong region is no exception to that trend. This policy brief highlights China's emerging role in finance and trade in three selected Mekong region countries (Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam).

WEBSITE INTRODUCTION: In Uneven Development, a classic in its field, Neil Smith offers the first full theory of uneven geographical development, entwining theories of space and nature with a critique of capitalist development. Featuring pathbreaking analyses of the production of nature and the politics of scale, Smith's work anticipated many of the uneven contours that now mark neoliberal globalization. This third edition features an afterword updating the analysis for the present day.

Juntas, las crisis alimentaria y financiera actuales dispararon un nuevo ciclo mundial de apropiación de tierras. Los gobiernos con “inseguridad alimentaria”, que dependen de importaciones para alimentar a su población, están arrebatando tierras agrícolas fuera de su país en las que pretenden producir alimentos propios. Las corporaciones alimentarias y los inversionistas privados, ávidos de ganancias en medio de la crisis financiera, ven la inversión en tierras agrícolas extranjeras como una importante y nueva fuente de lucro.

Today’s food and financial crises have, in tandem, triggered a new global land grab. On the one hand, “food insecure” governments that rely on imports to feed their people are snatching up vast areas of farmland abroad for their own offshore food production. On the other hand, food corporations and private investors, hungry for profits in the midst of the deepening financial crisis, see investment in foreign farmland as an important new source of revenue. As a result, fertile agricultural land is becoming increasingly privatised and concentrated.

O artigo busca, por meio da análise da atuação do Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (no Brasil) e do Landless People´s Movement (na África do Sul), analisar as formas emergentes que o Estado adquire nesses dois contextos sociais. O objetivo central é mostrar que nesses países, chamados aqui de não exemplares, é preciso que se desenvolva uma teoria complexa que rompa com o dualismo sociológico Estado/Sociedade civil.

Includes the grabbing of parastatal land, Agricultural Development Corporation farms, Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, Kenya Industrial Estates, Kenya Railways Corporation, National Social Security Fund, Kenya Food and Chemical Corporation Limited, State House and Military land.

Conclusion: "Most relevant reports and surveys I have been able to access state essentially that people from all parts of Burma leave home either in obedience to a direct relocation order from the military or civil authorities or as a result of a process whereby coercive measures imposed by the authorities play a major role in forcing down household incomes to the point where the family cannot survive. At this point, leaving home may seem to be the only option.

Biofuel development in Tanzania places at stake 4 highly strategic national resources: land, water, forests and labour, and for generations to come. This alone is sufficient reason for the Tanzanian general public and rural communities in particular, to wrestle back the initiative and seek direct engagement in determining the best way forward for the nation.

With the proliferation of civil wars since the end of the Cold War, many developing countries now exist in a "postconflict" environment, posing enormous development challenges for the societies affected, as well as for international actors. Postconflict Development addresses these challenges in a range of vital sectors—security, justice, economic policy, education, the media, agriculture, health, and the environment in countries around the globe.

Abstract"
"This research was framed by a human rights approach to development as pursued by Amartya
Sen. Freedoms are not only the primary ends of development but they are the principle means of
development. The research was informed by international obligations to human rights and was placed
within a context of global pluralism and recognition of universal human dignity. The first research aim
was to study the State Peace and Development Council military regime confiscation of land and labour of

The Pastoral Women’s Council (PWC) is a community-based organisation established in 1997 in Tanzania. It was founded to promote the development of Maasai pastoralist women and children by facilitating their access to education, health, social services and economic empowerment. It seeks to address women’s marginalisation in patriarchal Maasai culture, as well as the poverty among the Maasai that has long been underpinned by land access restrictions for pastoralists, hunters and gatherers.

This report for GTZ, published in May 2008,  analyses the potentials and risks of Jatropha plantation. With regards to land issues, it highlights the risks of land degradation and intransparent investment and lists a number of large-scale investors. The study also gives an outlook on the potential for small-scale farmers.

Published by www.jatropha.de