Large-scale land acquisitions are increasing in pace and scale, in particular across parts of Africa, Asia and Latin America. Weak governance and poor land use planning mean that commercial ‘land grabs’ often damage biodiversity as well as dispossessing people from customary rights and livelihoods. Land can also be ‘grabbed’ for ‘green’ purposes, triggering conflicts that undermine potential synergies. Expanded state protected areas, land for carbon offset markets and REDD, and for private conservation projects all potentially conflict with community rights.

The livelihoods of many rural dwellers are dependent on having secure and equitable access to land. Tenure security is also a prerequisite for sustainable land management. The massive interest of commercial investors has increased the pressure on land globally. This article describes the international community’s efforts to improve the responsible governance and management of land.

Specific objectives of the study included reviewing the state of implementation of CAADP in Tanzania in the context of on-going multiple development initiatives; identifying and analyse gaps on policies and frameworks related to CAADP implementation; making objective analysis of commitment of the Government of Tanzania to 2003 Maputo Declaration; and assessing engagement of small scale farmers in CAADP process in Tanzania

This handbook is intended for agro-commodity companies that want to better manage supply chain environmental and social risks. The Handbook focuses on five major agro-commodity supply chains—palm oil, soy, sugarcane, cocoa, and coffee—but many of the tools, resources, and case studies can be used as guidance for other agro-commodities.

Summary:

The increasing importance of the Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) in Tanzania, where 17 WMAs are now functioning and 22 others are in various stages of development, begs the question of what successes have been achieved and what challenges remain to be addressed if this Community-Based Conservation model is to be sustained and even scaled up. There has not been a country-wide evaluation of WMAs since the pilot-phase evaluation in 2007 at a time when most WMAs were too new to yield firm projections for the long term.

Southern Ethiopia’s Lower Omo Valley is one of the most culturally and biologically diverse areas in the world, yet the Ethiopian government is transforming more than 375,000 hectares (1450 sq. miles) of the region into industrial-scale plantations for sugar and other monocrops.

The most recent ‘land rush’ precipitated by the convergent ‘crises’ of fuel, feed and food in 2007–2008 has heightened the debate on the consequences of land investments, with widespread media coverage, policy commentary and civil society engagement. This ‘land rush’ has been accompanied by a ‘literature rush’, with a fast-growing body of reports, articles, tables and books with varied purposes, metrics and methods. Land grabbing, as it is popularly called, is now a hot political topic around the world, discussed amongst the highest circles.

Logistics costs play a decisive role in food price development, especially when looking at local agricultural supply chains, e.g. for fruit and vegetables. The logistics cost burden on groceries varies greatly, depending on the prevalent supply chain setup. This article discusses the pros and cons of a traditional supply of agricultural produce into cities versus a modernised logistics setup, involving organised retail chains.

Parakuiyo Pastoralists Indigenous Community Development Organization (PAICODEO), PINGOs Forum, Tanzania Land Alliance (TALA), the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) and journalists from ITV, Star TV, Channel 10 and Mwananchi newspaper have conducted a fact finding mission concerning the forced evictions of pastoralists in Kilombero and Ulanga districts in Morogoro region in Tanzania. The fact finding mission was carried out from 12.11 – 15.11 2012. 

In October 2011, the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) requested the High Level Panel of Experts (HLPE) to prepare "a comparative study of constraints to smallholder investment in agriculture in different contexts with policy options for addressing these constraints, taking into consideration the work done on this topic by IFAD, and by FAO in the context of COAG, and the work of other key partners.

In sub-Saharan Africa, commercial bioenergy production has been hailed as a new form of ‘green capitalism’ that will deliver ‘win-win’ outcomes and ‘pro poor’ development. Yet in an era of global economic recession and soaring food prices, biofuel ‘sustainability’ has been at the centre of controversy. This paper focuses on the case of post-war Sierra Leone, a country that has over the last decade been consistently ranked as one of the poorest in the world, facing food insecurity, high unemployment and entrenched poverty.