This article examines the impact of the land reforms undertaken in Zambia and Zimbabwe on agricultural development. The Zambian land reform of 1995 has led to significant improvements in agricultural productivity and output since the early 2000s, allowing for a rising GDP and hopes that such growth will be redistributed across the education and health sector.

The main objective of this study was to assess the impacts of biofuel investments in local livelihood systems and local economy in Tanzania.

The practice of food security assessment in Tanzania is based on use of food crops production data surveys of a preceding seasonal year with agro-meteorological analyses based on estimated vegetation status as reflected from NDVI computed from NOAA satellite images.  Food security assessment essentially is a prediction of food availability in predefined future time framework. It helps to establish availability or deficiency of food, thereby facilitating planning and implementation of strategies to mitigate the problem of hunger.

Zambia recognizes two types of land tenure: customary and leasehold tenure. While historically the majority of land in Zambia has been held under customary tenure, leases (also called leasehold titles) are the only legal means of holding land rights. In 1995, a new Land Act was passed, which makes it easier for investors to acquire leasehold titles to customary land. When an investor obtains a leasehold title to customary land, the customary land reverts to the state once the lease expires and is thereafter governed by statute.

Recent experience has shown that as countries get richer, nutritional status does not necessarily improve. In a recent article in the journal The Lancet, IFPRI researchers and others explain that creating the right conditions for nutritional advances often requires political action. The feature article in this issue of Insights looks at how some developing countries and regions—Ghana, Peru, Thailand, and the state of Maharashtra, India—have made nutrition a political priority and how they’ve turned political commitments into widespread changes on the ground.

The second of three books in IFPRI's climate change in Africa series, East African Agriculture and Climate Change: A Comprehensive Analysis examines the food security threats facing 10 of the countries that make up east and central Africa - Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Kenya, Madagascar, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda - and explores how climate change will increase the efforts needed to achieve sustainable food security throughout the region. East Africa's populations is expected to grow at least through mid-century. The region will also see income growth.

This 2012 Global Food Policy Report is the second in an annual series that provides an in-depth look at major food policy developments and events. Initiated in response to resurgent interest in food security, the series offers a yearly overview of the food policy developments that have contributed to or hindered progress in food and nutrition security. It reviews what happened in food policy and why, examines key challenges and opportunities, shares new evidence and knowledge, and highlights emerging issues.