Indigenous farmer in the municipality of Sayaxché, department of Petén, Guatemala, viewing the stunted corn crop on his land bordering an oil palm plantation.
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Most analyses of violence in Darfur ignore the local dimension of the crisis, focusing instead on the region’s economic and political marginalization and climatic variability. However, agricultural change and other changes relating to the land-rights and land-use systems have led to competition and exclusion, and have played a major role in the collective violence that has raged throughout the region. Understanding these questions is essential for the successful resolution of political and policy debates in Darfur.
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Land has a cultural value in Nigeria in that its ownership cements
the relationship of the owner with the community. But more
importantly, land resource is critical to the livelihood of rural
farmers because they depend on it for income and food supply.
It is therefore important that it is sustainably managed and
efficiently used. This study investigated the ownership pattern
of land among the farming families in the study area and the
attitude towards its management. It adopted the farming and
This paper discusses potential solutions to the current impasse related to food security stocks, including a concrete proposal by the author on language to be included in the Agreement on Agriculture that may help comply with the mandate of the Bali Ministerial to find a solution in the next four years. The paper begins with an explanation of the background to the debate of the links between food security and WTO agricultural and trade negotiations and the interim solution (the peace clause) agreed upon at Bali.
The AgriTech Toolbox enables researchers and policymakers to examine how alternative agricultural practices and technologies can impact farm yields, food prices, natural resource use, hunger, malnutrition, land use and global trade in 2050, when climate change impacts may be severe. As a result, it can inform the right mix of policies and investments needed to tackle the challenges agriculture faces in the coming decades. The AgriTech toolbox models the impacts of 10 technologies on farm yields, food prices, natural resource use, hunger, malnutrition, land use and global trade.
Since 2007 CIHEAM is publishing a quarterly Watch Letter devoted to Major Issues in Mediterranean Agriculture, Food and Rural Areas. Each Issue contains a series of articles on a specific topic, together with information on CIHEAM current activities.
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"For millions of people living in the world’s poorest countries, access to land is a matter not of wealth, but of survival, identity and belonging. Most of the 1.4 billion people earning less than US$1.25 a day live in rural areas and depend largely on agriculture for their livelihoods, while an estimated 2.5 billion people are involved in full- or part-time smallholder agriculture.
In line with the conventional view that customary land rights impede agricultural development, the traditional tenure system in Nigeria has been perceived to obstruct the achievement of efficient development and agricultural transformation. This led to the Land Use Act (LUA) of 1978.
Food First Backgrounder, Spring 2014, Vol. 20, No. 1
Introduction: Land, Race and the Agrarian Crisis
The disastrous effects of widespread land grabbing and land concentration sweeping the globe do not affect all farmers equally. The degree of vulnerability to these threats is highest for smallholders, women and people of color—the ones who grow, harvest, process and prepare most of the world’s food.
Friends of the Earth’s report, ‘What’s your pension funding? How UK institutional investors finance the global land grab’, highlights the investments of UK institutional investors, such as British Airways Pension Fund, Legal & General and Standard Life, in companies accused of grabbing land, destroying the environment, and undermining sustainable livelihoods.
This briefing paper makes the case for proactive business engagement in respecting land rights and ensuring legal, fair and inclusive practices on land use, access to natural resources and equitable development opportunities. It outlines key challenges, provides an overview of existing instruments that can help companies address issues related to land, and points to practical entry points for improved business practices.
More than 300 million Africans, about 30 percent of the total population, live more than one day away from the nearest port. Even when ports lie within a few hundred miles, typically sparse road networks, poor maintenance, and limited transportation infrastructure translate into high access costs. The larger map illustrates cost-of-travel accessibility to 63 major African ports, based on port type, size, and capacity in terms of the estimated total number of hours, both off and on the road network, required to travel from any location in Africa to the nearest port.