A profile of the Lao People's Democratic Republic by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Data is provided on economic indicators; food, nutrition and food security; population and labor force; land use and agricultural inputs; water resources and irrigation; agricultural production and trade; fisheries production and trade; and forestry production and trade.

The authors review the literature on land markets in South Asia to clarify what's known and to highlight unresolved issues. They report that: (1) We have a good understanding of why sharecropping persists and why it can be superior to other standard agricultural contracts. We have less understanding of what determines the relative efficiency of sharecropping in different environments and why other apparently superior contractual relationships are rare.

This note is part of a series of three policy notes prepared by the World Bank to advise the new Moldovan Government and inform World Bank decision-makers on agricultural policies for economic growth and poverty reduction in key areas: 1) Public Expenditures; 2) Markets and 3) Land. The objective of this policy note on land is to assist the Government of Moldova in improving the effectiveness of land management in agriculture, with a view to enhancing the sector's contribution to Moldova's economic growth and poverty reduction objectives.

In agrarian societies land serves as the main means not only for generating a livelihood but often also for accumulating wealth and transferring it between generations. How land rights are assigned therefore determines households' ability to generate subsistence and income, their social and economic status (and in many cases their collective identity), their incentive to exert nonobservable effort and make investments, and often their ability to access financial markets or to make arrangements for smoothing consumption and income.

On September 23, at the United Nations Climate Summit, leaders representing governments, the private sector, and civil society announced that they would join the Global Alliance for Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) – a voluntary, farmer-led, multi-stakeholder, action-oriented coalition committed to the incorporation of climate-smart approaches within food and agriculture systems.

A recent USAID publication titled, The Global State of Agriculture, cites access to land as one reason why women farmers are less productive than men. Structures within the statutory and customary land tenure systems compounded by societal norms in many locations limit a woman's ability to secure land. Click the links below to see the infographic and a report outlining land tenure and property rights challenges for women.
To view the infographic, click here.
To read the full report linking Land Tenure, Property Rights and Gender Challenges, click here.

Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. The term “food security” is used to describe food availability, access, and use at many levels, including the global, national, local, household, and intra household levels.

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.

How to manage China’s farmland for sustainable development has become a crucial issue of concern for both policy-makers and the wider public. Rural land acquisition has been widely recognized as a complex process of managing conflicts among stakeholders, which has been a major constraint to equitable development and good governance.

Practical manual on land use planning through the government local level participatory planning approach in Ethiopia.