[adapted from ActionAid] October, 2012- The report states that the importance of land to rural women goes beyond growing food. Having secure access to, and independent control over, land can mean the difference between, on the one hand, enjoying rights such as education and freedom from violence or, on the other, continual subjugation in society. ActionAid view security of land tenure for impoverished rural communities as a fundamental component of dignified, sustainable development and a crucial step towards reducing poverty and reducing inequality.

This Presidential Decree approves the mid-term Development Plan 2009-2013 for the Province of Huíla (in the Annex). The above mentioned Plan specifies the projects prescribed by the General Budget of 2012 under the Development Programme of this Province. Moreover, this Plan establishes priority projects to be assessed and eventually implemented and treated in coordination with the executive central services.

This Regional Law establishes that forestry taxes and lease payments shall be collected for: (a) allotment of standing timber; (b) procurement of edible and non-edible non-timber products; (c) agro-forestry; (d) use of forest fund (public forest) for hunting management; and (e) recreational use of forests, including tourism, sport and culture. Forestry taxes shall include taxes for forest land management.

Betting on World Agriculture: US Private Equity Managers Eye Agricultural Returns, a new report from the Oakland Institute (OI), focuses on the private investment vehicles that advertise and manage investment opportunities in farmlands and agriculture for investors including pension funds, university and foundation endowments, and high net worth individuals.

The Ethiopian government has committed egregious human rights abuses to make way for agricultural land investments, in direct violation of international law, said the Oakland Institute in a new briefing paper released in New Delhi today. The briefing paper, entitled "Unheard Voices: The Human Rights Impact of Land Investments on Indigenous Communities in Gambella,” calls on Ethiopia to put an end to the illegal forced evictions of indigenous peoples in areas targeted for land investment.

Oxfam International

Farmers and herders in arid regions of Africa face serious challenges in adapting to climate change and variability. They are highly exposed to climate stresses, especially drought, but adaptation to climate change is far from being a clear-cut biophysical or technical problem: it is also a social challenge.

United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food

GENEVA (4 March 2013) – “Sharing power with women is a shortcut to reducing hunger and malnutrition, and is the single most effective step to realizing the right to food,” said the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Olivier De Schutter, while urging world governments to adopt transformative food security strategies that address cultural constraints and redistribute roles between women and men.

Land and Agrarian Rights Movement

GRAIN

The G8 countries are implementing a New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition in six African countries that will facilitate the transfer of control over African agriculture from peasants to foreign agribusiness.

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International Food Policy Research Institute

IFPRI's flagship report examines the major food policy issues, developments, and decisions of 2012. By putting into perspective the year's food policy successes and disappointments, it suggests how to move forward those policies that improve the food situation for the poor. Reflecting the expertise and experience of IFPRI researchers and other leading food policy experts, the report considers sever crucial questions:

Rights and Resources Initiative

Communities of Grand Cape Mount, Liberia

March 25th, 2013