Urgent action required to challenge impunity of perpetrators, protect citizens and address root causes of environmental crisis

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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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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The gender and equity implications of land-related investments on land access and labour and income-generating opportunities

>> A case study of selected agricultural Investments in LAO PDR (2013)

In recent years, Zambia has witnessed increased interest from private investors in acquiring land for agriculture. As elsewhere, large-scale land acquisitions are often accompanied with promises of capital investments to build infrastructure, bring new technologies and know-how, create employment, and improve market access, among other benefits

A Case Study of Selected Agricultural Investments in Zambia (2013) 

Agricultural investments create risks as well as opportunities, for instance The Case Study of Integrated Tamale Fruit Company (2013) In recent years, Ghana has witnessed increased interest from private companies in developing agricultural investments. This trend is common to many lower/middle income countries.

A Case Study of Selected Agricultural Investments in Northern Tanzania (2013)

For early reports, see FAO’s Corporate Document Repository

"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.

Ein Jahr bevor die Frist zur Erreichung der Millenniums-Entwicklungsziele im Jahr 2015 abläuft, bietet der Welthunger-Index (WHI) einen facettenreichen Überblick über die Verbreitung des Hungers und trägt neue Erkenntnisse darüber in die weltweite Debatte, wie Hunger und Mangelernährung verringert werden können. Betrachtet man die Entwicklungsländer als Gruppe, so hat sich die Hungersituation dort seit 1990 verbessert. Dem WHI 2014 zufolge ist seitdem ein Rückgang um 39 Prozent zu verzeichnen.

Ein Jahr bevor die Frist zur Erreichung der Millenniums-Entwicklungsziele im Jahr 2015 abläuft, bietet der Welthunger-Index (WHI) einen facettenreichen Überblick über die Verbreitung des Hungers und trägt neue Erkenntnisse darüber in die weltweite Debatte, wie Hunger und Mangelernährung verringert werden können. Betrachtet man die Entwicklungsländer als Gruppe, so hat sich die Hungersituation dort seit 1990 verbessert. Dem WHI 2014 zufolge ist seitdem ein Rückgang um 39 Prozent zu verzeichnen.