This detailed evaluation of the Governance and Justice (GJ) Program (formerly Governance, Security and Justice - GSJ) takes stock of progress in programme delivery and reflects on potential modifications, both programmatically and institutionally, that can be brought to the GJ Program design going forward. The evaluation found that the GJ Program has been highly effective in producing key outputs. Project innovations are well positioned for use, with cohort-based projects more relevant to communities, policymakers, NGOs and the private sector.

Despite an inflow of investment in rural communities, there are concerns about negative impacts on local people’s livelihoods, access to farming land, productivity, income levels, food security and access to social services. The Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA) research partnership assessed the impact and benefits of large-scale investments in the agricultural sector on livelihoods of smallholder farmers using two case studies. Evidence from this project suggests that the large-scale investments increased the income of surrounding communities.

Climate change and green grabbing/resource grabbing together call for nuanced understanding of governance imperatives, and for constructing a knowledge base appropriate to political intervention. This paper offers preliminary ways in which interconnections can be seen and understood, and their implications for research and politics explored. It concludes by way of a preliminary discussion of the notion of ‘agrarian climate justice’ as a possible framework for formal governance or political activism relevant to tackling grey area interconnections.

Despite formal legal recognition of women’s land rights, no government institution is mandated to protect women’s land rights or to ensure their legal implementation and enforcement. The roles of decentralized land administration institutions do not include the protection of women’s land rights. More importantly, District Land Boards only control the allocation of public land and not private or customary. Several land dispute resolution institutions co-exist without clear coordination mechanisms.

Rural women in India are rarely consulted in development projects that may increase men’s production and income, but add to their own workloads. Women’s on-farm household and productive labor is significant but underrecognized and under-valued. Women farmers have no rights to farmlands, though most farm production is carried out by them. This paper addresses women’s decision making regarding mango production.

The study focuses on impacts of PZ Wilmar’s acquisition of nearly 30,000 hectares of land. Wilmar is a multinational company involved in land grabbing cases related to oil palm plantations in Cross River State, Nigeria. The study shows the extent of Wilmar’s infringement on communal land rights, examining cases of eviction and destruction of livelihoods. Findings show that the four communities studied suffered from increasing food prices, deficits of local staple foods, evictions and displacement of poor farmers.

Owing to the fact that women have different knowledge, access to, and control over resources, and different opportunities to participate in decisions regarding resource use and management from men, the study focuses on gendered differences in livelihood strategies, identifying factors that preclude women from benefitting in livelihood projects and accessing livelihood resources. Qualitative data for the study was collected through gender disaggregated group discussions in two districts, Mvomero and Kongwa in Tanzania.

The aim is for participants to develop an innovation plan focused on advocacy for women’s access to and control over land, employing ideas and tools acquired during the Learning Route of the International Land Coalition (ILC - www.landcoalition.org) programme. Four proposals for innovation plans are provided as examples.

The movement to secure women’s land rights in Senegal needs to take into account the rights of all sections of the targeted communities. Hence, the cases presented testify to specific situations along with evaluations of initiatives targeting improvement of women’s land rights. For instance, much of the quota land allocated by the Delta Development and Operations Corporation (SAED) is either untapped, sold, or exploited by male members of the beneficiary women’s families.

The impacts of large-scale agricultural investments on rural communities’ land ownership, food security, productivity, income, and access to education and health differ within and between communities depending on business and government influence. Recent examples of large-scale investment models are dependent on the legal landscape in the investor’s country of origin, the investor-community linkages, and the nature of partnership with governments.

Land Disputes Settlement Act 1975

Land Registration (Amendment) Act 2009.