Investment in land is not conflict-neutral, and given the history of violent conflict and mutual destabilization in the Horn of Africa there is potential for localized political grievances to turn into wider regional conflict. There is significant foreign investment in land in Ethiopia by parties from Africa and further afield. This is primarily geared towards producing for the export market, and is often concentrated in regions with limited political influence.

En esta edición de La Revista Agraria presentamos un especial sobre la concentración de la tierra en el Perú, con artículos sobre el tamaño de los latifundios, variables a tener en cuenta para limitar la propiedad rural, el acaparamiento en la subasta de tierras del proyecto Olmos, y los problemas ambientales que presentan los proyectos de irrigación en la costa. También se hace un análisis del presupuesto del MINAG y la problemática del sector vicuñero.

From 23 January to 6 February, ILC held an online discussion leading up to the ILC-IFAD-FAO side event at the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), 27 February – 9 March 2012, New York. The discussion was held simultaneously on the Land Portal and in the FSN-Forum – 70 contributions were received from 32 countries, from grassroots activists, researchers, NGOs and government staff.

I am sharing this extremely important report from Margaret Sekaggya, the Special Rapporteur of the situation of human rights defenders (2011). In 2007 the former Special Rapporteur, Hina Jilani, affirmed that “the second most vulnerable group when it comes to danger of being killed because of their activities in the defence of human rights, are defenders working on land rights and natural resources” (Hina Jilani, 2007, Report submitted to the Human Rights Council, A/HRC/4/37).

Poor rural women are among the most vulnerable people in El Salvador, where the Reconstruction and Rural Modernization Programme was launched in 2003 to aid areas stricken by earthquakes two years earlier. Women’s land tenure was not initially a central theme of the programme. The issue had to be addressed, however, when women – a large segment of the target population – were unable to benefit from an investment fund for rural economic development because they had no access to land.

For the full text of the document "Final study of the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee on the advancement of the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas" please visit the UN Human Rights Council website ( English |

The Land Watch Asia campaign seeks to enhance access to and control of land through policy dialogue, capacity building, information sharing, and networking.  Seven national campaign updates highlight the major interventions and achievements of the various campaigns from 2010 to 2011 in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan and the Philippines. Accomplishments at both the national and regional levels are presented in the regional campaign update.

The Land Watch Asia campaign seeks to enhance access to and control of land through policy dialogue, capacity building, information sharing, and networking.  Seven national campaign updates highlight the major interventions and achievements of the various campaigns from 2010 to 2011 in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan and the Philippines. Accomplishments at both the national and regional levels are presented in the regional campaign update.

A workshop to analyse and synthesise a set of global case studies on pastoral organisation for resource rights including case studies from Argentina, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, China, Ethiopia, France, India, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kygyzstan, Morocco, Nepal, Niger, Pakistan, Scotland, Switzerland, Uganda

This set of research briefs present a summary of research work undertaken jointly by ILRI, IFPRI and the University of Gottingen. The research has the following objectives:

- To better understand how environmental risk affects the use and management of resources under various property rights regimes.

- To identify circumstances under which different pathways of change in land use and property rights are followed.

This paper describes some of the experiences of the Plan Foncier Rural (PFR) or Rural Land Plans and what they teach about the more general question of identifying and recording of these rights, including group rights.