A law can be a powerful tool for poverty alleviation and rural development.
In most developing countries, a majority of the population lives in rural
areas. Most rural residents—and especially the poorest people—depend
on the land for their livelihoods and long-term social security. Laws that
give people access and secure rights to land and encourage investment in
the land can establish a foundation on which rural families can grow their
incomes and assets. Good land laws can help create an environment that

A law can be a powerful tool for poverty alleviation and rural development.
In most developing countries, a majority of the population lives in rural
areas. Most rural residents—and especially the poorest people—depend
on the land for their livelihoods and long-term social security. Laws that
give people access and secure rights to land and encourage investment in
the land can establish a foundation on which rural families can grow their
incomes and assets. Good land laws can help create an environment that

A law can be a powerful tool for poverty alleviation and rural development.
In most developing countries, a majority of the population lives in rural
areas. Most rural residents—and especially the poorest people—depend
on the land for their livelihoods and long-term social security. Laws that
give people access and secure rights to land and encourage investment in
the land can establish a foundation on which rural families can grow their
incomes and assets. Good land laws can help create an environment that

AFRA Newsletter No.62

Ecuador es un país con fuerte presencia de la agricultura familiar

campesina que, se estima, representa el 75% del total de las unida

Ecuador es un país con fuerte presencia de la agricultura familiar

campesina que, se estima, representa el 75% del total de las unida

As part of a national experiment in 2008, Chengdu prefecture implemented ambitious property rights reforms, including complete registration of all land together with measures to ease transferability and eliminate migration restrictions. A triple difference approach using the Statistics Bureau’s regular household panel suggests that the reforms increased consumption and income, especially for less wealthy and less educated households, with estimated benefits well above the cost of implementation.

This paper provides a brief overview of the intersection of state and customary laws governing land in peri-urban settlements around Honiara, focusing on their impact upon landowners, particularly women landowners. It suggests that the intersection of customary and state legal systems allows a small number of individuals, predominantly men, to solidify their control over customary land. This has occurred to the detriment of many landowners, who have often found themselves excluded from both decision-making processes and the distribution of financial benefits from the use of land.

Land policies are of fundamental importance to sustainable growth, good governance, and the well-being of, and the economic opportunities open to, both rural and urban dwellers - particularly the poor. To this end, research on land policy, and analysis of interventions related to the subject, have long been of interest to the Bank's Research Department, and other academic, and civil society institutions.

The accumulation of decent housing matters both because of the difference it makes to living standards and because of its centrality to economic development. The consequences for living standards are far-reaching. In addition to directly conferring utility, decent housing improves health and enables children to do homework. It frees up women's time and enables them to participate in the labor market. More subtly, a home and its environs affect identity and self-respect.

The reform of China's collectively owned forest land, began in 2008, is arguably the largest land-reform undertaking in modern times in terms of area and people affected. Under the reform, forest lands have been contracted to rural households, allowing them more independence in exercising their rights and interests in the forest lands, giving them more opportunities to improve family incomes, and creating incentives for them to cultivate, conserve, and manage forests. These lands are home to some 610 million people, many of them poor.

The agricultural and food production sector plays a key role in fighting poverty and food insecurity in Moldova, but is facing critical challenges to modernize and integrate into the international market. This paper focuses on smallholder farms, which make up 95 percent of all farms, and explores their potential for growth and the poverty links. Findings reveal that structural change is slow and smallholder farm growth in Moldova is an exception, not the rule.