This country profile presents the Land Matrix data for Cambodia, detailing large-scale land acquisition (LSLA) transactions that:

• entail a transfer ofrights to use, control or own land through sale, lease or concession;

• have an intended size of 200 hectares (ha) or larger;

• have been concluded since the year 2000;

• are affected by a change of use (often from extensive or ecosystem service provision to commercial use);

• include deals for agricultural and forestry purposes. Mining operations are excluded.

The second in a series of three reports entitled, “The Stolen Lands of Afghanistan and its People; The State Land Distribution System,” this report focuses on how state lands are distributed. This paper is the result of a desktop review and joint research by the UNAMA Rule of Law Unit (RoL) and the Civil Affairs Unit (CAU) in seven provinces—Kabul, Nangarhar, Kunduz, Balkh, Herat, Gardez, and Kandahar.

Since a century ago, there have been many efforts to attract foreign investment in Afghanistan. These efforts include the codification of laws and policies and the provision of facilities for participation of foreign companies in the Afghan economy through partnership with the government and partnership with private sector in this country.

This article presents a comparison for the impact from lack of land governance in Brazil between livestock and agricultural production. It begins with a brief description of the land regulatory system and its development in Mato Grosso do Sul State and Brazil. The methodology was based on focus groups research, conducted by CEPEA/USP (Center for advanced Studies on Applied Economics/University of São Paulo) on local production sites in Mato Grosso do Sul state, where a regional modal farm was established.

In the last years the Brazilian agricultural frontier is expanding towards the cerrado region, more specifically the region called MATOPIBA, comprised of savannah areas of four different states located in the north and northeastern parts of the country. This research paper aims to show a recent pattern of second wave investments in the frontier aimed at inferior quality land.

This paper explores the Pakistani government’s 2009 agricultural investment policy package — a response to increasing foreign investor interest in agricultural land — and considers the likely implications for local communities. By analysing the policy pertaining to the categories of cultivated and uncultivated land, the paper explores possible consequences that peasant farming communities and grazing communities face.

The aim of this study is to discuss and apply hedonic methodology for the determination and forecast of land prices in specific markets. This is important due to the fact that there is no official or reliable information in Brazil on current prices in land market transactions.

According to estimates by the International Land Coalition based at the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), 57 million hectares of land have been leased to foreign investors since 2007. Current research has focused on human rights issues related to inward investment in land but has been ignorant of water resource issues and the challenges of managing scarce water. This handbook will be the first to address inward investment in land and its impact on water resources in Africa.

In the last decade, Myanmar’s Kachin State has seen a boom in tissue-culture banana plantations driven by cross-border Chinese investors. This Case Study compiles field research and publicly available knowledge about the scale of the production and its economic, social and environmental consequences. The study provides a detailed snapshot of the investment model and key actors in Kachin State, the methods of land access, landscape outcomes, and experiences of plantation workers.

Climate warming and human actions both have negative impacts on the land cover of Mongolia, and are accelerating land degradation. Anthropogenic factors which intensify the land degradation process include mining, road erosion, overgrazing, agriculture soil erosion, and soil pollution, which all have direct impacts on the environment. In 2009–2010, eroded mining land in Mongolia increased by 3,984.46 ha., with an expansion in surrounding road erosion. By rough estimation, transportation eroded 1.5 million ha. of land.

Large-scale land acquisitions continue to be an important issue for governments, development organisations, NGOs and farmers’ organisations all over the world; this remains the case even in times of global economic slowdown, recession and crisis. The scale of this trend and its significant impacts on rural transformation and livelihoods make it necessary to further monitor, observe and positively influence such deals wherever possible.