Soaring food and fuel prices and the instability of global financial markets have prompted agri-businesses, investment banks, and food- and energy-hungry nations to secure resources in countries where land is available, or is made available, for investment. Given that access to land is closely linked to food security, poverty alleviation, sustainable livelihoods and rural transformation, and that large-scale land acquisitions (LSLAs) can hinder such access, it’s important to monitor these deals.

(please refer to page 12 of the journal to read more) 

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.

The narrative of Ethiopia’s remarkable economic growth path under a developmental state model is that of a strong ruling coalition united behind the vision of the late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.

Driving Dispossession: The Global Push to “Unlock the Economic Potential of Land,” sounds the alarm on the unprecedented wave of privatization of natural resources that is underway around the world. Through six case studies — Ukraine, Zambia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka, and Brazil — the report details the myriad ways by which governments — willingly or under the pressure of financial institutions and Western donor agencies — are putting more land into so-called “productive use” in the name of development.

This paper is an abridged version of an earlier scoping study entitled Sri Lanka Country Report: Land Watch Asia Study prepared in 2010 by the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement through the support of the International Land Coalition (ILC). It is also written as a contribution to the Land Watch Asia (LWA) campaign to ensure that access to land, agrarian reform and sustainable development for the rural poor are addressed in development.

Brunei Darussalam strives to build on its Millennium Development Goals achievements to take greater strides towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In the six months since the coronavirus began its global spread, more than 15 million people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and more than 600,000 have perished, causing governments around the world to institute lockdowns and shut down businesses while entire industries have been devastated.

A major investigation by Global Witness has revealed how Cambodia’s ruling family are pulling the strings on Cambodia’s economy and amassing vast personal fortunes with extreme consequences for the population. The report, Hostile Takeover, sheds light on a huge network of secret deal-making and corruption that has underpinned Hun Sen’s 30-year dictatorial reign of murder, torture and the imprisonment of his political opponents.

As gold prices soared from 2008 onwards, tens of thousands of foreign miners, especially from China, entered the small-scale mining sector in Ghana, despite it being ‘reserved for Ghanaian citizens’ by law. A free-for-all ensued in which Ghanaian and Chinese miners engaged in both contestation and collaboration over access to gold, a situation described as ‘out of control’ and a ‘culture of impunity’. Where was the state? This paper addresses the question of how and why pervasive and illicit foreign involvement occurred without earlier state intervention.

In this paper, we use an actor-oriented perspective to explore the nature and extent of conflict and negotiation with regard to land use and tenure among the Iban of Sarawak. The Iban are shifting cultivators who have long been involved in smallholder cash crops.

This presentation was given at the Webinar "Land Consolidation Legislation: FAO Legal Guide and Its Application at the Country Level" on 18 June 2020. It explores the content of the new FAO Legal Guide on Land Consolidation, as well as the context that led to the development of this guide.

Statistical Yearbook of Indonesia 2019 is an annual publication presenting various data from BPS-Statistics Indonesia and other agencies. The publication provides general pictures of geographic and climate conditions, government, as well as key socio-demographic and economic characteristics of Indonesia. The data in some particular tables are presented at provincial and international level to compare socio-economic condition inter-regions and inter-countries.