DFID are looking to propose that the UK supports a package of measures to strengthen land transparency and ultimately governance. This work is of a high priority for DFID and the wider UK Government. Following further research on the evidence and internal discussions, DFID have identified a gap relating to two specific questions:

1.    What are the impacts of large-scale land acquisitions (LSA) on local food insecurity and malnutrition levels? 
2.    Is there a difference in impacts whether investments are international or local? 

The project aims to support small-scale farmers in the project area in their efforts to adapt their farming practices to anticipated climate change and to enhance their incomes.

The series of studies discussed in this overview pull together updated information about large-scale land acquisitions in the region, with the aim of identifying trends, common threats, divergences and possible solutions. As well as summarising trends in investment, trade, crop development and land tenure arrangements, the studies focus on the land tenure and human rights challenges.

The work presented here aims to support the Land Policy Initiative (LPI) Secretariat in spearheading the implementation of the Nairobi Action Plan, particularly the achievement of the first action related to the Assessments of large-scale land based investment (LSLBI) in Africa, in order to build the necessary evidence and analysis required for the implementation of the remainder of the actions under the Plan.

This document focuses on the Synthesis report on Large-scale land based investments in Africa. The specific objective of the work is to prepare an assessment report on LSLBI in Africa with a view to building knowledge and drawing lessons based on best practices for future LSLBI deals that lead to win-win outcomes. In order to do so five regional assessments have been engaged in and are synthesized in this continental synthesis report.

The document focuses on the growing demand for regional facilities for demographic research and training in Africa, the United Nations Economic commission for Africa approved, at its Ninth Session in 1968, the establishment of two new institutes, which would provide training and conduct research in the region. One of these was to serve the English-speaking Countries of Africa, taking into consideration the coverage of the Cairo Demographic Centre, and the need to avoid the duplication or facilities, while the other was to serve the French-speaking countries or Africa, south of Sahara.

The Land Policy Initiative (LPI) of the African Union, the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the African development Bank (AfDB) concluded the development of a Framework and Guidelines) on Land Policy in Africa (F&G) to facilitate national land policy development and implementation processes.

This article is concerned with the adoption of small-scale irrigation farming as a climate-smart agriculture practice and its influence on household income in the Chinyanja Triangle. Chinyanja Triangle is a region that is increasingly experiencing mid-season dry spells and an increase in occurrence of drought, which is attributed largely to climate variability and change. This poses high agricultural production risks, which aggravate poverty and food insecurity. For this region, adoption of small-scale irrigation farming as a climate-smart agriculture practice is very important.

The ongoing economic pressure on farmers has resulted in lower gross margins, lower income, and a continuous decrease in the number of farmers in large parts of the world. Most remaining farmers upscale their activities by taking over the land of their former competitors, resulting in a decrease in agricultural employment and an increase in average farm size, accompanied by specialisation and new management techniques.

Recently, we witnessed an immense increase in international land transactions in the Global South, a phenomenon slowly expanding in northern industrialized countries, too. Even though in Europe agriculture plays a decreasing economic role for rural livelihoods, the increases in land transactions by non-local, non-agricultural investors pervades rural life. Nevertheless, the underlying processes are not yet well understood. Large-scale land acquisitions describe such purchases and leases in a neutral way, while ‘land grabbing’ expresses negative consequences for rural people.

Pantanal is one of the largest wetlands in the world. In its southern portion, it hosts significant beef cattle ranching, having a herd of 4,832,200 head of cattle in 2016 (IBGE, 2018). Yet it presents intra-regional differences and complementarities. This article discusses such current territory definition, focusing on cattle ranching in Pantanal, considering its forms of occupation, agents, and its intra-regional flow of cattle.

Texas savanna experienced substantial woody plant encroachment during the past several decades, resulting in habitat fragmentation and species loss. A detailed map of woody plant abundance and distribution in this area is critically needed for management purpose. This study endeavors to map the fractional woody cover of Texas savanna at Landsat scale (30 m) in an affordable way. The top of atmosphere reflectance, thermal bands, and NDVI layer of Web-Enabled Landsat Data (WELD) of 2012 were used as predictors, together with mean annual precipitation.