Land markets that allow access to
land-and to buildings-through secure property rights, at
transparent prices, and with efficient permitting processes
and land tax systems are essential to a good business
environment. Creating such markets, however, can be a long,
complex, politically charged process, especially where most
land is untitled and where there are conflicting claims. But
experience points to practical interim or step solutions

Internal displacement in Colombia has
become more prevalent and serious. Expulsion of land users
to gain territorial control is increasingly a tactical
element in the conflict. High land inequality makes it
easier to uproot populations. Providing assistance to
displaced populations does not reduce their propensity to
return. Together with other measures, a land policy that
increases tenure security for those at risk of displacement,

This brief includes the following
headings: rationale, objectives, and basic features of the
1997 land law; acquiring land-use rights; obstacles to
transferring urban land-use rights; promote the productive
use of Direito de Uso e Aproveitamento dos Terras, or
DUATs; and enforce the land tax.

Land and real estate reforms have not
been effective at achieving their objectives, in part
because of how they have been designed and implemented. To
be successful, reforms must become comprehensive in design,
argue the authors, although implementation may be phased
over time and take local conditions into account. Reform
must include three elements: 1) Institutional reforms that
better define property rights, reduce information asymmetry,

Successive policies of the Government of
Vietnam for economic reform and modernization have helped
Vietnam to emerge as one of the world's fastest growing
economies. The report provides continued recommendations on
improving land policies to ensure efficiency of their
practical implementation and to target at both economic
development and social sustainability. Policies with regard
to voluntary benefits sharing, promoting the participation

Land tenure security is crucial for
women's empowerment and a prerequisite for building
secure and resilient communities. Tenure is affected by many
and often contradictory sets of rules, laws, customs,
traditions, and perceptions. For most rural women, land
tenure is complicated, with access and ownership often
layered with barriers present in their daily realities:
discriminatory social dynamics and strata, unresponsive

Mauritania is a vast country covering
over a million square kilometers, where a relatively small
population of 3.5 million people lives on just one-fifth of
the country’s total area. With extremely advanced
desertification, the country is particularly vulnerable to
the impact of climate change and other external shocks. The
main sources of income in Mauritania are agriculture, which
is either irrigated or rain-fed, and livestock. This is

The *Voluntary Guidelines on Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (VGGT) are a globally negotiated and agreed framework endorsed in the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) on 11 May 2012.

This guide outlines the factors that influence the set up and effective operation of a non-state actor mechanism in the land sector, particularly during a land reform process. A land sector non-state actor mechanism is a means by which a group of non-state actors (civil society, grassroots organisations, etc.) coordinates their interventions and support to enhance their impact in the land sector, particularly during land reform processes.

Security of land tenure and property rights has received much attention in recent years. While appetite for land reform initiatives is not new, investment is increasing steadily, as evidence emerges that secure tenure is key to achieving economic growth, food security and other development goals.

From the mid-1980s, growing populations have put pressure on land and other natural resources, which has resulted in increased poverty levels, land conflicts and concerns for global food security.

Recognition of the importance of institutions that provide security of property rights and relatively equal access to economic resources to a broad cross-section of society has renewed interest in the potential of asset redistribution, including land reforms. Empirical analysis of the impact of such policies is, however, scant and often contradictory. This paper uses panel household data from India, together with state-level variation in the implementation of land reform, to address some of the deficiencies of earlier studies.

The author describes a new type of negotiated land reform that relies on voluntary land transfers negotiated between buyers and sellers, with the government's role restricted to establishing the necessary framework for negotiation and making a land purchase grant available to eligible beneficiaries. This approach has emerged-following the end of the Cold War and broad macroeconomic adjustment--as many countries face a second generation of reforms to address deep-rooted structural problems and provide a basis for sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction.