This brief is based on the results of a research project funded under the competitive grants program of the 2020 Vision Network for East Africa. A research report with the same title is available on IFPRI’s website (www.ifpri.org) and also upon request. Background Most of Uganda’s agriculture is rain-fed. Low and erratic rainfall is increasingly reducing crop yields and causing food insecurity. Irrigation is one option for enhancing agricultural production.

En el mundo entero, los gobiernos buscan cada vez más gestionar sus bosques con la colaboración de la gente que vive cerca de ellos. Por lo general, los ministerios forestales o sus equivalentes lo hacen ofreciendo a la población local acceso a productos forestales seleccionados o a tierras de bosques, ingresos provenientes de los recursos forestales u oportunidades de comunicarse con las autoridades forestales gubernamentales.

Land tenure institutions in customary land areas of Sub-Saharan Africa have been evolving towards individualized ownership. Communal land tenure institutions aim to achieve and preserve the equitable distribution of land (and hence, income) among community members. Uncultivated forestland is owned by the community or village, and as long as forest land is available, forest clearance of forest is easily approved by the village chief.

How can family farmers best contribute to their country’s agriculture needs as well as broader development goals? First, we should determine which farmers can be profitable and assist them in doing so. Second, for those who aren’t profitable, we need to help them shift to other economic pursuits.

This study attempts to identify the impacts of land tenure institutions on the efficiency of farm management based on a case study of smallholder rubber production in customary lands of Sumatra

Between 1978 and 1984, a massive shift from collective to household agricultural production took place in China. These incremental reforms, which Deng Xiaoping called "crossing the river while feeling the rocks," eventually gave 95 percent-160 million rural Chinese families-the right to oversee household plots, leading to stunning gains in productivity.1 Despite the success of the HRS, the enhancement of property rights is an ongoing reform process. Landholders depended on tenure agreements that could be changed at any time.

There is growing interest in the role of policy reforms to promote gender equality and empower women, two key objectives of development policy. From a policy perspective, it would be ideal for reforms undertaken in different policy areas to be consistent, so that they reinforce each other in improving gender equity.

A series of high-profile food-related scares around the globe has drawn attention to the issue of food safety and other health risks associated with agriculture. Because the scope of the problem is different at different levels of economic development, we need nuanced policy options to promote safer food production systems worldwide.

Research report

In addition to global developments and food policy changes, 2014 also saw important developments with potentially wide repercussions in individual countries and regions. This chapter offers perspectives on major food policy developments in various regions including Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, Central Asia, South Asia, East Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean.

This research report examines three questions that are central to IFPRI research: How do property-rights institutions affect efficiency and equity? How are resources allocated within households? Why does this matter from a policy perspective? As part of a larger multicountry study on property rights to land and trees, this study focuses on the evolution from customary land tenure with communal ownership toward individualized rights, and how this shift affects women and men differently.This study’s key contribution is its multilevel econometric analysis of efficiency and equity issues.

This paper examines the role of the extended family on investments in children, using data from a retrospective survey of three generations in the rural Philippines. Econometric results show that interactions between grandparent characteristics and child gender significantly affect the distribution of proposed land bequests between sons and daughters. However, grandparents significantly affect gender-specific investments in children's education only in resource-constrained families.