Financial cooperatives and microfinance institutions (MFIs) are the two major sources of rural finance in Ethiopia. Whereas MFIs are relatively new, financial cooperatives have existed for centuries in various forms. The coexistence of two different institutions serving the same group of people, and delivering the same financial services, raises several policy questions. Those questions have become particularly relevant, as the government has embarked on developing a new strategy for improving rural financial services delivery.

In the broadly understood process of real estate management owners and users as well as other entities participate, inter alia, banks, courts, notaries, appraisers, managers and intermediaries in property transactions, investors, construction supervision services, and architectural and construction administrative bodies, for which up-to-date, complete information on real estate is a prerequisite for taking appropriate decisions. Since 1989, real estate, and thus information on it, has become an important element of the economic development and functioning of the State.

Large-scale dislocation of populations due to land expropriations and armed conflict presents significant difficulties for political stability and food security in fragile states. With increased use of mass claims programs by the international community and governments in order to attend to the problem, attention is focusing on what works. While organizing mass claims programs is challenging, the real difficulty is deriving remedies that are realistic, effective, implementable and that fit the wide variety of circumstances that people, communities and nations find themselves.

The main tasks of land consolidation are to eliminate land fragmentation and to facilitate farms of optimal size. One of the most important preconditions of land consolidation is forming of optimal size farmland plots in property and use, and land fragmentation, which has a major impact on both the operating conditions and other rural development processes. Land fragmentation bothers not only land management, but also increases transport costs. During the land reform in the rural areas, land plots in ownership and rented land plots are developed per several land units.

Background: Farmers apply several and often different farmer-specific strategies to cope with and adapt to the perceived trend of declining rainfall and crop productivity. A better understanding of the factors affecting farmers’ coping and adaptation strategies to counteract both trends is crucial for policies and programs that aim at promoting successful rainfed agriculture in Ethiopia.

This paper describes the result of investigations and research studies conducted targeting the old site of Hoa Duc and Bau Mon Hamlets, Hoa An Village, Phung Hiep District in Hau Giang Province, Vietnam (Can Tho until 2002), which has been the site of an investigation by the authors since 1993. The authors conducted an entire household survey targeting more than three hundred households in the same area, four times in 1993, 1997, 2002, and 2011, in cooperation with Can Tho University.

In this study, we investigated the lot owners' awareness of their own and neighborhood greeneries, and examined factors influencing their awareness including personal attributions and life histories as well as surrounding physical urban green environment. We also associated these awareness with potential of continuous maintenance of these greeneries. We selected suburban residential district with considerable greeneries in Sakai City, Osaka Prefecture, central Japan as case study area, and carried out questionnaire survey to the residents.

This study is based on the Forest's Owners designated by the Matsudo City Green Regulations. It aims is develop the current Conservation Policy State on Privately Owned Forests and those forests open to the local residents, as well as to examine the achievements and tasks of public visit management and cooperation with citizen's organizations. In this survey we gave a questionnaire to the landowners, and conducted an interview with the personal from the local government offices.