This document is about rural development in Africa. It is a preliminary statement of lessons learned from more than 20 years of natural resource–based development in rural Africa and it presents principles and action steps that can serve as a guide to investment there. While the fate of Africa’s natural resources cannot be separated from the broader context of economic and development challenges, neither can Africa’s economic and development future be separated from the management of its natural resources.

The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) encouraged FAO at its VII Session to promote the recognition of indigenous peoples’ territorial rights.

Territorial Development: an innovative approach

This lesson brief explores the history of land conflicts in Kenya.

Significant progress has been made over the past decade or so in the development of policy and legislation that support the recognition of customary rights to land, with important legal rulings in Tanzania, Uganda, Mozambique, South Sudan, and South Africa. At the same time, the strengthening of communities’ traditional rights to use resources has progressed through community forest reserves and community conservation areas.

For the full text of the document "Final study of the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee on the advancement of the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas" please visit the UN Human Rights Council website ( English |

This paper analyses briefly the reasons why enclosures of the rangelands is taking place, the short and long term impact on different groups, and the technical and environmental issues. Examples are given from Kenya and Somalia.

This document describes the consultation of traditional authorities in Namibia on how communal land is managed and on the registration of customary land rights.

The main objective of this book is to demonstrate the potential that geoprocessing tools have for supporting rural extension and development. The focus is on the Global Positioning System (GPS), virtual globes, and simple geographic information systems (GIS). Based on examples, and without any claim to comprehensiveness, the book offers a range of insights into the use of these geoprocessing tools in interventions in the context of international development cooperation.

Please find here the report of the online discussion facilitated by Ekta Parishad on the land portal in December 2012 : Is the right to land for shelter a human right? Many thanks to all of the participants for their very interesting inputs, which will contribute to the ongoing negociations with the indian government.

Special thanks to Dominik Pauli for his great support and commitment.

Ekta Parishad along with support organisations launched a decisive movement called Jan Satyagrah whose focus was to bring together people’s voices for a ‘National Land Reforms Act & Policy’ as a broad framework and means of land re-distribution to the landless and homeless poor.