Land cover data is widely used for the design and monitoring of land use policies despite the incapability of this type of data to represent multiple land uses and land management activities within the same landscape. In this study, we operationalized the concept of land systems for the case of the Lao PDR (Laos). Distinct land systems like shifting cultivation and plantations (land concessions) cannot be fully captured by land cover inventories alone, in spite of their relevance for land use policies.

For centuries, farmers, herders, fishers and foresters have developed diverse and locally adapted agricultural systems managed with time tested, ingenious techniques. These practices have resulted in a vital combination of social, cultural, ecological and economic services to humankind. “Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems” (GIAHS) are outstanding landscapes of aesthetic beauty that combine agricultural biodiversity, resilient ecosystems and a valuable cultural heritage.

Land degradation is a major challenge limiting crop production in Ethiopia. Integrated soil and water conservation is widely applied as a means to reverse the trend and increase productivity. This study investigated the effects of such integrated approaches at two sites, Jeldu and Diga, in Western Ethiopia. A split plot design with physical soil and water conservation in the main plots and agronomic practices in the sub plots was employed.

Soil and water conservation (SWC) practices like that of erosion control and soil fertility measures were commonly practiced in the semiarid region of southern Mali since the 1980s. The SWC practices were mainly meant to increase water availability in the subsurface, reduce farm water runoff and gully formation and improve nutrient content of the soil, thereby increasing crop yield. Despite such efforts to promote at scale SWC practices, the landscape of southern Mali is still affected by high rates of runoff and soil erosion and low crop yield in farmers’ fields.

The report analyzes the changing tripartite constellations between South African black smallholders, the pre- and post-apartheid state, and the country’s large-scale agribusiness and irrigation industry. A recent mode of farming is the ‘joint venture’, in which smallholders hand over land and share in the net profits, while a strategic partner manages the cultivation with own inputs and equipment, and markets the output.

Land degradation is a major challenge limiting crop production in Ethiopia. Integrated soil and water conservation is widely applied as a means to reverse the trend and increase productivity. This study investigated the effects of such integrated approaches at two sites, Jeldu and Diga, in Western Ethiopia. A split plot design with physical soil and water conservation in the main plots and agronomic practices in the sub plots was employed.

This study investigated the implications of large-scale land concessions in the Red River Delta, Vietnam, and Northeast Cambodia with regard to urban and agricultural frontiers, agrarian transitions, migration, and places from which the migrant workers originated.

Increasing global demand for natural rubber began in the mid-2000s and led to large-scale expansion of plantations in Laos until rubber latex prices declined greatly beginning in 2011. The expansion of rubber did not, however, occur uniformly across the country. While the north and central Laos experienced mostly local and smallholder plantations, rubber expansion in the south was dominated by transnational companies from Vietnam, China and Thailand through large-scale land concessions, often causing conflicts with local communities.

WEBSITE INTRODUCTION: This report presents a synthesis of the main findings from case studies carried out in six countries in Africa (Ghana, Sierra Leone, United Republic of Tanzania and Zambia) and Asia (Laos and Philippines). The findings were disseminated and discussed in multistakeholder initiatives at regional and country level. The report illustrates how poor rural women and men are affected differently by agricultural investments, and demonstrates that they may not benefit equally from emerging opportunities.