Land policy reform has dominated the development agenda across the Global South over the past two decades. In contrast with earlier distributive land reforms, contemporary policies reflect an amalgamation of neoliberal, state territorial, and social justice agendas. This paper demonstrates how land policy changes reflect the spatially extensive and multi-scalar politics of land contestation and control, employing the cases of Myanmar and Laos. Myanmar’s short-lived democratic transition enabled civil society actors to exert uneven influence on policy reform.

Indonesia represents an interesting case for analysis of the relationship between multi-level governance and climate governance for three main reasons. It is a highly decentralized country; it is a major contributor to land-based greenhouse gas emissions; and it is extremely vulnerable to climate change. The chapter first provides a broad overview on Indonesia’s climate governance in the context of decentralization, and then focuses on sub-national governance of climate change mitigation in the land use sector, the largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in the country.

The vast rangelands of Tunisia and Senegal are critical for the livelihoods of pastoral communities, providing grazing land for their herds and other essential resources and ecosystem services. However, these fragile ecosystems face numerous threats, including climate change, land degradation, and encroachment from urban and economic activities.

Under the CGIAR Initiative on National Policies and Strategies (NPS), International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and Council for Energy, Environment, and Water (CEEW) jointly organized a National Stakeholder Workshop on “Policy Coherence for Food, Land, and Water” in India on 16th June 2023 at India Habitat Center in New Delhi.

Groundwater is the single largest source of water for irrigation and domestic use in India. Climate change further exacerbates the threat of depletion, reducing food security and increasing the vulnerabilities of resource users. Governance is complicated by externalities associated with its attributes as an invisible and fluid resource which create problems of rivalry and exclusion. Based on theory-based case studies for evaluation of selected World Bank projects, we analyse challenges for groundwater governance and identify factors that contribute to depletion.

Inclusive community participation in bottom-up polycentric governance is at the heart of recognitional, procedural, distributional and inter-generational equity and of integrity of international, national and district-scale interventions to improve climate resilience in marginalized rural areas.

International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) organized a state consultation workshop on 14 December 2023 on ‘Policy Coherence in Food, Land, and Water (FLW) Systems: A case study of Odisha’ at Bhubaneswar as a part of the CGIAR Initiative on National Policies and Strategies Initiatives (NPS). The Food, Land and Water (FLW) project aims to identify key state-level policies in the food, land, and water systems that have a practical scope for improving coherence and hold most potential for creating an impact.

The critical interlinkages among the food, land, and water (FLW) systems are complex and context-specific. There has been limited research on how policies governing one resource have deep implications for the other linked resources. Further, the process of developing policies is highly complex, and each evolves differently. In addition, policy changes are implemented in response to socio-cultural, economic, environmental, and political changes. Thus, individual policies may develop conflicting priorities and effects.

In 2016, Indigenous communities began to gain access to land rights in Indonesia’s vast state forests. The Kajang community of Sulawesi was the first to achieve such legal land status. Kajang also gained attention for its use of PAR to gain consensus across stakeholder groups in securing recognition. The jointly produced local regulation became symbolic for its ability to convene activists and local government, with Kajang Indigenous leaders at the center.

To promote the sustainable use of native biodiversity, the Regional Government of Ucayali in Peru formed a Regional Technical Commission on BioTrade to develop a Regional Strategic Plan following an agroecological approach. The Alliance, together with the NGO Terra Nuova, supported the development of the strategy and its action plan. The plan aims to raise awareness on Amazonian native products, strengthen farmer organizations and institutions, and support local businesses.