Compulsory acquisition of land and compensation

Countries retain powers of compulsory acquisition in order to enable governments to acquire land for specific purposes. The nature of these powers and the ways in which they are used are invariably sensitive and have wide implications, including from the perspective of international agreements on human rights and their national expressions. Compulsory acquisition is disruptive for those who are affected and whose land is taken and, if done poorly, will have serious negative impacts on people and their livelihoods.
It is important, therefore, that satisfactory approaches are in place and effectively implemented to ensure that communities and people are placed in at least equivalent positions to those before the land acquisition. Prerequisites for this are appropriate legal frameworks and capacities for implementation, and good governance and adherence to the rule of law (see FAO Land Tenure Study 9: Good governance in land tenure and administration.)