The Mekong Region Land Governance (MRLG) project, MLIKE (Mekong Land Information and Knowledge Exchange),  and the Land Portal co-facilitated an online dialogue on “Responsible Large Scale Agricultural Investments in the Mekong Region” on 09-27 October 2017. The full dialogue can be read here. This report delineates the key messages emerging from the dialogue.

The UK Department for International Development (the “DFID”) plays a strong role in driving changes towards improving land rights protection, land-tenure information and responsible private sector land investments in developing countries. With funding from DFID’s LEGEND Challenge Program, Deutsche Welthungerhilfe (“WHH”) currently tests the CPCModel in partnership with a Sierra Leonean Investor under the SPIRAL-Project (the “Project”).

The Land: Enhancing Governance for Economic Development (LEGEND) Challenge Fund supports innovative partnerships between non-profit organisations and agricultural investors with the goal of encouraging responsible agricultural investment. The £3.65 million fund is a core component of DFID’s LEGEND programme.

Landesa (strengthening land rights for the world’s poorest people) and Land Portal co‑facilitated the online dialogue on “Responsible investments in land: perspective from Tanzania and globally” from June 5 -16, 2017.

For details on the dialogue follow this link.

This article was submitted for the UN Economic Commission for Africa “2017 Conference on Land Policy in Africa” Nov. 14-17 2017, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

This article sheds light on a series of events that triggered escalating tensions over land and resources in the coastal communities of Lagos, Nigeria. This article provides an in-depth analysis of Nigeria’s laws on expropriation and the processes of acquiring land and compensating landholders in the Lekki Free Trade Zone (LFTZ) case. Specifically, the analysis addresses the following research questions:

This course has been developed in response to the concerns about increasing large-scale land acquisitions and the need to increase investment in agriculture. The objective is to provide guidance to government authorities engaged in investment promotion, approval, and monitoring activities at all stages of the investment cycle.

Sub-Saharan Africa has always been perceived as a land-abundant continent. Deininger & Byerlee (2011) estimate that the continent has the largest area of potentially available uncultivated land. Despite these abundant resources, the agricultural sector continues to be dominated by smallholder production that is characterized by high labor and low capital intensities – but still produces the majority of food in Africa (IFAD & UNEP, 2013).

This report was prepared by Centre for Land Governance, NRMC, the Secretariat of India Land & Development Conference 2017. This report provides an overview of the proceedings of India Land & Development Conference, organized at India International Centre, New Delhi, India on April 5-6th 2017.

This report consists sharing of experiences, knowledge and practices over eight thematic sessions, two panel discussions and a special session.

Eight Sessions in the Conference are as follows:

With Second Level Land Certification (SLLC), farmers gain increased security of tenure: this incentivises them to invest more in their land.

To allow for this productive investment to take place, the Land Investment for Transformation (LIFT) programme is working with micro finance institutions (MFIs) to roll out an innovative financial product: the SLLC-linked individual loan.

Accessing longer terms and larger size loans allows farmers to increase the productivity of their land, graduate from subsistence farming, and become more commercially oriented.

Supporting the agriculture sector

The GoE with technical support from the Land Investment for Transformation (LIFT) programme is issuing Second Level Land Certificates (SLLC) to increase the land tenure security of farmers. As a result, farmers are more willing to invest in their land in a productive and sustainable way. However, to allow for increased productive investment, farmers must have access to improved agri-inputs and technologies that are climate smart: this is currently a challenge in most rural areas.