Report Summary: "This case study has been produced in response to a request made to the Evidence on Demand Helpdesk. The objective of the request was to write a detailed case study on land tenure reform in a fragile and post-conflict state, Burma, and provide the reader with an understanding of how land tenure reform can work under the country’s particular social, political and economic conditions.

Over the last years, geospatial web platforms, social media, and volunteered geographic information (VGI) have opened a window of opportunity for traditional Public Participatory GIS (PPGIS) to usher in a new era. Taking advantage of these technological achievements, this paper presents a new approach for a citizen-orientated framework of spatial planning that aims at integrating participatory community work into existing decision-making structures.

Improving land governance is key in assuring that land resources can be enjoyed by all parts of the population. Donors can play an important role in combatting corruption in land administration and building a well-functioning land administration by both supporting domestic government efforts as well as engaging in international and multi-country initiatives. However, donors are advised by experts and civil society organisations to be mindful of the possible impact of their interventions on issues of land grabbing and forced relocations.

The phrase “land grab” has become common in Myanmar, often making front page news. This reflects the more open political space available to talk about injustices, as well as the escalating severity and degree of land dispossession under the new government.

But this seemingly simple two-word phrase is in fact very complex and opaque. It thus deserves greater clarity in order to better understand the deep layers of meaning to farmers in the historical political context of Myanmar.

This Topic Guide is written for DFID staff, but is relevant to all development professionals. It comprises the following sections:

This case study has been produced in response to a request made to the Evidence on Demand Helpdesk. The objective of the request was to provide a detailed case study on the evolution of land policy in Mozambique and provide the reader with insights into what is viewed as one of Africa’s most progressive land laws, recognising multiple forms of tenure.

The global finance, energy and food crises are fuelling a global rush for land in developing countries. In their search for land, political leaders and investors look to Africa as a potential food supplier for the rest of the world. However, the current trend of land liberalisation rarely offers a solution to sustainable food production and poverty reduction among smallhold farmers in rural areas, as shown by this case study.

The current solutions to delivering land administration services have very limited global outreach; 75 percent of the world's population do not have access to formal systems to register and safeguard their land rights. The majority of these are the poor and the most vulnerable in society and without any level of security of tenure they constantly live in threat of eviction.

This guide provides companies with an overview of the importance of traceability for sustainability purposes, outlines the global opportunities and challenges it represents and summarises practical steps for implementing traceability programmes within company operations. It

• defines traceability and explores its history, benefits and challenges, including an overview of current collaborative schemes on traceability,

Ensuring gender equality with respect to land rights is hailed as a key element of the recent land reforms, but actual results are limited. Achieving gender equality requires a comprehensive focus on land, family and other laws, including customary, and on their implementation on the ground. Summarises the findings from a series of reports reviewing progress made and challenges remaining to achieve gender equality with respect to land rights.

Paper discusses Zambia’s dual land tenure system, the ways in which gender issues have been incorporated in legal and policy documents, and the extent to which this has been reflected in practice. It also examines the role of donors in legal and policy processes and donor support to civil society in relation to women’s land rights. Gender and land policies provide for the allocation of land to women, but have little impact on the ground. Customary law is on the whole discriminatory against women, in particular with regard to land ownership.

In 1999 Ghana engaged in an ambitious land reform process with the adoption of a National Land Policy implemented through a Land Administration Project. The reform aims at strengthening land administration institutions and increasing the security of land tenure for landholders on both customary and state land, but the process is facing multiple challenges, e.g.