Land Investments in Indonesia

The purpose of this study was to assess the bio-energy sector in Tanzania and to critically inquire the threats, benefits and opportunities to smallscale producers and sustainable environment management. Based on the terms of references this study focused on areas where land is earmarked or already in use for production of biofuels in Tanzania for both large and small-scale firms. The development of policy of liquid biofuels and other policies in general were examined.

This report springs from series of field visits.Its aim was, among others, to examine further the extent of human rights violations suffered by pastoralists in Kilombero and Rufiji valley during the evictions. It additionally makes recommendations including the need for lobbying against the State’s contempt of court orders

The mainstay of this report, however, is not so much an examination of the extractive industries themselves as an examination of the Mozambican government’s and society’s ability to handle the impacts of these industries and where capacity growth is most urgently needed. In this regard, this investigation looks at three principal areas. The first area is about maximizing the receipts that reach legitimate government coffers. This includes the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, which ensures that company and governmentpayments match.

Investors are buying up vast tracks of land across the developing world in a modern day ‘land rush’. New analysis by Oxfam explores where land is changing hands and why. It finds that investors appear to be targeting countries with weak governance in order to secure land quickly and cheaply – putting the homes and livelihoods of some of the world’s most vulnerable communities at risk. Oxfam’s GROW campaign is calling on the World Bank to lead the fight against land grabs.

Around the world, in both developed and
developing countries, policy makers use a variety of tools
to manage and accommodate urban growth and redevelopment.
Government officials have three main concerns in terms of
land policy: (i) accommodating urban expansion, (ii)
providing infrastructure, and (iii) managing density.
Together, the planning for infrastructure and urban
expansion, land use, and density policies combine to shape

This article focuses on recent policy changes implemented by the Government of Tanzania. The Government has been criticized in local and international media for supporting harmful large-scale land acquisitions. In response, policy makers have placed a cap on transfer size: investors can acquire no more than 10,000 hectares for sugar production and no more than 5,000 hectares for rice production (two key agricultural commodities in the country). But will a cap stop harmful transfers? Maybe, but caps are not necessarily the “major step” that the article suggests.

Please find here the report of the online discussion facilitated by Ekta Parishad on the land portal in December 2012 : Is the right to land for shelter a human right? Many thanks to all of the participants for their very interesting inputs, which will contribute to the ongoing negociations with the indian government.

Special thanks to Dominik Pauli for his great support and commitment.

I invite you to read this briefing paper prepared - by Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP) - on challanges faced by indigenous women in Southeast Asia in accessing justice. The briefing includes stories on the impact on indigenous women of various projects, including dams, mines, plantations and national parks. Countries covered are Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand,  and the Philippines. As affirmed by AIPP:

Transnational Institute

Unless foreign direct investment in Burma's war-torn borderlands is refocused towards people-centered development, it is likely to deepen disparity between the region’s most neglected peoples and Burma's new military, business and political elite and exacerbate a decades-long civil war.

To read the full report click Here

"In the absence of an easily available source of reliable up-to-date data on foreign land deals in Tanzania, many reports have been published that attempt to provide an overview of these deals. While providing this overview is challenging due to the dynamic and non-transparent nature of the 'land grab' phenomenon itself, it has become even more debatable due to certain questionable methods of using and quoting existing data. This leads to several flaws including the ‘virtual survival’ of cancelled land deals ‘on paper’.

The "Bread for All-Protestant Development Service" recently released a document based on three case studies on the palm oil sector in Liberia.