Quantitative reconstructions of past land use facilitate comparisons between livelihoods in space and time. However, comparison between different types of land use strategies is challenging as land use has a multitude of expressions and intensities. The quantitative method presented here facilitates the exploration and synthetization of uneven archaeological and textual evidence from past societies.

The preservation, development and sustainable use of agricultural land are of vital importance to ensure long-term food security. On a global level, food security is closely linked to Goal 1 of the Millennium Development Goals, namely to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger by, amongst others, halving, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger.

The Select Committee on Land and Mineral Resources having conducted oversight at the Council of Geosciences (CGS), the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) and Onderstepoort Biological Products (OBP), from 21 – 22 October 2014 reports as follows:

1. Background and Introduction

In order to create credibility and sustainability between policies, to avoid political confusion and to reassure “investor confidence”, a clear agri-food policy package needs to be in place. To achieve this, policy packages should be constructed to give coherence, with an explicit goal and set of objectives, underscoring accountability to delivery. Considering current policy debates, the questions pursued in this paper are: does a clear vision guide existing and emerging agriculture and food policies and are a clear set of measures defined to achieve this vision?

Recently, in its policy conference held in Johannesburg, South Africa from 30 June to 5 July 2017, the African National Congress (ANC) once again put on the table the possibility of land expropriation without compensation. In his closing remarks on the last day of the conference, President Zuma stated that “where it is necessary and unavoidable, land expropriation without compensation may be pursued.”

...There are many good books and resources on sustainable agriculture and
we have learnt much from them. However refugees are constrained in their
agricultural practices due to limited access to land, water and other resources.
This Handbook attempts to present a summary of simple adaptations of ideas
found in other books, manuals and resources on sustainable agriculture.
This Handbook is not a textbook as such, but a compilation of different
subjects for people to pick and choose. We know that it is not complete and

This report presents a political-economic analysis of
land governance at the regional level, focusing on the
Mekong Region

This Handbook is designed for both farmers and students to use in the field and during training. It is divided into eight sections, each one containing several topics and all illustrated with large clear pictures. The Handbook can be read from beginning to end or each topic can be read separately. Space is provided for readers to take notes and to add their own local knowledge...Our people have always been farmers. Farmers of the river lands, of the mountains, and of the forests.

This Handbook is designed for both farmers and students to use in the field and
during training. It is divided into eight sections, each one containing several
topics and all illustrated with large clear pictures. The Handbook can be read
from beginning to end or each topic can be read separately. Space is provided
for readers to take notes and to add their own local knowledge...Our people have always been farmers. Farmers of the river lands, of the
mountains, and of the forests. Due to civil war in Burma, more and more of

What rural dwellers in the Global South experience as land grabbing, tends to be seen in the Global North as ‘agricultural investment’. The World Bank has been at the forefront of a drive to legitimate these investments, convening to win support for a code of conduct based on Responsible Agricultural Investment (RAI) principles. Many key civil society groups reject the proposal for a code of conduct, objecting to the top-down process by which it was formulated and arguing that it was more likely to legitimate than prevent land grabbing.

This website contains mainly news reports about the global rush to buy up or lease farmlands abroad as a strategy to secure basic food supplies or simply for profit. Its purpose is to serve as a resource for those monitoring or researching the issue, particularly social activists, non-government organisations and journalists.

Executive Summary: