Land deals are frequently agreed in secret between governments and investors. This lack of transparency in the allocation of land fosters an environment where elite capture of natural assets becomes the norm, where human rights are routinely abused with impunity, where environmental destruction is ignored and where investment incentives are stacked against companies willing to adhere to ethical and legal principles.

As Vietnam continues to search for its ideal balance between Communist control and a market-led economy, land rights emerge at the forefront of the discussion concerning the tension between traditional Socialist ideals of people-owned and state managed property versus neoliberal ideals of private property rights. The purpose of this study is twofold.

ABSTRACTED FROM THE OPENING PARAGRAPHS: In this paper we examine the Cambodian conception of power in order to shed light on the nature and functioning of Khmer political culture. This is not to make the point that the Cambodian language has a number of words for different aspects of power (as does English), but rather to explicate how Cambodians understand the personal basis of social power, how social power obligates individuals, and how this understanding translates into political power through the influence it has on individual (and group) behaviour towards holders of power.

Today, over 80 percent of the population of Cambodia lives in rural areas and about 73 percent depends on agriculture for their livelihoods. However, only about 20 percent of the land is arable. Cambodia became a member of FAO in 1950, and an FAO Representative office was opened in 1995.

ABSTRACTED FROM THE OPENING PARAGRAPHS: Land Watch Asia (LWA) is a regional campaign that aims to ensure that issues of access to land, agrarian reform, and equitable and sustainable development in rural areas are addressed in national and regional development discussions

It has proved much easier to observe the stark divide between the ‘professional optimists’ in the development industry and the ‘professional pessimists’ in academic development studies than it has to disrupt these roles or to explain them in ways that prevent them remaining entrenched. This paper will present and discuss the “Geographies of Evasion” hypothesis which claims to explain how and why rights-based development interventions in particular fail.

INTRODUCTION: What is property? What do rights to property cover and what are their limits? To whom do these rights belong? In an era where everything can become a commodity, be branded, trademarked and copyrighted, disputes over property and property rights uncover tensions at every level of society, between and among different levels of the state and various social configurations, from individuals to neighborhoods and whole villages. Disputes over property are also disputes between competing social goods and values.

ABSTRACTED FROM THE SUMMARY: Notwithstanding progress both nationally and locally, there is not yet evidence of sufficient support either internationally or nationally for REDD to effectively neutralise either the top-down or the bottom-up drivers of deforestation in Cambodia. This report reviews official documents and research reports over the 2009-2012 period, supplemented by field visits in 2010 and 2011, in order to summarise lessons learned from Cambodia’s early engagement with REDD from the viewpoint of poverty reduction.

The report, submitted in accordance with resolution 18/25 of 26 September 2011 of the Human Rights Council, is an assessment of the human rights impact of economic land concessions (ELCs) and other land concessions and major development projects in Cambodia (generally referred to as ―land concessions‖ throughout the report unless otherwise specified).

Large-scale international investments in developing country agriculture, especially acquisitions of agricultural land, continue to raise international concern. Certainly, complex and controversial issues – economic, political, institutional, legal and ethical – are raised in relation to food security, poverty reduction, rural development, technology and access to land and water resources. Yet at the same time, some developing countries are making strenuous efforts to attract foreign investment into their agricultural sectors.

Over the past decade the Asia-Pacific region has experienced tremendous changes in nearly every aspect. These changes have been particularly profound in the forestry sector, where society has dramatically increased its demands and expanded its expectations for goods and services. Almost all countries in the region have moved towards sustainable forest management at the policy level and in many countries institutional structures are also gradually changing.

This paper aims to describe the status of land reform in Cambodia by looking at the background information, general approaches and basic types of land reform from the world’s views and experience, and the efforts taken thus far on land reform in Cambodia. The paper also reflects on key elements, principles, good and bad experiences, innovations, achievements and challenges around the issues of Cambodia’s land reform.