Companies in the business of selling farmland to billionaires and pension funds are peddling it as a green;sustainable and socially responsible investment. This propaganda is working. The digital land records and massive quantities of data that big tech companies like Microsoft and Amazon are vacuuming up from farmersfields make it easier for the companies to scour the planet for profitable farmland deals. They can also use satellite technologies and drones to monitor their farms from a distance. But the world’s farmland is finite.

For the estimated 70% of the world population that lives on property without a formal land title, life can be precarious. The absence of ownership documentation raises families’ vulnerability to forced eviction and conflict; it precludes the use of the property to access financial services and other economic benefits; and it diminishes the value of property by restricting its transfer to an informal, opaque market. And yet, in many parts of the world, the process of obtaining a land title is not only expensive but also complicated and sometimes nearly impossible.

Given the complementarities that exist between the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (VGGT) and the Framework and Guidelines on Land Policy in Africa (F&G), there is a need to achieve a coordinated approach to their application to ensure that the objectives they pursue are attained in a coherent, sustainable, efficient and mutually supportive manner.

Land acquisitions are transforming land-use systems globally, and their characteristics and impacts on human well-being have been extensively analysed through local case studies and regional or global inventories. However, national-level analysis that is crucial for national policy on sustainable agricultural investments and land use is still lacking. This paper conducts an archetype analysis of a unique dataset on land concessions in Lao PDR to provide a national-scale assessment of the impacts of land acquisitions on human well-being in 294 affected villages.

Increased investment in agriculture and food systems—from both the private and public sectors—is critical to enhance food security and nutrition, reduce poverty, and adapt to climate change. To generate sustainable benefits, this investment must be responsible. What role should investment incentives play in encouraging such investment? This Guide helps to answer that question.

This guidance document is designed to help Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development (IGF) member states implement the IGF Mining Policy Framework (MPF). It focuses on the role that national governments can play in ensuring the effective and sustainable management of the environment and natural resources by the mining sector, using the legislative, regulatory, and policy tools and mechanisms at their disposal.

This is the report of a webinar which took place on 25th February 2021 organized by the Land Portal Foundation.

From 2013 to 2016, Oxfam's Behind the Brands campaign called on the world’s 10 biggest food and beverage companies to adopt stronger social and environmental sourcing policies and spurred significant commitments on women’s empowerment, land rights and climate change. Now, as the coronavirus pandemic worsens inequality and food insecurity around the world, we assess whether the companies have taken meaningful steps to implement the commitments they made in response to the campaign.

New research by CCSI and the Centre pour l’Environnement et le Développement (CED) on transparency of land-based investment in Cameroon. 

In the report, CCSI and CED find that:

• Communities continue to be excluded from decision-making around investments.
• The government pursues a top-down approach to concession allocation and remains reluctant to recognize all legitimate tenure rights.

In May 2012, the Committee on World Food Security approved the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (the “Guidelines”). The Guidelines have been described as a catalysing instrument that improves the conditions of land and natural resources, in the agricultural, fishery and forestry sectors. They address problems related to poor governance of land tenure and the growing pressure exerted on natural resources, thereby helping countries to achieve food security for all.

Cette publication de la série « Success Stories » présente les bonnes pratiques en matière foncière en Colombie à travers l'application des VGGT par certains projets de la FAO entre 2014 et 2021, notamment dans le cadre de l'amélioration de la gouvernance et de la réduction des conflits dans les aires protégées, du renforcement des communautés en termes de leurs droits fonciers, et la restauration des droits territoriaux des communautés autochtones et/ou afro-descendantes.