This report explores the potential role of small-scale water storage infrastructure in two subbasins within the larger Koshi River Basin in central and eastern Nepal, yet shows that upscaling such infrastructure requires an appreciation of the other drivers of change in agriculture aside from climate (e.g., rising cost of living and poor terms of trade for agriculture). It also identifies the social relations and dynamics (distribution of land, water and labour) which could mediate the success of future interventions.

Since 2008 there has been a rapid increase in the level of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in agricultural land in Sub Saharan Africa and South East Asia. In 2008-2009 land acquisitions were estimated to be approximately 56 million hectares, 70-75% of which were in Africa (although it is likely that many leases are still pending or not yet executed). Large scale land acquisitions are primarily for agricultural development (circa 80%). The remaining 20% are dominated by extractives and infrastructure.

The Chinese central government has consistently taken decisive legal and policy measures over the past 35 years to secure, enhance, and expand farmers’ rights to farmland and forest land in order to reduce the

This document focuses on the Synthesis report on Large-scale land based investments in Africa. The specific objective of the work is to prepare an assessment report on LSLBI in Africa with a view to building knowledge and drawing lessons based on best practices for future LSLBI deals that lead to win-win outcomes. In order to do so five regional assessments have been engaged in and are synthesized in this continental synthesis report.

Includes the impacts of failed large-scale investments: the case of Bioshape; Bioshape’s land acquisition process at the national, district and village level; the impacts of Bioshape’s investment in Kilwa; the biofuel boom and bust in Tanzania 2005-11; options for the affected villagers, policy implications; recommendations.

Landscape changes and the processes driving them have been a critical component in both research and management efforts of savanna systems. These dynamics impact human populations, wildlife, carbon storage, and general spatio-temporal dynamism in response to both anthropomorphic and climatic shifts. Both biophysical and human agents of change can be identified by isolating their respective spatial, temporal, and organizational contingencies.

Includes agri-food regimes and corporate concentration in the agri-food system in South Africa; three broad phases of land reform, 1994-99, 1999-2007, 2007 to the present; two competing views of small-scale agriculture, land reform and small-scale agricultural production, smallholder farmer support.

Through the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, G8 countries are seeking to mobilise the private sector and multi-national corporations to boost African agriculture. Looks at how African countries are engaging with the New Alliance. Argues that large-scale acquisitions of land for corporate agriculture, which may result from New Alliance projects, pose a serious challenge for local markets and smallholder farmers. Underlying assumptions need to be challenged.

The most recent ‘land rush’ precipitated by the convergent ‘crises’ of fuel, feed and food in 2007–2008 has heightened the debate on the consequences of land investments, with widespread media coverage, policy commentary and civil society engagement. This ‘land rush’ has been accompanied by a ‘literature rush’, with a fast-growing body of reports, articles, tables and books with varied purposes, metrics and methods. Land grabbing, as it is popularly called, is now a hot political topic around the world, discussed amongst the highest circles.

Recent stories from Burma and Ethiopia illustrate the contentious issues surrounding the large-scale acquisition of land for agricultural production. In Ethiopia, the government may be re-assessing its policy of granting large tracts of land to investors, reducing the size of initial allocations and increasing the scrutiny of investors' capacity to achieve their proposed plans and fulfill contractual obligations.

The results of this paper challenge the
conventional wisdom in the literature that productivity
plays no role in the economic development of Singapore.
Properly accounting for market power and returns to scale
technology, the estimated average productivity growth is
twice as large as the conventional total factor productivity
(TFP) measures. Using a standard growth accounting
(production function) technique, Young (1992, 1995) found no