This paper discusses Cambodia’s legal framework relating to Economic Land Concessions (ELCs) and looks at the implementation gaps. It argues that despite Cambodian’s legal framework governing land and ELCs being well-developed, its social benefits, such as protecting the rights of the poor and vulnerable and contributing to transparency and accountability, are almost non-existent.

Since holding elections in 2010, Myanmar has transitioned from a direct military dictatorship to a formally democratic system and has embarked on a period of rapid economic reform. After two decades of military rule, the pace of change has startled almost everyone and led to a great deal of cautious optimism. To make sense of the transition and assess the case for optimism, this article explores the political economy of Myanmar’s dual transition from state socialism to capitalism and from dictatorship to democracy.

Although corruption is a core issue in discourses on Southeast Asian states and the region’s illegal timber trade, its specific meanings, characteristics, and role are poorly understood. Our ethnographic study of corruption and timber trade in the lower Mekong uncovers the relationships, dealings, and networks that enable illegal timber flows. We follow the disputed case of a shipment of high-value timber that originated in Laos and was seized by Vietnamese seaport customs officials in 2011.

To support crop-rotation systems using rice, wheat, and soybean in paddy fields, we developed a sowing device that can be attached to a rototiller ; the device cuts small ditches on both sides of groups of rows of plants, while tilling to a depth of approximately 5cm, planting seeds, and compressing the soil around the seeds. This device includes a pressurized roller which compacts the soil with sowing, and we examined the effect of this compaction on germination rate after seeding.

The Land Policy Initiative (LPI) of the African Union, the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the African development Bank (AfDB) concluded the development of a Framework and Guidelines) on Land Policy in Africa (F&G) to facilitate national land policy development and implementation processes.

As a global phenomenon, land grabbing has significant economic, environmental, and social impacts, often resulting in serious conflict between the local community and outsiders. The aim of the study is to get a deeper understanding of the extent to which land grabbing and resulting land-use conflicts affect the move towards sustainable forest management (SFM) in Cambodia. Two case studies were conducted involving community forests (CFs), with data collected through literature review, key informant interviews, focus group discussions, and field observations.

Transforming conflict is a key component of sustainable forest management. Transformative conflict mediation is an approach to transforming conflict that aims not only to resolve the conflict but also to foster long-term relationships and cooperation. This study explores how application of mediation contributed to conflict transformation.

In planning- en beleidsliteratuur wordt grondbeleidsdynamiek en de invloed van (publieke) actoren op grondbeleid bestudeerd. Desalniettemin, is er nog weinig bekend over de strategieën, interacties en beslissingsmechanismen van actoren, of hoe actoren de grondbeleidsdynamiek beïnvloeden. Het doel van deze thesis is om een bijdrage te leveren aan de wetenschappelijke en maatschappelijke kennis op het vlak van besluitvorming bij actoren, de onderliggende mechanismen, en hoe de keuzes van en interacties tussen actoren grondbeleidsdynamiek beïnvloeden.

This Topic Guide covers: the trends in and drivers of large-scale land acquisition, and the associated costs, risks and benefits; the provision of and access to more accurate data on large-scale land acquisitions, and key international and regional initiatives to provide guidelines to enhance security of tenure and promote good quality investment; land reform issues such as land tenure regularisation and land administration systems; and land issues in the context of fragile states, and conflict and post-conflict situations.

Increasing demand for food, fiber and fodder will put great strains on land, water, energy and other
resources. The expected increase in agricultural production will bear heavily on greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. Agricultural commodity markets may also change: the price spikes of 2008 and 2011 are a reminder of how sensitive agricultural commodity markets can be. This paper aims to provide a brief but comprehensive overview of the main challenges associated with increasing demand for agricultural

In sub-Saharan Africa, an estimated 65 per cent of soils are degraded, and unable to nourish the crops the chronically food insecure continent requires. Poverty, climate change, population pressures and inadequate farming techniques are leading to a continuous decline in the health of African soils, whilst the economic loss is estimated at USD 68 billion per year. Conversely, better land management practices could deliver up to USD 1.4 trillion globally in increased crop production – 35 times the losses.

In this issue: have capital markets
aided growth in China and India? Land and poverty: the
importance of transparency; coping with $100 oil; how fit
are feed-in tariff policies? Political incentives to
underinvest in pro-poor policies; mass media and public
policy for agriculture; and managing public debt in small states.