Developing countries are increasingly focusing more on land policy as part of their development plans. Ghana created its National Land Policy in 1999 but hasn't updated it in over 25 years, despite significant changes in land governance. Land policy reforms since colonial times were carried out without a structured plan, leading to problems in land management and many legal disputes due to existing land laws' shortcomings. This situation prompted the development of a thorough Land Policy in 1999.

Background and context
With the decentralization processes underway in most countries of the Congo Basin, community involvement in decision-making is becoming an imperative, particularly with regard to land and resource management (Beatty, M.T. et al. (1978). To ensure that this involvement results in a clear and sustained expression of community needs, it is important to think of an integrated, free and committed approach to communities in order to promote a dialogue between land management actors (Joe Watts, 1994).
Goal and objectives

This study addresses the significant issue of land fragmentation in Ethiopia, which is characterized by  small, irregular, scattered parcels  with no or adequate road access. With landholders owning multiple small and dispersed parcels, averaging 1.5 hectares, the situation demands urgent policy intervention.

While climate services for small-scale farmers are gaining recognition for contributing to adaptation and resilience to climate variability and change, their provision in developing countries remains a critical challenge. Effective climate services consider why and how farmers of varied socioeconomic background make relevant decisions avoiding the traditional prescriptive forms of transfer that merely focus on delivering climate information.

Sustainable land management (SLM) entails the judicious use of land resources, incorporating soils, water, animals, and plants, to meet dynamic human needs, while concurrently safeguarding the sustained use of these resources and preserving their environmental functions. SLM serves as a guiding framework for sustainable agriculture, aligning its goals with environmental stewardship, efficient resource use, and long-term productivity. Adopting SLM practices promotes soil health,

A wealth of publicly available satellite data and open-source models allowed researchers to measure carbon stocks in a watershed in India, despite a paucity of on-the-ground data. They found that despite rapid urbanization over the last 20 years, carbon stocks remained relatively stable – possibly due to successful reforestation activities. The research points to how nature-positive solutions can be designed and measured at scale. The research also lays the foundation for global studies to promote a deeper understanding of ecosystem services and sustainable land management.

This publication is a product of the GEF-funded FAO project ‘Decision Support for Mainstreaming and Scaling Out Sustainable Land Management (DS-SLM)’ which has developed a decision support framework (DSF). The DSF integrates experience from work with land degradation (LD) and SLM into an overall strategy for mainstreaming and scaling out SLM at different spatial and temporal scales. This publication serves as a step-by-step guide for the application and implementation of the DSF during planning, design and implementation of SLM interventions.

This data card shows some of the key available data from Bangladesh that helps to understand the connection between land tenure security and climate change in that country. It is meant to highlight this often underexplored nexus, though it does not claim to provide any scientific evidence of causality.

This case study tells the story of Yusuf Matubbarer Dangi Village as a microcosm of the existential threat posed by river erosion and flooding to the country of Bangladesh. This village also encapsulates the experience of communities who are rendered landless when floods swallow up their properties and who then have to wait for new land to emerge from the river in the simultaneous erosion and accretion of land when the river swells.

Customary land institutions (CLIs) are social institutions that define local land governance in communities. Strengthening community rights continues to be an essential land policy goal, and several studies have focused on ways to improve local land governance through CLIs. Relatively limited attention, however, has been paid to understanding these institutions in themselves.

The Global Programme 'Responsible Land Policy' (GPRLP) is part of the Special Initiative 'One World, No Hunger' of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), which aims to reduce extreme poverty and hunger.

The Global Programme 'Responsible Land Policy' (GPRLP) is part of the Special Initiative 'One World, No Hunger' of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), which aims to reduce extreme poverty and hunger.