Smallholder banana farmers are beginning
to understand that their old farming methods are
contributing to the planet's drying up or suffocating
in fields of garbage. They are convinced that they have to
change their ways for the good of their farms, their
communities, and their children. But what really drives them
to adopt new and sustainable practices? What will ensure
they continue to do so? International Finance Corporation

Under the Vanuatu constitution, the
'rules of custom shall form the basis of ownership and
use of land.' Implementing this principle after decades
of land alienation, however, has proved to be challenging.
While the leasing arrangement was originally intended to
restore investor confidence and maintain agricultural
development in newly independent Vanuatu, it soon evolved
into the method of acquiring new leases over previously

This approach resulted in the
fragmentation of agricultural holdings, with families owning
noncontiguous plots. Land use was inefficient, owing in part
to the low rate of use of agricultural machinery. Making
land use and farming more efficient will require the
establishment of a functioning land market. Granting farmers
the right to sell, exchange, and lease their land will
enable them to use it as collateral and to consolidate

In 2002, half of Mexico's
population lived in poverty and one fifth in extreme
poverty, slightly lower than before the 1994-1995 crisis.
Mexico has made major progress in some poverty dimensions
-health, nutrition and education outcomes, access to basic
health and education services, electricity, water and (to a
lesser extent) sanitation. Large increases in government
spending enabled key social programs to expand. Programs

This social assessment (SA) is part of
the Sanliurfa and Harran On-farm Development Project in
Turkey, and aims at identifying an appropriate mix of
project inputs to reduce poverty. The objectives of the SA
are to understand the impact of rapid agricultural
modernization on various social groups, according to
ownership criteria, and gender issues, and, to learn how
those benefiting from irrigation, assess the quality of

Unplanned and unregulated urban
development is not unique to Swaziland, but addressing the
issue through direct consultations with beneficiaries is an
important improvement toward resolving this persistent
problem. The Swaziland Urban Development Project includes
standard infrastructure work, such as increasing urban
roads, rehabilitating and expanding water and sewage
services, and developing a solid waste facility However, in

This brief discusses a pilot intervention in Rwanda led by the Belgian
NGO, RCN Justice & Démocratie, with support from the International
Development Law Organization (IDLO) and the Belgian Government. A
more detailed and complete discussion of the pilot is given in Lankhorst
and Veldman (2011a). The pilot aimed to transform the customary
resolution of disputes involving women’s land claims concerning
inheritance or marital relations. The intervention examined whether
and to what extent it was possible to increase the scope for acceptance

An issue which has generated much
concern has been the potential link between low incomes and
resource degradation. This report presents the results of a
study which investigated this question. Machakos District is
a relatively low income and agriculturally marginal district
in Kenya. Before World War II the colonial administration
was concerned that land degradation was becoming severe
under the pressure of population, aggravated by drought. The

The continued decline in global poverty
over the past 100 years particularly in the past three
decades is a remarkable achievement. In 1981, 52 percent of
the world population lived on less than $1.25 a day. By
2005, that rate had been cut in half, to 25.0 percent, and
by 2008 to 22.2 percent (World Bank 2012). Preliminary
estimates for 2010 indicate that the extreme poverty rate
has fallen further still; if follow-up studies confirm this,

Argues the need to transition the people’s demand for land from ‘land reform’ and ‘land tenure security’ to ‘land sovereignty’. A peoples’ enclosure campaign is needed to help farmers to proactively assert their political control over their remaining lands against potential and actual threats of corporate or state enclosure.

The urban land policy reforms implemented in Peru since 1996 aimed at the creation of a system able to assure formal rights to real property in large urban settlements. This case study looks at the factors that motivated reform, how the reform process itself was managed, the results, and lessons learned.

The Public Investment Management (PIM) efficiency review is intended to support the Government of Zimbabwe, and in particular the Ministry of Finance, in its efforts to strengthen the efficiency of the public investment system, with the goal of improving the creation, operation and maintenance of public sector capital assets that support service delivery and economic growth. The problems of public investment management are not merely financial but systemic. Budget execution deficit remains a major bottleneck.