In Bolivia, where 65 percent of the population is indigenous and 83 percent of the rural population lives below the poverty line, landlessness is one of the best predictors of poverty. While the Bolivian government has enacted policies to improve land access and tenure security, progress has been slow and as of 2009, only 37% of Bolivian land had been formally titled.

According to a new research report from the Enough Project, there is a brief open window for peace to take root in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The DRC conflict, which has lasted for over two decades, has left more than 6 million people dead, displaced countless others within DRC and throughout the region, and has led to trans-boundary regional conflict.

Jonathan White, writing for German Marshal Fund, discusses the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition in the context of “Enlightened Capitalism.” Launched in 2012, the New Alliance seeks to lift 50 million people out of poverty in ten years by aligning local country plans, private sector investments, and G8 government commitments behind agriculture and nutrition in Africa. White notes that country ownership and public-private partnerships (PPP) are key to achieving the objectives of the New Alliance.

This week marks the first anniversary of the adoption of the Voluntary Guidelines for the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries, and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (commonly referred to as the VGs) by the UN Committee on World Food Security (CFS). The VGs are an international soft law instrument that outline principles and practices to which governments can refer when making laws and administering land, fisheries and forest rights.

In April, the U.N. Committee on Food Security (CFS) released the Zero Draft of the Principles for Responsible Agricultural Investment (RAI) in the Context of Food Security and Nutrition. The release of the RAI Zero Draft marks an important step in the process toward the adoption of a framework that will guide national regulations, international investment agreements, global corporate social responsibility initiatives, and individual investor contracts covering all types of investment in agriculture.

On April 30, USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah will attend a land restitution event in Colombia, where he will witness the transfer of land titles to individuals who have been displaced by the country’s internal conflict. Inequitable land distribution - an estimated 0.4% of the population owns 62% of the country’s best land - was a fundamental driver of the long-running conflict, which has caused an estimated 4 million Colombians to become internally displaced.

Discusses sovereignty from a range of perspectives, exploring both political and owner sovereignty. Covers a wide range of topics related to property rights, which will be of interest to those studying legal philosophy, property theory, international and comparative law, and political sociology.

An April 10 article from the Thomson Reuters Foundation discusses the importance of securing land rights – particularly women’s land rights – in order to combat poverty, enhance food security, and increase vulnerable populations’ access to justice. According to the article, “when women have secure land rights, family health and education improves; women are less likely to be victims of domestic violence and are less vulnerable to contracting HIV/AIDS, and their participation in household decision-making rises.”

On April 19, USAID released its first-ever Water and Development Strategy: 2013-2018, which emphasizes how sustainable use of water is critical to save lives, promote sustainable development, and achieve humanitarian goals. USAID’s development of this water strategy highlights the importance of sustainable resource governance across a wide range of strategic development objectives. According to USAID Administrator Dr.

Both statutory and customary tenure systems are under stress in the face of global demographic growth, growing food scarcity, and environmental degradation of land, fisheries, and forest resources—compounded by the forces of global climate change. When resource tenure and property rights are insecure, the potential for sustainable resource management is undermined. However, as this issue brief illustrates, when the rules and institutions governing the use, transfer, and ownership of resources are secure, then the foundations are in place for sustainable resource management.

Forest Trends, an International NGO, and others have noted that governments are increasingly recognizing the role of communities and indigenous people as forest custodians by recognizing their rights of forest control and ownership. A recent study by Dr. Anne Larson of the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and others, confirms this trend. The researchers compared case studies from Latin America, Asia, and Africa, focusing on forest and land tenure rights, equity, and livelihoods.

On April 10, representatives from U.S. NGO Landesa presented an impact evaluation on USAID’s Kenya Justice Project during the World Bank’s Annual Conference on Land and Poverty. Kenya’s 2010 constitution provided greater legal recognition of women’s rights to own and inherit land; the Justice project – which is implemented by Landesa – has piloted a model for improving community awareness and acceptance of those formal rights in order to make them a reality for rural women.