As gold prices soared from 2008 onwards, tens of thousands of foreign miners, especially from China, entered the small-scale mining sector in Ghana, despite it being ‘reserved for Ghanaian citizens’ by law. A free-for-all ensued in which Ghanaian and Chinese miners engaged in both contestation and collaboration over access to gold, a situation described as ‘out of control’ and a ‘culture of impunity’. Where was the state? This paper addresses the question of how and why pervasive and illicit foreign involvement occurred without earlier state intervention.

This article examines the conflicts arising from the Diamer Bhasha Dam project in northern Pakistan. Conflicts arising from the impacts of the dam on the local population and territory and steps to resolve some of them are identified. These impacts relate to unfair land acquisition, improper displacement, inadequate compen- sation, resettlement and future livelihoods. The completion of the project depends on the arrangement of project finance, resolution of conflicts among different actors and the consent of all stakeholders.

The narrative of Ethiopia’s remarkable economic growth path under a developmental state model is that of a strong ruling coalition united behind the vision of the late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.

This note provides country of origin information (COI) and policy guidance to Home Office decision makers on handling particular types of protection and human rights claims. This includes whether claims are likely to justify the granting of asylum, humanitarian protection or discretionary leave and whether – in the event of a claim being refused – it is likely to be certifiable as ‘clearly unfounded’ under s94 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002.

It took scientists more than three decades to transform a perceived desertification crisis in the Sahel into a non-event. Looking beyond the Sahel, the chapters in this book provide case studies from around the world that examine the use and relevance of the desertification concept.

A lack of respect for the role of local people in land use planning and local farming traditions have led to the encroachment of forest land in many areas in Viet Nam, hindering the sustainable management of forest resources. Based on a review and assessment of overlapping forest land boundaries, and taking into account local customs, this brief offers a solution to this challenge. For any solution to work, it is important to ensure the active participation of local people in implementing land use planning and land allocation.

In Afghanistan, insecurity over land and water rights hampers investments in food production and irrigation. In rural areas, customary tenure systems, partly based on religious law, are the most relevant but suffer from weak recognition and offer little protection to rights holders. The land policy reform is on-going but remains slow. Moreover, land administration capacity is weak and improvements mostly take place in urban areas. In this context, land disputes are common and often violent.

Neste artigo apresentamos um breve olhar sobre a guerra civil em Moçambique, tendo como pano de fundo a obra de Christian Geffray, La Cause des Armes au Mozambique, que marca um ponto de viragem epistemológico nos estudos sobre as causalidades da guerra moçambicana. Pretendemos enquadrar essa discussão numa perspectiva antropológica mais vasta, dos denominados estudos sobre a antropologia da guerra, contribuindo igualmente com dados empíricos nossos, recolhidos ao longo de várias estadias de terreno na região centro de Moçambique, entre 1994 e 2001.

This training manual has thus been developed to enhance the knowledge and skills in gender mainstreaming, including gender analysis and the integration of the findings from the analysis into the design of forestry interventions. This manual is particularly relevant for forestry-related interventions and practices that seek to promote participation and reduce the inequality that exists between forestdependent women and men, especially among marginalized people living in rural areas.

A partir de 2008, houve uma extensa produção e publicação de artigos acadêmicos, basicamente em inglês, sobre um fenômeno denominado corrida mundial por terras ou land grabbing (apropriação de terras). Depois de cinco ou seis anos, essa produção se mantém, mas com construções teórico-empíricas mais elaboradas – inclusive com a reformulação de conceitos e criação de outros como green grabbing (apropriação verde) e water grabbing (apropriação da água) –, especialmente porque as primeiras reflexões eram excessivamente centradas em dados quantitativos e escala (quantidade de hectares transacion

Based on empirical case studies in four countries in South (Nepal) and Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Myanmar and Viet Nam), this issue paper examines how REDD+ can be a driver of conflict (and cooperation), particularly between forest communities, governments and REDD+ project developers, as well as between and within communities and within national government agencies.