LSP publications: Land rights

Quan, J. Natural Resources Institute University of Greenwich. (2006). Land access in the 21st century: Issues, trends, linkages and policy options FAO LSP WP 24. Access to Natural Resources Sub-Programme.

Seeks to cover the key issues, trends, constraints, challenges, knowledge gaps and policy options on a range of dimensions of land access. These dimensions include food security and poverty alleviation, gender, broader natural resource access, indigenous peoples, the role of NGOs and civil society, comparative approaches to state intervention in promoting distributional land reform, the roles of land sales and lease markets, the role of small household plots and the implications of livelihood diversification, migration and remittances.

Cotula L. and Toulmin C. with Vlaenderen H.V., Tall S.M., Gaye G, Saunders J., Ahiadeke C. and Anarfi J.K. (IIED) (July 2004).Till to tiller: Linkages between international remittances and access to land in West Africa. FAO LSP WP 14, Access to Natural Resources Sub-Programme.

Explores the linkages between international remittances and access to land in the home countries, with a focus on West Africa. Given the complexity of these linkages and due to time and resource constraints, this research project was designed and implemented as a scoping study, aimed at raising and identifying key issues for further work rather than at providing definitive answers and policy recommendations.

Norfolk S. (2004) Examining access to natural resources and linkages to sustainable livelihoods: A case study of Mozambique. FAO LSP WP 17, Access to Natural Resources Sub-Programme.

Analyses, using a livelihoods approach, the extent to which the regulatory changes to natural resource access and management in Mozambique have had their intended effect and to identify and explore the critical issues that require further attention.

Evrard O., (Janvier 2004) La mise en oeuvre de la réforme foncière au Laos : Impacts sociaux et effets sur les conditions de vie en milieu rural (with summary in English). FAO, LSP WP 8, Access to Natural Resources Sub-Programme.

Describes the results of a study funded by FAO on the impacts of the land reform in Laos on land access and rural livelihoods, focusing more particularly on the northern regions. The study draws on interviews with Lao Government officials and foreign experts in Vientiane during October-November 2003 and an analysis of existing literature.

Hanstad T., Nielsen R., Brown J., Rural Development Institute (RDI), USA, (May 2004) Land and Livelihoods: Making land rights real for India’s rural poor. FAO LSP WP 12, Access to Natural Resources Sub-Programme.

Identifies issues that are central to consideration of land access in rural India and provides suggestions for opportunities for positively impacting the livelihoods of the rural poor

Edited by Lorenzo Cotula, contributing authors: Jean-Pierre Chauveau, Salmana Cissé, Jean-Philippe Colin, Lorenzo Cotula, Philippe Lavigne Delville, Nanete Neves, Julian Quan, Camilla Toulmin, International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED). Changes in “customary” land tenure systems in Africa. FAO LSP WP38, Access to Natural Resources Sub-Programme

Explores changes in customary land tenure systems in Africa, identifying the factors driving such changes and analysing their livelihood implications. The central topic – changes in local systems of rules and institutions for the management of land rights – is at the very heart of legal anthropology, but also raises broader issues concerning the linkages between changes in local rules and institutions and broader changes in economies and societies.

Unruh J., (2004) Post-conflict land tenure: using a sustainable livelihoods approach FAO LSP WP 18, Access to Natural Resources Sub-Programme

Addresses the application of sustainable livelihood approaches to access to land and land administration in post-conflict situations. The preparation of this paper is based in-part on the author’s land tenure project, policy and research experience in conflict and post-conflict settings, particularly in Somalia, Mozambique, East Timor, Uganda, and Ethiopia, complemented by additional land tenure work in Zambia, Madagascar, Saudi Arabia, and Peru.

Unruh J. and Turray H. (2006). Land tenure, food security and investment in postwar Sierra Leone. FAO LSP WP 22. Access to Natural Resources Sub-Programme.

It examines:
rural social dynamics and land tenure;
tenure security and land access;
the labour problem;
mechanization issues for agriculture;
loans and land as collateral;
leasing and partnerships, the options for investment;
the problem with changing to freehold;
legislative reform; and,
themes from Mozambique’s land policy reform experience.

Recommendations are then suggested, followed by areas for future research.