The Voluntary Guidelines on the Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the context of National Food Security has been approved by the 38th Session of the Committee on World Food Security. This video explains the three year process involved in preparing the Voluntary Guidelines, the significance of this endorsement, and next steps.

On 11 May 2012 the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) officially endorsed the Voluntary Guidelines on Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security. Voluntary Guidelines on the governance of tenure were prepared through intergovernmental negotiations. They set out principles and internationally accepted standards for responsible practices.

In this issue of the NR Newsletter, we welcome 2012 as the UN-declared International Year of Energy for All, an opportunity to concentrate global attention on the challenges facing both developed and developing countries when addressing access to and efficient use of sustainable energy sources. We also take a look at an interesting land tenure project that aims to bring advanced technology land registration systems to developing countries, through low-cost open-source software. And finally, we review lessons learned and major achievements of a successful transboundary water management project in the Nile Basin.

Land Tenure Working Paper 20. This document presents an overview of the distinctive features of communal tenure in different community-based land and natural resource management systems. Two models of communal tenure are presented in the paper; these models differ in terms of the function of the state, the length of tenure and the characteristics of the resource system concerned.

In this issue, we discuss the Global Bioenergy Partnership and the important work it is undertaking – in collaboration with governments and international organizations - to establish sustainability indicators for bioenergy projects. We also report on the Food for the Cities Initiative, an integrative approach to coordinating FAO’s activities in urban and peri-urban areas and sharing best practices with other international and civil society organizations. Finally, we introduce the new water report: Climate change, water and food security.

In this issue, we look plans underway for the launch of a new Global Soil Partnership, an ambitious attempt to support a global effort to work on common issues related to soil management. We also examine a regional project focused on assisting four Andean countries - Bolivia, Colombia, Peru and Ecuador – with issues of climate change adaptation and disaster risk management in the agricultural sector. Finally, we invite you to participate in an online conference addressing issues related to policies and practices of water allocation in Asia, with a special focus on agriculture.

This month, we invite you to participate in the e-consultation on Voluntary Guidelines on Responsible governance of tenure of land and other natural resources. Following a lengthy regional consultation process, additional input is being requested prior to the drafting of the Zero Draft Guidelines. FAO Headquarters marked World Water Day 2011, examining the urgent need for safe water supplies for the world’s rapidly growing urban populations. Finally, we proudly announce the Chinese-language version of a disaster preparedness project web site, outlining the findings of a two-year project that took place in China’s Juye County. The site is now fully available in English and Chinese.

For the past year, the Voluntary Guidelines Secretariat has been carrying out an extensive consultation process with stakeholders in all the regions. Participants from governments, civil society, private sector, academia and international organizations have provided valuable contributions that have contributed towards the First Draft of the Voluntary Guidelines. The Secretariat is eager to solicit contributions from participants who may not have been able to be present at the regional consultations. For this reason, an e-consultation is being held 18 April – 16 May. Participants are welcome to leave their comments on the e-consultation web site.

Welcome to the third issue of the Natural Resources and Environment Newsletter. In this issue, we will be introducing the new Land tenure e-journal, which has just launched its first issue. This e-journal is dedicated to land-related issues, including land tenure. We will also learn about the recently issued report, the State of the World’s plant genetic resources for food and agriculture and we will introduce you to the new web site gearing up for the 2012 event marking the twentieth anniversary of the Earth Summit - FAO@Rio+20.

Welcome to the second issue of the Natural Resources and Environment Newsletter. In this issue, we will be looking at work underway on the Voluntary Guidelines on responsible governance of tenure of land and other natural resources. We will also look at work done in Thailand and lessons learned by the German-financed Bioenergy and Food Security project.

At the Pacific consultation meeting on the Voluntary Guidelines on governance of tenure in Samoa, participants took time to blow the whistle on hunger as part of the 1 Billion Hungry campaign. The campaign is designed to raise awareness about the nearly one billion people in the world today who continue to suffer from chronic hunger.

New research shows how agricultural investments in developing nations can be structured as alternatives to large-scale land acquisitions. It documents a range of more inclusive business models that can bring benefits to small-scale farmers and protect their land rights, while also ensuring returns to companies.

This interactive CD-Rom is meant to contribute to clarifying the debate on land tenure as well as to making the field interventions more efficient thanks to the presentation of an unambiguous terminology. It can serve as a reference document for researchers, field experts and decision-makers. It has been prepared in Chinese, English, French and Spanish in order to cover the socio-cultural differences in land tenure matters according to the linguistic contexts in which they are found.

Land Tenure Working Paper 14. Growing land scarcity and concern about land-related conflicts and rising levels of rural impoverishment have brought land to the fore once more. The main difference with the recent past is the wide spectrum of actors who want to take part in the elaboration of the land policies, as well as the more and more recognized need to root the proposals in the particular context of each specific country. The paper, focused on African experiences, starts by discussing the importance of Land Policy Issues at Regional Level. It reviews the evolution in thinking regarding land policy ending up with the identification of the critical issues being faced by Africa today whilst remembering the role that FAO can play in promoting a sound partnership between governments and their citizens in the twenty-first century. The core of the document is represented by three different case studies (Sudan, Burkina-Faso and Mozambique) which serve to draw some lessons which can be applied for future interventions in similar contexts. In particular the diversity of policy objectives and the need to embed policy development in other processes are analyzed. The land question in post-conflict situations is also treated in detail as well ...

Land Tenure Working Paper 13. Secure land rights are crucial if local populations are to engage actively as stakeholders in rural development. The task of identifying and protecting local rights in most African countries faces several major challenges like incorporating many different local land management systems within a single land management framework; devising a system that can adequately record dynamic and shifting patterns of land use that incorporate a range of de facto private, individualised customary rights and areas of common use and, finally, coming up with a technical approach that is cost effective yet still accurate enough to establish borders and other features on official maps. In this context conventional western concepts of discrete, fixed land holding units – ‘the farm’ - are entirely inappropriate. They work for the relatively small number of private investor land holdings, but are of little use for registering customary rights rooted in shifting agriculture systems and the use of a wide range of resources through the year. The community delimitation model which is the subject of this volume has grown out of the experience of Mozambique and its widely acclaimed 1997 Land Law. The policy and legal development process has been supported by ...

Land Tenure Working Paper 12. The Participatory and Negotiated Territorial Development (PNTD) methodology is a facilitative process developed by FAO that strives for rural development through negotiation, participation and dialogue. In view of the growing competition over limited resources among actors and territories and the decreasing credibility of public administrations, this approach focuses on establishing and maintaining social dialogue within the territory and restructuring and/or strengthening territorial institutions. Intermediary level institutions have an important role in integrating the territory and its actors in the existing governance framework. The ultimate goal, and thus the emphasis of the approach, is not the preparation of a development plan or a territorial pact in itself, but, rather, facilitating the process and dynamics that lead to such agreements. In this respect, consultation and openness towards a social dialogue between different stakeholders who have differing interests represent a fundamental step in the process. The proposed approach assumes an inherent learning process with the objective of increasing social cohesion, strengthening the bargaining power of the marginalized, increasing people’s and institutions’ organizational capacities and improving their access to information and channels of communication, and their abilities to use these for their own development.

A new web site dedicated to the Voluntary Guidelines on Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land and other Natural Resources has been launched. This site gathers relevant information on the initiative – including publications, details on consultation meetings and links to partner organisations. It is a dynamic internet site that will evolve along with the Voluntary Guidelines initiative. Please visit the site for regular updates on consultation meetings and on recent publications.

In the framework of the project FAO/MDA TCP/BRA/3101, is now available in Portuguese on the CD-ROM: Capacitação para o desenvolvimento em uma Perspectiva Territorial.Portuguese copies of the CD-rom can be requested by contacting the following persons: Gustavo Chianca gchianca@fao.org.br or Paolo Groppo paolo.groppo@fao.org

Compulsory acquisition is the power of government to acquire private rights in land without the willing consent of the owner or occupant in order to benefit society and is often necessary for social and economic development and the protection of the natural environment. The exercise of these powers is frequently contentious and problematic. The guide explains what compulsory acquisition and compensation are, and what constitutes good practice in this area, examining the consequences of poor legislation, procedures and implementation. It is likely to be of most use in countries that are seeking to understand good practice in this area and to improve their own legislation, procedures and implementation in compulsory purchase and compensation in the interests of society as a whole.

This resource CD contains various texts and case studies in English, French and Spanish that document and analyze a variety of legal empowerment experiences and actions aiming at securing the land rights of the poor. Its objective is to identify lessons and best practices that can lead to more effective processes of legal empowerment. The documents are divided in three sections: the first one presents the conceptual framework; the second one gathers case studies from Africa, Asia and Latin America; the third one includes the report of an international workshop organized in Accra, in March 2008, by FAO, IIED and the Law Faculty of the University of Ghana. The workshop report, jointly published by FAO and IIED, presents the work experiences of legal service organizations from different parts of Africa.

Land Tenure Working Paper 10. FAO’s Land Tenure and Management Unit is working with partners to develop Voluntary Guidelines on Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land and other Natural Resources that can be adopted at the international level and implemented by countries. This discussion paper has been prepared to seek views and comments on the contents and the scope of the Voluntary Guidelines. It is intended to stimulate discussion at workshops and consultation meetings that involve international organizations, governments and civil society.

Land Tenure Working Paper 9. Based on international authoritative documents, this paper draws 14 principles to be taken into account when developing Voluntary Guidelines on Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land and other Natural Resources. The paper sees Voluntary Guidelines as human-rights based documents that provide a framework and a point of reference for national and international policies. Voluntary guidelines are addressed to a wide range of stakeholders and therefore they need to be derived from international agreements and credible examples of good practice if they are to command wide support.

Land Tenure Working Paper 8. This paper articulates the views and demands of marginalised groups regarding the tenure of land and other natural resources. It points out the importance of adopting human rights framework when developing Voluntary Guidelines. Such framework means addressing the unequal relationships of power and corruption within and behind prevailing land tenure structures. It makes the governance of tenure of land and other natural resources more accountable, transparent, democratic and participatory.

Land tenure working paper 7. This document points out common problems that exist in the governance of land tenure in central African countries. It underlines that corruption, a weak rule of law and misuse of power are the main challenges for good governance.

Land tenure working paper 6. This document assesses the state of governance of tenure of land and other natural resources in Western Africa. It compares national policies, legislations and practices with the main standards and criteria of good governance. The study identifies challenges of governance. It also recognises the good practices and the recent initiatives undertaken in favour of responsible governance of tenure of land.

Land tenure working paper 5. This paper explores trends of good governance of tenure of land and other natural resources in Latin America. It analyzes mechanisms employed and identifies issues to be considered when aiming for responsible governance of tenure of land.

Land tenure working paper 4. This document analyzes the responsible governance of tenure of land and other natural resources in South East Asia. It describes common, regional challenges and identifies ways forward in order to improve governance in land management and administration.

Land tenure working paper 3. This document reflects the policies, status and trends of governance in Eastern Europe and in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The study assesses the state of governance and evaluates the ability of countries to contribute to the elaboration of FAO’s Voluntary Guidelines on Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land and other Natural Resources.

This document analyzes the implications for land tenure and land policy of biofuels. It examines the current and likely future impacts of the increasing spread of biofuels on access to land in producer countries, particularly for poorer rural people. It aims to pave the way for future empirical research on the links between the spread of biofuels and access to land, through developing a conceptual framework for such research and through taking stock of data available in the literature. The rapid and accelerating expansion of bioethanol and biodiesel production is driven by government targets for biofuel substitution in energy budgets for transport, driven in turn by concerns about high oil prices, prospects for rural development, export opportunities and means to mitigate climate change. Projections suggest that biofuel production is likely to continue expanding in the coming years. Parallel to these developments, the policy debate about the merits and demerits of biofuels is growing and changing rapidly. Important concerns such as the ability of biofuels to mitigate climate change effectively, the role of biofuels in the recent food price hikes, and the social and environmental impacts of biofuels have been voiced in policy circles as well as in the media and in public ...

For the period of 2007-13, the European Union introduced new support programmes for rural development for its member states, for candidate and potential candidate countries, and for European Neighbourhood countries. This paper addresses the policy implications of using the new instruments to support land consolidation to increase agricultural competitiveness and improve rural conditions in transition countries. It describes the available funding options and makes recommendations for including land consolidation within a rural development programme.

Land Tenure Working Paper 2. This document analyzes the implications for land tenure and land policy of climate change. It assesses the implications of ongoing anthropogenic climate change resulting from greenhouse gas emissions for land tenure and the role that land policy can play in climate change adaptation planning in the developing world.

Land Tenure Working Paper 1. This document analyzes the implications for land tenure and land policy of biofuels. It examines the current and likely future impacts of the increasing spread of biofuels on access to land in producer countries, particularly for poorer rural people. It aims to pave the way for future empirical research on the links between the spread of biofuels and access to land, through developing a conceptual framework for such research and through taking stock of data available in the literature.

Weak governance in land tenure and administration is a common and severe problem that is increasingly recognized. It has been a significant feature in the transition economies, reflecting the challenges of moving from centrally planned economies with largely state-owned resources to market economies. It is commonly a substantial issue in developing economies, and it is not an alien matter for the developed world. International initiatives to improve the situation have been launched, mainly focusing on technical improvements of systems and procedures. This volume is intended to support land tenure and land administration professionals and their partners who are committed to improving governance in a land administration system or in an institution managing lands held under customary tenure.

This Handbook is intended to practically assist a variety of actors and institutions, including headquarters and field staff, to secure protection and durable solutions for refugees and other displaced persons through the application of the Principles on Housing and Property Restitution to various situations of displacement. The document was prepared jointly by OCHA/IDD, UN HABITAT, UNHCR, FAO, OHCHR and the Norwegian Refugee Council and the NRC Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization has opened a new front in its battle against hunger and malnutrition – in the world’s cities where most of global population growth is set to take place over the next decades.

This joint FAO-World Bank publication aims to draw attention to the negative impacts of weak governance in land administration and to point out the manifold benefits of good governance in the protection of property rights and the development of efficient land and property markets. It provides positive examples of good practices from around the world, as well as an overview of principles and key questions to be applied in any country for the evaluation of governance in land administration.

Violent conflicts typically result in the displacement of much of the population. At the end of the conflict, people returning home may find that others occupy their property. At the same time, weak capacity in central and local levels of government may hamper the process of resolving claims to land, and especially claims of the vulnerable which almost invariably include women and children, and may also include ethnic or political minorities. The guide provides advice on specific issues that should be considered by land tenure and land administration specialists when working in post-conflict situations.

The European Union has embarked upon a major expansion into Central and Eastern Europe with eight countries from the region becoming members in 2004, two more in 2007, and a process established by which the countries of the Western Balkans can eventually accede to the EU. Countries are only permitted to join the EU if they have functioning market economies. This policy paper explores the issues of land tenure data in this context and makes recommendations for suitable approaches for the countries in EU accession.

This training manual focuses on how to manage and resolve conflicts over land tenure rights, security of tenure and land access in the field of rural development. It results from complementary activities undertaken within FAO's Livelihood Support Programme (LSP) and the Land Tenure and Management Unit and with the International Land Coalition. It addresses the specific issues of land tenure identified in the volume Negotiation and Mediation Techniques for Natural Resource Management published by the LSP.

FAO Land tenure notes: In most societies, access to land has favoured certain individuals and groups at the expense of others. Women are one of the groups that often have fewer and weaker rights to land. The guide addresses gender relations and how their structure affects access to land. It provides some answers to the questions of “what is access to land” and “why is gender important”. The guide presents strategies to improve gender equity.

Planning at the micro-regional level can be an effective instrument in efforts to promote rural and regional development in Central and Eastern Europe. Integrated rural development projects and programmes are needed to tackle the problems of deteriorating conditions in the rural areas. This paper serves as a practical introduction on how planning at the micro-regional level may be addressed. It is intended as a briefing for field people involved in the process, many of whom may be drawn from different technical and professional backgrounds.

Hunger and poverty are, in general, consequences of inadequate and restricted access to land and other resources, such as capital, inputs and technology; being women among those with less access to land, while accounting for a large share in small-scale food production. Over the past few decades, governments and civil society have been attempting to implement land regulations that seek to improve women's land rights. Nevertheless, most initiatives developed to promote land reform programmes continue to underestimate the implications that gender asymmetric land policies entail for agriculture and food security. Most modern institutional arrangements for land tenure tend to maintain existing gender and social inequities. Political changes are required to revisit existing institutional mechanisms to ensure that rights to land are acknowledged as basic human rights and that women's equal rights are effectively incorporated into land policy and tenure programmes. This compendium has been put together to provide an improved understanding of the complex issues concerning gender and land.

The CD-ROM provides useful reference tools for practitioners of land tenure conflict management. The material includes an analysis of the main difficulties and bottleneck areas encountered by practitioners in the field. Questionnaires were sent to more than 42 countries and practitioners responded by sharing their experiences and practices. Also included is a set of case studies in 13 countries throughout Africa, Asia and Latin America. These case studies identify the most important aspects of land conflict and its management depending on the context and key actors. The collection is rounded out with a number of issue papers that address specific aspects of land tenure dispute resolution.

Increasingly land tenure institutions are required to support the decentralization of services to local governments. One expectation of decentralization is improved delivery of services by the level of government that is closest to the beneficiaries of those services. While the scope of services being allocated to local governments has expanded, many rural local governments lack the revenues needed for them to fulfil their new responsibilities. This guide provides advice to countries that wish to increase revenues by introducing rural property taxes.

Access to land through rental markets: a (counter-) evolution in the World Bank's land policy?Bolivia: el abandono de la reforma agraria en zonas de los valles y el altiplanoLand reform in Namibia: economic versus socio-political rationaleCôte d'Ivoire: land rights and practices and intrafamily relations - conceptual and methodological foundations of a comprehensive approachGestion des conflits fonciers dans le Nord ivoirien: droits, autorités et procédures de règlement des conflitsEl Programa de conservación y rehabilitación ambiental del Macizo Colombiano en el marco del desarrollo sostenibleUn jeu foncier de front pionnier en forêt des Mikeas (sud-ouest de Madagascar) : pratiques, acteurs et enjeuxLand tenure support in post-conflict Angola

In much of Central and Eastern Europe, the land tenure structure includes many small and fragmented farms. Land consolidation can be an effective instrument to make agriculture more competitive and to improve rural conditions. This guide provides advice on what countries can do to start a land consolidation pilot project. It shows why land consolidation is important; it describes briefly what land consolidation is; and it identifies key decisions that should be made and key actions that should be undertaken before a land consolidation project can begin.

Fair and secure leasing arrangements that balance the interests of the tenant and the landowner can lead to improvements in access to land for farming, better agricultural production and improved access to food. The guide provides information for tenants and landowners who are interested in benefiting from having a clear leasing agreement that provide flexibility for landowners and security for tenants.

This manual complements FAO Land Tenure Studies 6: The design of land consolidation pilot projects in Central and Eastern Europe. The manual concentrates on the practical aspects of defining and implementing the first pilot projects. It identifies the main conditions that should be in place before the project starts, and it defines potentials and constraints. It draws attention to issues that should be addressed and it discusses methods, tools and techniques. The manual identifies the main activities in a pilot project and their sequence.

The English and Spanish-language versions of the "Multilingual land tenure thesaurus" is now available on-line. They are the result of an adaptation of the French version published in 1999. It is important to note that the versions are adapted and not simply translated, since terms which are translated literally often do not reflect the perceived reality of a different linguistic context. The revised French version and the English version will soon be available. This thesaurus is intended to offer readers a dictionary of land terms. However, this publication is more than a simple dictionary which provides literal translations and succinct definitions. For each term, the authors have attempted to introduce new elements for better understanding of the terms, demonstrating different uses in specific contexts and illustrating the use of the terms with concrete examples. This publication has two broad objectives. First, this thesaurus is expected to contribute to the ongoing analysis in the field of land tenure. At the same time, it serves as a useful tool for beginners in this field, especially for students or researchers from other fields. The thesaurus is not exhaustive. Land tenure is a vast theme, interdisciplinary in nature, which encompasses various topics, including law, geography, agronomy, sociology, ...

Rural property taxes can play a significant role in promoting sustainable rural livelihoods in transition countries in Central and Eastern Europe. The guide identifies issues that should be considered by those who are responsible for the technical design and implementation of rural property tax systems. It identifies the benefits and problems associated with the introduction of rural property taxes, the relationship to other taxes and organizational constraints, and provides a checklist for introducing reforms. Because of the broad interest in this publication, it has been redrafted for a global audience as Land Tenure Studies 7.

This guide is designed to assist people who design rural development projects to understand why and how land tenure issues should be considered in the design. It analyses contexts such as environmental degradation, gender discrimination and conflicts, where land tenure is currently of critical concern. It provides guidance on how to identify whether land tenure issues are likely to occur in a rural development project, and gives recommendations as to how appropriate land tenure expertise can be built into project design and implementation.

Gender issues are often ignored in projects that aim to improve land tenure and land administration. To support land administrators in governments and their counterparts in civil society, this guide shows where and why gender inclusion is important in projects. In order to help inform policy and implementation decisions, it identifies indicators for measuring the quality and quantity of access to land before, during and after an intervention and outlines recommended principles for gender inclusion in land administration projects.

Leasing offers an important way of improving access to land. These guidelines aim to assist governments and civil society in understanding how agricultural leasing and related agreements work, and what the advantages are of providing an appropriate framework for equitable arrangements that balance the interests of the tenant and land owner. They deal with policy issues and provide a practical guide to matters that should be considered by the land owner and tenant when negotiating over the leasing of agricultural land.

Restructuring in many countries resulted in renewed interest in cadastre and land registration systems. The guide identifies essential elements of these systems and the place of cadastral surveys and land registration in rural development. It is a revision of one of FAO's early publications on land tenure.