Land tenure and rural development in Central and Eastern Europe

Working in close coordination with the Land Tenure and Management Unit (NRLA) at FAO Headquarters, the land tenure and rural development related activities of the FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia aim to secure access to land and other natural resources, as those play important, direct role in the alleviation of rural poverty and eradication of food insecurity. Inadequate access to land by the rural population is considered as one of the major reasons for rural poverty and hunger.
Achieving environmental sustainability is another important endeavour. FAO assists in promoting land use practices that enhance the environment and soil protection. Current work includes research activities in the Region related to land tenure and rural development, land reform, land consolidation, land market institutions and the development of modern land information systems. Advocacy is provided to FAO members on rural development, design of poverty reduction and employment creation.
Technical assistance is given to the design of rural development programmes. Direct technical support is provided through FAO field projects including missions, project preparations, and technical supervision. Workshops are organized in the field of land tenure and rural development.

See presentations and reports of Regional Workshops on Land Consolidation

Capacity Building - Good Practices Case Study Series

We are pleased to inform you that the capacity building good practice case study on Land consolidation in Central and Eastern Europe: a regional approach has been published in the Capacity Building Portal Good Practices Case Study Series site.

1st FARLAND International Workshop "How to revitalize farming and agricultural land use? European options for the future"
Oeiras, Portugal; 16-18 September 2009

Land Fragmentation

During the 1990s attention focused on privatization, restitution, land registration and cadastral systems. One of the main consequences of privatization and restitution in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) is land fragmentation. Land fragmentation refers to non-contiguous land parcels that are owned and tilled as single enterprises. Land consolidation deals with the problem of land fragmentation. (Land consolidation is a process where a number plots of different size and shape are converted into the smallest possible/feasible number of contiguous plots or parcels that have convenient size and shape and are not too distant from the farm house, in order to improve the productivity of the farm. - King & Burton, 1985). It is important to address also the causes of land fragmentation, namely the social, cultural, political, economic and physical processes that contributed to the development of land fragmentation.

The presentations of the Rural Development in EU-Accession Countries - Support Programmes and Capacity Building workshop - 23-26 February 2009, Prague, Czech Republic - are available online.


Contact:
Land Tenure and Rural Development Officer:   Richard EBERLIN

Hajnalka Petrics, Junior Technical Officer - Rural Development and Gender
Balazs Szeder, Junior Technical Officer - Land Tenure and Rural Development