Search

Begin New Search Topic Land

41. Land Grab Processes in Romania and Bulgaria: A Historical Continuity Perspective

Author:
Nazif Mandaci
Publication Date:
06-2018
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:
International Relations Council of Turkey (UİK-IRCT)
Abstract:
Although they are positioned in the periphery of the Western economic core, Romania and Bulgaria are different from the Third World countries that were exploited and colonized by the Western powers in the preceding centuries, where currently land grab processes are at work. However, it is observed that because of their geographical and political standings those countries are also influenced by the ongoing global land grab processes, albeit in different ways. The externalities of processes of enclosure, primitive accumulation or accumulation by dispossession as defined in general by the critical literature have continued to inflict particularly small landholders, as did in other societies in different parts of the world. However, upon their accession to the European Union, land grab processes in those countries entered into a new historical phase discerned by incoming new actors such as equity funds, and the unique dynamics such as the transformation of land into a speculative asset and an energy source.
Topic:
International Relations, History, European Union, Land, and Enclosure
Political Geography:
Europe, Bulgaria, and Romania

42. Adaptation to climate change in the tropical mountains? Effects of intraseasonal climate variability on crop diversification strategies in the Peruvian Andes

Author:
Carmen Ponce
Publication Date:
05-2018
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Group for the Analysis of Development (GRADE)
Abstract:
Crop diversification, selection of tolerant crops, and intercropping are some of the strategies that Andean farmers, as well as farmers in other mountain regions, have historically used to cope with climate-related risks and take advantage of heterogeneous agricultural land (with plots located at different altitudes, facing different environmental conditions). This study analyzes the role of climate variability —during the growing season— in the use of these strategies, in a context of climate change in the Andean region. Using agrarian census data from 1994 and 2012 (district panel), the author finds that —controlling for other climate conditions and socio-economic factors—, an increase in intraseasonal climate variability leads farmers in colder areas (<11˚C during the growing season) to concentrate their crop portfolio into more tolerant crops and reduce intercropping (a practice potentially efficient at controlling pest and disease). This effect is especially strong in the Southern region. Given that Andean farmers received little to no help to adapt to climate change during the period under analysis, this study informs about farmers’ autonomous adaptation to climate changes and some specific issues that need to be part of the public intervention agenda.
Topic:
Agriculture, Climate Change, Rural, Economic Development, Land, Ecology, and Farming
Political Geography:
Latin America and Peru

43. Governing Land Investments: Do Governments Have Legal Support Gaps?

Author:
Columbia Centre on Sustainable Investment
Publication Date:
03-2018
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:
In the wave of efforts to encourage and support more “responsible” land investments, one aspect has been largely overlooked: are governments equipped with the legal and technical support needed to effectively negotiate and conclude investment contracts that lead to responsible outcomes? CCSI researched how host governments access legal support in the planning, negotiation, and monitoring of land investments, with a view to better understanding where legal support gaps for governments exist, and how these can be addressed by governments themselves, as well as by donors, support providers and investors. By scrutinizing “legal support gaps,” CCSI sought to identify possible weak links in global and national efforts to achieve more responsible land investments, as well as opportunities to encourage better practice. For example, legal support holds the potential—albeit not yet regularly realized—to be an entry point for incorporating international best practice and guidelines into negotiations and at other stages of the investment. The report also takes stock of how governments are negotiating and concluding land investments in practice, to determine where additional legal support could potentially improve outcomes for governments.
Topic:
Science and Technology, Governance, and Land
Political Geography:
Global Focus

44. Governance and Land Reform in the Palm Oil Value Chain in the Philippines

Author:
Caroline Hambloch
Publication Date:
05-2018
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
School of Oriental and African Studies - University of London
Abstract:
The chain literature (Global Commodity Chains/Value Chains/Production Networks) have remained surprisingly silent about the role of land as a factor of production. I use fieldwork experience from the palm oil industry in Agusan del Sur, Philippines to illustrate the way in which the buyer-driven nature of the chain interacts with a major institutional change, namely the redistributive land reform, Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP). I argue that the CARP has not resulted in the desired redistribution of power from the landed to the landless, but reinforces the unequal distribution of power between plantation/milling companies and beneficiaries, producing economic and social downgrading trajectories for reform beneficiaries and farmworkers.
Topic:
Agriculture, Governance, Reform, Land, and Land Reform
Political Geography:
Asia and Philippines

45. Ethnic Minorities and Land Conflicts in Southwestern Nigeria

Author:
Jeremiah O Arowosegbe
Publication Date:
09-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Social Science Research Council
Abstract:
One central aspect of the national question within the discourse on Nigeria concerns the conflicts and disputes historically driven by struggles over land-based resources. Examples of such conflicts include that of Ife- Modakeke in Osun State, the Jukun-Chamba conflict in the Takum Local Government Area of Taraba State, the Tiv-Jukun conflict in Benue and Plateau States, and the Umuleri-Aguleri war of attrition over Otuocha land in Anambra State. Drawing on primary data generated from focus group discussions and oral interviews between October 2009 and March 2015 across locations with pronounced incidents of land-based conflicts in Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, and Oyo States in southwestern Nigeria, this work examines the impact of economic considerations on ethnically motivated conflicts in the country over land from 1999 to 2015. It examines land conflicts in southwestern Nigeria—which have been occurring since the 1980s and stubbornly resurfaced in recent times—as a major economic and sociopolitical problem at the national and state levels. This study examines the following questions: How has land been connected with some of the historical conflicts across Nigeria? How has the character of the state in Nigeria affected the management of ethnically motivated land conflicts? What does this case study suggest in terms of the resolution of land-based conflicts across the country? This study argues that colonialism—through its policies and programs as well as the administrative structures and political systems put in place by the colonial state—not only changed the material conditions of populations across Nigeria by forcefully integrating them into the colonial and later global capitalist system (by compelling them to participate in colonial economic activities largely dominated by profit motive, thereby negating the autonomous development of the emergent postcolonial state), but also radically altered the complexities and directions of the land question. Hence Okwudiba Nnoli’s assertion that colonial and postcolonial societies are characterized by struggles that do not originate in local changes in the prevailing systems of class relation and material production.
Topic:
Minorities, Ethnicity, Conflict, and Land
Political Geography:
Africa and Nigeria

46. An Evaluation of Performance of Land Entrepreneurs (Amin) on Land Measurement Services

Author:
Polin Kumar Saha and Toufica Sultana
Publication Date:
07-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD), Brac University
Abstract:
The HRLS (Human Rights and Legal Aid Services) program of BRAC has now 517 legal aid serving clinics countrywide, which have been serving the poor community for first seeking their help in the land measurement issues. Throughout the dynamic initiative of HRLS program, a vast network of the communities has been proactive into the human rights violations. Today, HRLS continues to support holistic legal aid services across the country. This initiative is targeted to reach about 1.8 million poor households, and make a significant impact on demand for property rights, increasing technical understanding to ensure ownership and title over land as well as the organization and reduction of conflict through intervention and the recognized justice system. It is a unique form of creating new land entrepreneurs while government certified training on land measurement courses is a counterpart to the different group of land entrepreneurs in the community. The land entrepreneurs of HRLS are also monitored to track human rights violations in their respective communities and serve their clients through HRLS legal aid clinics.
Topic:
Human Rights, Poverty, Land, and Land Entrepreneurs
Political Geography:
Bangladesh and South Asia

47. The Commitment to Reducing Inequality Index: A New Global Ranking of Governments Based on What They are Doing to Tackle the Gap Between Rich and Poor

Author:
Max Lawson and Matthew Martin
Publication Date:
07-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
In 2015, the leaders of 193 governments promised to reduce inequality as part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Without reducing inequality, meeting the SDG to eliminate poverty will be impossible. Now Development Finance International and Oxfam have produced the first index to measure the commitment of governments to reducing the gap between the rich and the poor. The Commitment to Reducing Inequality Index uses a new database of indicators covering 152 countries, which measures government action on social spending, tax and labour rights – three areas found to be critical to reducing inequality. This first version of the CRI Index is work in progress, and DFI and Oxfam welcome comments and additions. We find that there is an urgent need for coordinated global investment to significantly improve the data on inequality and policies to reduce it, and much greater concerted action by governments across the world to reduce the gap between rich and poor.
Topic:
Education, Health Care Policy, Inequality, Sustainable Development Goals, Tax Systems, and Land
Political Geography:
Global Focus

48. Baku Dialogues

Author:
Zaur Shiriyev
Publication Date:
12-2016
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Baku Dialogues
Institution:
ADA University
Abstract:
“Baku Dialogues” is a series of events featuring leading world personalities who will address subjects of current international interest by presenting their views and participating in discussion of these subjects with interested Azerbaijani and international figures. These presentations and discussions, along with other submissions, will be recorded in the “Baku Dialogues”, ADA University’s new journal of record for academic and policy research.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, International Political Economy, Oil, War, Sanctions, Sustainable Development Goals, Multilateralism, Political Science, Population Growth, and Land
Political Geography:
Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Costa Rica

49. Balancing Development and Community Livelihoods: A Framework for Land Acquisition and Resettlement in Uganda

Author:
Max A. Anyuru, Russell Rhoads, Onesmus Muyenyi, Joseph Ekwenyu, and Tom Balemesa
Publication Date:
01-2016
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (ACODE)
Abstract:
Land acquisition for development projects by government, private investors and land speculators is a critical source of tensions and conflicts in many parts of Uganda. Following the discovery of commercially viable oil reserves in 2006, Uganda turned attention to extractives and oil development as a matter of national priority. Evidence of this assertion can be found in the recent 2016-17 national budget allocations, where the portion for oil development is substantial. Development of petroleum and mining sectors requires substantial capital investments, often relying on foreign-based capitalization and multinational firms to construct facilities and operate them. Several foreign companies have drilled exploratory wells in Uganda, in which estimated reserves are at 6.5 billion oil barrels. The government of Uganda has issued production licenses to several foreign oil companies. All these activities have triggered land acquisition by Government for purposes of infrastructure development: - in the form of roads,dams and power grids, refineries and pipelines. Land acquisition is also triggered by private investment and the development of auxiliary services. Secondly, infrastructual developments have a “multiplier effect” since they generate businesses and services, and increase inflationary pressures on services and the land market. As expected, land speculation is also on the rise.
Topic:
Development, Land, Community, and Livelihoods
Political Geography:
Uganda and Africa

50. Gender equality in Burundi: Why does support not extend to women's right to inherit land?

Author:
Alain Ndikumana
Publication Date:
07-2015
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Afrobarometer
Abstract:
With 27,834 km² of surface area and a population of 10.5 million, Burundi’s population density is seven times that of Tanzania and second only to Rwanda’s on the African mainland (World Bank, 2014). Its population grows at an annual rate of 2.4%, and more than 90% of the population lives primarily on agriculture. These factors make land a vital and scarce resource in Burundi, leading to frequent conflicts and particular complications in questions of inheritance (Kazoviyo & Gahungu, 2011). The situation is even more problematic for women and girls, who traditionally inherit nothing from their fathers. In Burundi, women’s right to inherit land faces the triple barriers of demography, tradition, and the law. Promoting gender equality and especially women’s right to inherit land is a major focus of women’s-rights activists. Although Burundi has signed and incorporated in its constitution most international instruments promoting gender equality, women’s succession rights do not yet have full legal protection. Since 2004, government legislation on women’s inheritance laws awaits consideration by the National Assembly. “But problems related to the scarcity of land and overpopulation seem to veil the face of leaders who end up believing that a law on female succession would be a problem rather than a solution” (Kazoviyo & Gahungu, 2011, p. 1). Even if the proposed law is passed, evidence suggests that gender inequality in access to and control over land will remain a problem. Burundi’s legislation is based on international agreements and laws enacted by the government. However, there are shortcomings in the regulation of natural resources and the management of land because Burundi has no national land code. In the absence of national texts, local customary rules based on a patriarchal system govern family land and women‘s access to and inheritance of land. This system recognizes women as usufructuaries (i.e. entitled to use land that belongs to another) but not as heirs. Such social norms are so entrenched among the local population that most women in rural communities view ownership of material assets, such as land, as being exclusive to men (Carpano, 2011). Without a concerted education effort and diligent implementation of new land laws, many women may not know their legal rights, implementation may be gender-biased, and law enforcement may be grossly inadequate or prejudiced against women. In Kenya, for example, laws allow women to own land, yet nearly all land is registered in the names of male elders (Odeny, 2013). A project in Rwanda, implemented by the Rwanda Initiative for Sustainable Development, showed the effectiveness of awareness-raising activities at public and government levels regarding land rights and land registration. Rwanda’s Organic Land Law, which governs land management and administration, states that “women, married or not, should not be excluded from the process of land access, land acquisition and land control, and female descendants should not be excluded from the process of family land inheritance” (Republic of Rwanda, 2004). Both men and women were informed about their rights under the law and about the benefits of registration in terms of security of rights and livelihoods (Carpano, 2011). The National Land Centre estimates that between 2008 and June 2010, 1 million out of 8 million parcels of land in the country had been registered. Afrobarometer’s first survey in Burundi, in 2012, provides insights regarding public attitudes toward gender equality. Findings show that majorities of Burundians support women’s rights in general but reject land inheritance by women. This paper examines factors that might contribute to these apparently contradictory views and offers recommendations on how to promote dialogue, sensitization, partnerships, and capacity development in support of women’s land rights in Burundi.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Feminism, Land, Property, and Equality
Political Geography:
Africa and Burundi