A lot is expected of poverty reduction strategies, and high hopes have been placed in the Voluntary Guidelines on the right to food. One question frequently raised is whether it is possible to integrate the right to food into the established instrument of poverty reduction strategies.The present article discusses to what extent the two approaches can mesh to make a significant contribution to hunger reduction.

Until 1978, the Afghan state was weak but stable. In contrast, rural regulatory structures that complemented the state have always been strong. It was only the attempt to establish a strong state on the basis of foreign ideologies and military over the heads of the rural population that ultimately led to chaos and collapse.Whereas the central state sometimes broke down, many state
institutions in the provinces demonstrated remarkable resilience, leading to a definite nation-state consciousness throughout large sections of the population.

Development policy has to deal with the full spectrum of fragility in developing countries, which can range from individual deficits, for example in guaranteeing security, to the total collapse of state structures.The scope available to development policy and other external actors is always limited. Nevertheless, starting points are often on hand to achieve some measure of stability and help overcome weak state structures.

Urbanisation and economic transformation - the growth of non-farm, industrial and service sectors - offer many opportunities for improvements in poor people's lives.The crucial challenge is to ensure that places work better for people, providing an enabling and supporting environment for changing livelihoods and economies. But all too often there is a failure to recognise and manage the urban transition, resulting in the continuing urbanisation of poverty, vulnerability and exclusion.

Rural livelihoods are far more multi-locational than is often assumed with many rural people spending a part of the year outside the village working in non-farm occupations. Contrary to early theory, persistent circular or seasonal migration within countries or between neighbouring countries is emerging as the migration pattern of the poor. Nowhere is this more evident than in Asia.

ABSTRACTED FROM EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: This is one of four thematic studies on customary tenure in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam. These studies seek to present an analysis of customary tenure arrangements in each country and identify key challenges and opportunities for strengthening the legal recognition and protection of customary tenure. The present study on Myanmar focuses on customary tenure among upland ethnic nationalities, where colonial and state land administration systems have been poorly integrated, allowing customary systems to be sustained over time.

In 2007 Urban LandMark undertook a series of consultations as part of the Voices of the Poor project. Four workshops were held in the centres listed above. The workshops were attended mostly by civil society organisations as well as NGOs. In all, 105 participants from more than 30 different civil society organisations participated. This case study presents the perspectives and experiences of civil society organisations with regard to access to urban land by the poor as derived from the consultations. These perspectives are fairly representative of urban community organisations as a whole.

Trading Places is about urban land markets in African cities. It explores how local practice, land governance and markets interact to shape the ways that people at society's margins access land to build their livelihoods.

The authors argue that the problem is not with markets per se, but in the unequal ways in which market access is structured. They make the case for more equal access to urban land markets, not only for ethical reasons, but because it makes economic sense for growing cities and towns.

This country level analysis addresses land governance in Laos in two ways. First, it summarises what the existing body of knowledge tells us about power and configurations that shape access to and exclusion from land, particularly among smallholders, the rural poor, ethnic minorities and women. Second, it draws upon existing literature and expert assessment to provide a preliminary analysis of the openings for and obstacles to land governance reform afforded by the political economic structures and dynamics in the country.

Contrairement à l'idée reçue que la crise alimentaire de 2007-2008 et la crise économique mondiale n'auraient rien à voir l'une avec l'autre, cet article montre que les deux événements sont dus à des causes macroéconomiques comparables. Il montre en outre que les conséquences de ces deux phénomènes ont des effets cumulatifs qui atteignent les personnes les plus pauvres parmi les pauvres dont la plupart vivent dans les zones rurales des pays en développement ?

La crise financière initiale s'est développée pour devenir, en 2008, une crise économique mondiale. Cette crise non seulement exacerbe le problème aigu de la famine en réduisant toujours davantage le pouvoir d'achat des populations pauvres, mais encore menace de limiter pendant des années les possibilités de combattre la famine à long terme au moyen d'investissements et d'innovations.

L'article retrace la genèse de la crise alimentaire mondiale qui a atteint son paroxysme avec l'envolée dramatique des prix alimentaires mondiaux en 2007/2008 et les émeutes de la faim qui s'ensuivirent. Il décrit la réaction de la communauté d'aide internationale, qui a créé un « Partenariat mondial pour l'agriculture et la sécurité alimentaire » et analyse de façon critique dans quelle mesure ce dernier a contribué à réduire le nombre des personnes souffrant de la faim, à savoir 925 millions de personnes aujourd'hui.