The move towards decentralisation of resource control and management promises more efficient, equitable and sustainable resource use. Debate centres on what type of institutional arrangement in a given context is most appropriate and will lead to the fulfilment of the above ideal. Aspects of these arrangements include property rights structures as well as organisational structures.

This study examines the use and management of natural resources in an area of South Africa at a time of profound political and social change. It takes as its focus the Mutale River valley, which lies almost entirely within Venda, a former black 'homeland' under the South African system of apartheid, and now part of the Northern Province. Venda is situated in the north-eastern corner of the country, adjacent to the Kruger National Park and the border with Zimbabwe.

In urban areas of Cote d'Ivoire, human capital is the endowment that best explains welfare changes over time. In rural areas, physical capital especially the amount of land and farm equipment owned matters most.Empirical investigations of poverty in developing countries tend to focus on the incidence of poverty at a particular point in time. If the incidence of poverty increases, however, there is no information about how many new poor have joined the existing poor and how many people have escaped poverty.Yet this distinction is of crucial policy importance.

This paper reviews the process of agricultural policy reforms in Morocco in the 1980's, with particular emphasis on the cereals and sugar sub-sectors. Agricultural policy is reviewed in historical perspective, to show that the liberalisation process which was proposed in the framework of structural adjustment reforms ran contrary to the agricultural development strategy followed by Morocco since Independence. The macro-economic performance of Morocco is examined. It shows that the origin of the economic policy reforms can be found in the necessity to seek balance of payment ssupport.

This draft paper outlines a strategy for World Bank involvement in land policies. It focuses on property rights to land, land transactions, and socially optimal use of land.

The need for large-scale land redistribution in Southern Africa is undisputed. In order to redress centuries of dispossession, this highly complex process has the potential to encourage economic growth and poverty reduction. Based on a 2004 conference in Cape Town, this publication details the major themes in the de-racialisation of land ownership in South Africa.The book covers the work of ten key voices on the issue of land reform both regionally and in South Africa. The first section of the book establishes a historical, theoretical and comparative context for the South African debate.

There is clearly a link between agricultural incentives and the environment, but quantitative data on such topics as soil quality and land use are inadequate for sound analysis.Mamingi studies the literature on how agricultural prices and macroeconomic policies affect agricultural supply and how that supply affects the environment. He addresses the question of how effective agricultural incentives are in boosting the agricultural supply, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.Certain generalizations are common in the literature: Farmers are rational.

Poverty in the Near East and North Africa region (NENA) is mainly a rural phenomenon. Almost half (48%) the area’s population lives in rural areas. This report focuses on key rural poverty issues in 13 diverse countries in the region, without attempting to propose policy or programme actions at national or local levels. Overall, the rural poor still face traditional constraints such as water scarcity, inadequate rural infrastructure, inappropriate policies and institutions, weak local-level organisations and gender inequity.

Environmental policy should be inspired by the recognition that the environment is everyone’s business; all social actors must be involved in environmental management. Policies that implicitly subsidize a wasteful and environmentally destructive use of resources are pervasive: reforms should command a high priority on economic as well as environmental grounds. Compared to regulation, market-based instruments are little used but they can be more efficient; they can also produce revenues to finance environmental improvements.

This report gives a description of the financial life of residents with a limited basis for cash-crop and off-farm opportunities, hence restricting them to size of landholding as a critical indicator of wealth and status and influences access to cheap bank finance.The authors demonstrates that the use of informal mechanisms like reciprocal gifts, interest-free lending and borrowing and taking credit in kind from shopkeepers, is widespread and does not decrease with increasing wealth.

Households in developing countries take various actions to smooth income or consumption as a means of managing or responding to risk. This paper examines migration and land rental market participation as responses to risk in rural China.
The authors show that over the last 30 years, there have been significant reforms in China, which have increased labour mobility and the functioning of rural land markets. The authors emphasise that while limitations still remain, the reforms have to date increased the efficiency of the allocation of these important factors of production.

What have we learned about land markets in South Asia about land reform, land fragmentation, sharecropping, security of tenure, farm size, land rights, transaction costs, bargaining power, policy distortions, and market imperfections (including those associated with gender)?Faruqee and Carey review the literature on land markets in South Asia to clarify what's known and to highlight unresolved issues. They report that: We have a good understanding of why sharecropping persists and why it can be superior to other standard agricultural contracts.