The International Programme for Technology and Research in Irrigation and Drainage (IPTRID) is an international independent multi-donor trust fund programme created in 1990 and first located at the World Bank. Since 1998, it has been hosted by FAO as a Special Programme. IPTRID aims to assist developing countries and countries in transition in building capacity for sustainable agricultural water management to reduce poverty and enhance food security, while conserving the environment.

Contains sections on the effects on women of Rwanda’s civil war, the legal system, the gap between customary law and land legislation, research findings about Rwandan women’s rights, a number of dispute case studies, including methods of dispute settlement. Argues that a gap exists between customary and modern legal systems, creating both land access opportunities and constraints for women. Demonstrates the creativity with which women are bridging that gap in a state of legal uncertainty.

Recent research has pointed to the significance of environmental variables as structural causes and sustaining factors in struggles for power in the Great Lakes. Contested rights to land and natural resources are significant, particularly in light of land scarcity in many areas and the frequency of population movements. Based on interviews in Goma and Ituri, as well as an extensive review of secondary literature, examines issues in Masisi and Ituri, and includes a number of recommendations for the DRC Government, the international community, and civil society actors.

The Communal Land Associations in Community Forests of Budongo Sub-county are the first pilots in Uganda, and are still in the process of formation. Given that this is a new method for group tenure interests in resource management, the process should be dynamic and invite close analysis for improvement.

Strong partnerships with national agricultural research systems and other stakeholders constitute the backbone of ICARDA’s research agenda. The outreach programs of the Center play a key role in promoting partnerships in their respective sub-regions and in implementing collaborative research and training programs. To make an assessment of the efficiency and effectiveness of the partnerships, the Board of Trustees of ICARDA commissioned an external review of its outreach programs in 2003.

Describes current land administration practices as understood by traditional structures to unpack some components of existing African tenure arrangements in KwaZulu-Natal. Hoped this will help better to understand how communal land systems operate, regardless of which structure governs them, in order to support practices that secure tenure effectively.

This is the first report to be issued by the SACN on the ‘State of South African Cities’. The report takes a hard look at the forces that have transformed the country’s largest cities over the decade since 1994 and asks, if the current trends continue, whether cities can expect positive or negative things in the years to come. As part of the process of celebrating 10 years of democracy, the Office of the President has led a ‘Ten Year Review’ to assess what has been achieved over the last decade, and to define the strategic challenges for the future.

An attempt briefly to describe key components on land as a global issue today, giving some examples of Oxfam International’s involvement in land issues in different parts of the world. Divided into land in a globalised world; some struggles over land; different kinds of Oxfam International support; some general trends – lack of information; some concluding thoughts.

Contains introduction, research on land and conflict, land issues in Rwanda, Eastern DRC, and Burundi, conclusion. Recent research has pointed to the significance of environmental variables in triggering and sustaining struggles for power in the Great Lakes Region. Contested rights to land and natural resources are a significant element in the dynamics of conflict in the region.

"Agricultural research has greatly increased the yields of important staple food crops, and for many people this has meant more food availability and trade opportunities. Yet many people in rural areas in developing countries still live in abject poverty. Therefore, policymakers, donors, and researchers are refocusing their priorities away from simply producing more food to making sure that agricultural research benefits the poor in particular. How can we ensure that new agricultural technologies are appropriate for the different groups of people who most need assistance?

This proceedings issue from a mini conference held in November 2004 presents six papers summarising attempts to establish best practice equity-share schemes on two commercial farms in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. The main object of this participatory research was to test and refine land reform policy influencing the role of equity-share schemes as instruments of land and agrarian reform in South Africa.The papers presented were as follows:Land redistribution in Kwazulu-Natal: an analysis of Farmland transactions from 1997 until 2002 by Stuart Ferrer and Allan Semalulu.

Research on collective action confronts two major obstacles. First, inconsistency in the conceptualization and operationalization of collective action, the key factors expected to affect collective action, and the outcomes of collective action hampers the accumulation of knowledge. Inconsistent terminology obscures consistent patterns. Second, the scarcity of comparable data thwarts evaluation of the relative importance of the many variables identified in the literature as likely to influence collective action.