Benin introduced new instruments to register customary land rights in the 2013 Land and Domain Law, which was updated in 2017. The BMZ supported “Promotion d’une Politique Foncière Responsable (ProPFR)” project is testing these instruments together with scalable implementation modalities in the Borgou department (Benin). This work is complemented with a rigorous impact evaluation to assess changes in tenure security, agricultural investments and food security. The baseline survey was completed in 2018 and includes 2,968 households in 53 villages in the Borgou.

Improvement of Land Governance in Uganda (ILGU) is a project implemented by the German International Cooperation (GIZ), seeking to increase productivity of small-scale farmers on private Mailo land in Central Uganda, co-financed by the European Union and German Government through the German Federal Ministry for
Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

In 2007-8, the Cambodian government granted Economic Land Concessions (ELC) to two rubber companies, namely Socfin-KCD and Dak Lak Mondulkiri Aphivath in Bousra commune, Mondulkiri province. Through a comparative approach, the Case study examines the impact of these rubber concessions on local land tenure systems. It examines how each company took into consideration the land claims of affected people and communities, and the effectiveness of the conflict resolution approach.

Ulster University and the Uzbek Forum for Human Rights has released the first sector wide study on corporate integrity in Uzbekistan.

The report and associated policy brief focus on the cotton cluster system, a landmark privatisation initiative designed to improve agro-industrial productivity, and address the structural drivers of systematic forced labour in Uzbekistan. State-organised forced labour regimes in Uzbekistan’s cotton sector have attracted significant domestic and international criticism over the past decade.

The Land Matrix is an independent land monitoring initiative that promotes transparency and accountability around large-scale land acquisitions (LSLAs) in low- and middle-income countries across the world. By capturing data on its website, the initiative aims to stimulate debate on the trends and impacts of LSLAs, facilitate wide participation in collecting and sharing data about these deals, and contribute to the growing movement towards open data.

The Nepal Development Update is produced annually with two main aims: to report on key economic developments over the preceding months, placing them in a longer term and global perspective; and to examine (in the Special Focus section) topics of particular policy significance. The Update is intended for a wide audience including policymakers, business leaders, the community of analysts and professionals engaged in economic debates, and the general public.

We investigated wheat price relationships between the import-dependent countries in Central Asia and the South Caucasus and the Black Sea wheat exporters to assess wheat market efficiency. This is crucial for ensuring availability and access to wheat and for reducing food insecurity. Results from linear and threshold error correction models suggested a strong influence of trade costs on market integration in Central Asia, while those costs were of minor importance in the South Caucasus.

Bhutan is a small, landlocked country deep in the eastern Himalayas between India and China. Over a horizontal distance of just 100-150 km, the elevation rises from about 150 meters above sea level in the south to over 7,000 meters in the north. The population of about 735,0001 is scattered across steep mountain slopes and valleys, many in remote and far-flung hamlets. This makes Bhutan one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world, ranked 182 out of 215 countries. Nearly half the land area is protected to help preserve biodiversity.

This report assesses the costs and effectiveness of responsible investment practices in emerging market contexts. Its results make the business case for investments in social risk mitigation and avoidance practices. Such practices include community engagement efforts, impact assessments and the establishment of grievance resolution mechanisms. Implemented correctly, responsible investment practices engender confidence and trust between investors and local communities, which secures social buy-in and mitigates the financial risks associated with disputes.

Digital technologies are slowly spreading in agriculture sectors globally. But their adoption is hampered by the digital divide which requires significant public investments, improved policy and incentive frameworks to be bridged. Only after that, digital transformation will take place at scale. DAP is meant to assess the country's readiness for this digital transformation by identifying main bottlenecks, opportunities and risks for digital transformation. DAP will thus guide public investment and policy work to accelerate the scaling up of digital transformation.

The Summary Report of the 3rd Mekong Regional Land Forum provides a comprehensive review of the key messages from the event including a synthesis of keynote speeches, key take-aways, the links to all presentations and additional documentation.