Based on Chinese law, individuals cannot claim land ownership. In rural regions, most land is owned collectively, while in urban areas, by the state. 

China's 560 million rural residents, taking up around 40 percent of the country's total population, contract land for a fixed period of time – usually 30 years – from rural communities, and maintain rights to use and manage the land. 

Cadasta Foundation has launched its new Global Land Rights Challenge Fund to help partners better leverage Cadasta’s innovative tools and services to document land and resource rights worldwide.

The Land Rights Challenge Fund will feature multiple grant programs through 2021, each designed to advance land rights and tenure security for vulnerable populations around the world.

Last Tuesday, a group of about 100 women from rural counties converged on the Christian Leadership Centre, otherwise known as Ufungamano House, in Nairobi for one of those rare moments when they get to “talk to the world” about what they do and, hopefully, be heard.

While their live audience was really nothing to write home about in terms of numbers, that did not deter them; they were just happy to exchange ideas, challenges and experiences.

Under the theme of “Rights-Led Transformation Toward Climate-Resilient Landscapes”, this iteration of the Global Landscapes Forum (GLF), taking place this coming June 22-23, will explore the essential contributions made by Indigenous Peoples and local communities, rural women and youth to the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the targets laid out in the Paris Agreement on climate change.

• Widespread use of fuelwood and charcoal for cooking and heating is a notable barrier to achieving development and conservation goals in sub-Saharan Africa, yet previous attempts at introducing better fuel technologies have largely failed.
• To address energy use at the source, recent efforts are underway that seek to improve adoption of new technologies, such as solar-powered equipment or efficient cookstoves, in rural communities.

As the climate shifts and population grows, land in the Choke Mountain watershed is becoming degraded, causing problems here and further downstream on the Nile

CHOKE, Ethiopia - Sloping fields of barley and potatoes stretching far into the distance are a common sight in the mountains of Ethiopia's northwestern Amhara Regional State.

Local farmer Babel Tena, in a faded jacket and head scarf, has been cultivating low-yielding varieties of barley, beans and potatoes here for more than 40 years.

Women’s economic empowerment is a necessary step to promote women’s rights and achieve gender equality. Throughout the last decades, women have been entering the labor market and, despite the still existing inequalities in terms of wages and opportunities, there are many sectors in which women have achieved great visibility. This is not the case of agriculture and livestock. Currently, women working in rural areas must face a double burden, one linked to the fact of being a woman and one linked to the difficulties of life in the countryside.

Agricultores do município da Cela, província do Cuanza- Sul, solicitaram ao governador da provincial, Job Capapinha, apoio para relançarem a produção agro-pecuária.

In partnership with innovative local land rights organisations, Namati supports communities to protect, document, and defend their customary and indigenous land rights.

Dick Jenkins is a fourth-generation rancher living in Oregon’s most remote county. I wanted to know why he continues living in a rural community, even though life elsewhere might be easier.

“Taking care of [the land] is worth more than all the money in the world,” he told me. “Taking care of the animals, taking care of the environment, it all goes together and we’re very proud of it.”

While Dick’s answer was more evocative than I could’ve hoped for, I can’t say I was surprised by it.