There is a gap between land tenure and the physical land giving room for impersonation, multiple allocation and sale of plots, loss of possession, land racketeering and fraud through forgery. Hence, the need to identify unambiguously parties involved in land transactions so that the root of title can be traced to ensure tenure security. This paper explores innovative ways of filling the gap with biometric data to secure land transactions.

Rwanda has undertaken a land registration and titling program since 2008 with a registration of 10.3 million land parcels in 2013. The aim of this paper is to investigate the early effects of the program on tenure security and agricultural investments since few studies have been carried out in this research area. The study was undertaken in Musanze district in Northern Rwanda, with specific focus on Gataraga sector and it draws on a mix of qualitative and quantitative research methods. The findings indicate that the program led to reduced land conflicts and improved tenure security.

Land regularization is an essential ingredient in the formalization on land rights and it plays an important role in improving tenure security of the urban poor. In order to facilitate the process of land regularization, there is need to have up to date spatial information on the settlements earmarked for the regularization process. Ground based survey methods have proved to be time consuming and costly. Thus there is need to adopt cost effective methodology in the acquisition of spatial data.

The political dysfunction that had come to characterize an imploding Zimbabwean economy is beyond dispute. This paper explores how a government that had become weakened in the face of a formidable opposition in urban areas turned to use land as a reward for supporters and as a means of luring new members to join the ruling party. It argues that land patronage has been used as a means for legitimating fledgling state rule while undermining the tenure security of the poor.

The Global Programme 'Responsible Land Policy' (GPRLP) is part of the Special Initiative 'One World, No Hunger' of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), which aims to reduce extreme poverty and hunger.

The Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (VGGT) and the Framework and Guidelines on Land Policy in Africa (F&G) are important international and continental instruments for improving the governance of tenure of land, fisheries and forests for improved food security and nutrition. They are useful for dealing with the many tenure challenges confronting developing countries and set the standards and frameworks for improvement.

Over the past two decades, growing recognition of forest-based Indigenous peoples and local communities (IPs and LCs) sparked forest tenure reforms to formalize IP and LC rights to forests and forest lands through a variety of mechanisms. Nevertheless, tenure security, an intended objective of such reforms, has received less attention, despite being integral to the life and livelihoods of IPs and LCs and important for forests.

The global community is currently grappling with multiple and overlapping social and environmental threats. These include the climate emergency, COVID-19 and the threat of widespread hunger, and the accelerating loss of biodiversity. All of these threats point to an urgent need to restore and sustainably manage land and forests.

Increasing investment by smallholders in agriculture and livestock is essential for improving food security, income and resilience to climate change, but can be constrained by tenure insecurity. To help overcome the barriers faced in improving land tenure security, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) launched the Global Project on Responsible Land Policy (GPRLP), which is testing interventions, evaluating impact and drawing lessons for scaling.

This second Forest Tenure Funders Group (FTFG) annual report analyzes progress against the five-year, $1.7 billion commitment to the tenure rights and forest guardianship of Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPs and LCs) in tropical forest countries announced at COP26.

Rapid urbanization has led to the influx of people into urban areas as people seek better life opportunities This migration has however largely not been planned resulting in population explosions in the cities Relying on existing research on the topic and government reports this study finds that many middle and lowincome families in Kenya have ended up living in informal settlements in urban areas due to housing unaffordability The study further determines that the problem of housing is more pronounced in developing countries Studies related to this issue establish that the housing crisis c

The Chinese have lived in singleextendedfamily courtyard houses in many parts of China for thousands of years The earliest courtyard house found in China was during the Middle Neolithic period 50003000 BCE The courtyard form signifies Chinese quest for harmony with nature and in social relationships However the 20th century was a significant turning point in the evolution of Chinese courtyard houses this paper provides an overview of this transition It starts by briefly introducing traditional Chinese courtyard houses and their decline since 1949 it then examines the emergence of new courty