This joint FAO-World Bank publication aims to draw attention to the negative impacts of weak governance in land administration and to point out the manifold benefits of good governance in the protection of property rights and the development of efficient land and property markets. It provides positive examples of good practices from around the world, as well as an overview of principles and key questions to be applied in any country for the evaluation of governance in land administration.

Land Tenure Working Paper 13: Secure land rights are crucial if local populations are to engage actively as stakeholders in rural development.

This guide is written for people who work in land administration and all those with an interest in land, land tenure and their governance. Although much has been written about the importance of good governance in achieving development goals, there is comparatively little material on good governance in land tenure and administration. Failings in governance have adverse consequences for society as a whole. By contrast, good governance can help achieve economic development and the reduction of poverty. Good governance matters.

Voluntary guidelines are human-rights based documents that provide a framework

and reference point for national and international policies. They need to be derived

from international agreements and credible examples of good practice if they are to

command wide support. This paper is based on 56 authoritative international

documents from which 14 principles about land and natural resources tenure have

been derived.

Land consolidation can be an important tool for increasing agricultural competitiveness and improving rural conditions. Farmers can become more competitive when they decrease fragmentation and increase the size of their farms, and rural communities can benefit when consolidation projects include components to improve local infrastructure and the environment.

This paper offers an overview of land reform processes in the CEECs and their outcomes and impacts and analyzes current and emerging structures in rural areas. Different types of land consolidation are defined and their potential impacts are assessed. The paper then looks in depth at land consolidation processes, especially in the context of land management, and outlines preconditions and cornerstones for various approaches. Environmental aspects and principles for land funds and land banking are also drawn in.

This paper addresses the impacts of climate change in Mongolia asking what legal instruments can help to assure the adaptation of pastoralism - being the predominant economic activity and mode of life of the rural population - to the changing conditions. Leading to more frequent disasters, climate change makes pastoral adaptation necessary and disaster risk management a primary need.

This book has arisen out of the theoretical knowledge and practical experience gained during the implementation of a FAO project in the Czech Republic: TCP/CEH/2902 “Sustainable Utilization of Agricultural ‘Abandoned’ Land”. The outputs from this project have brought not only improved models for management of the natural resources, but also tested new practical methods of alternative agriculture, combining game-keeping, food-marketing, ecotourism, etc.

Land Tenure Working Paper 14: Growing land scarcity and concern about land-related conflicts and rising levels of rural impoverishment have brought land to the fore once more. The main difference with the recent past is the wide spectrum of actors who want to take part in the elaboration of the land policies, as well as the more and more recognized need to root the proposals in the particular context of each specific country.

The objective of this study was to identify areas of land degradation in sub‐Saharan Africa as

observed from space by tracking the greenness of the vegetation signal expressed as

Normalize Differenced Vegetation Index (NDVI). A series of additional databases was used,

and, through a step‐wise amalgamation of these, conclusions were drawn about the type of

(agro) ecosystems under threat. The datasets (based on 8x8 km2 pixels) of weather and NDVI

(as a proxy for net primary productivity of the land) were averaged annually from monthly

The effect of HIV/AIDS on Africa and the issues it creates for women in African societies, especially unmarried women, is a difficult one that will not soon go away. These two volumes [ The Land and Property Rights of Women and Orphans in the Context of HIV and AIDS : Case Studies from Zimbabwe, and Reclaiming Our Lives: HIV and AIDS, Women’s Land and Property Rights and Livelihoods in Southern and East Africa: Narratives and Responses] are important and useful additions to the literature of the problem and should be found in academic and research collections dealing with the topic

The first detailed study of large scale land acquisitions in Africa analyses the modalities and likely impacts. The study highlights the possible opportunities (investments, rising agricultural productivity and rural incomes), if things are managed well and warns about the risks (uncompensated loss of land rights for the rural poor) if contracts are not properly negotiated and enforced. It makes recommendations to the main stakeholders to make this new trend useful for food security and rural development.