FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) and other development partners are working together with countries to prepare Voluntary Guidelines that will provide practical guidance to states, civil society, the private sector, donors and development specialists on the responsible governance of tenure. By setting out principles and internationally accepted standards for responsible practices, the Voluntary Guidelines will provide a framework and point of reference that stakeholders can use when developing their own policies and actions.

With the continual rise of global commodity prices and increasing population pressures worldwide, the future of agriculture is looking increasingly unstable. As a result of this escalating demand and intensification of unsustainable agricultural techniques, natural resources are facing an increasing threat of depletion.

This Right to Food Study illustrates the legal significance of the Right to Food at national level and provides a series of concrete examples of the implementation of human right principles, the Right to Food, and State obligations regarding land tenure systems, food policies and institutional frameworks.

This paper discusses the natural resource implications of the latest FAO food and agriculture baseline

projections to 2050 (FAO, 2006a). These projections offer a comprehensive (food and feed demand,

including all foreseeable diet changes, trade and production) and consistent picture of the food and

agricultural situation in 2030 and 2050. The main purpose of this paper is to provide an indication of the

additional demands on natural resources derived from the crop production levels in 2030 and 2050 as

Concentration of land ownership, lack of access, insecurity of tenure and lack of efficiency and transparency in land administration services, are among the obstacles towards responsible governance of tenure of land and other natural resources in Latin America. These issues have been the subject of discussions and policy recommendations during many international forums, such as the International Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ICARRD) held in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in March 2006.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and its partners will hold consultations on various issues relating to the voluntary guidelines on responsible governance of tenure of land and other natural resources. The voluntary guidelines aim to provide practical guidance for State governance bodies, civil society and the private sector. The voluntary guidelines will provide a basis, which interested parties can use when developing their strategies and activities.

This guidelines booklet is addressed to the LADA partner countries and, more in

general, to the increasing number of countries which are expressing their interest in

implementing the LADA approach for mapping Land Degradation.

The specific objective is to provide guidelines for the identification, selection and

description of nationally based indicators of land degradation.

The LADA approach is well defined by a range of specific documents and manuals.

The National indicators common to all countries are based on the LADA-Wocat QM

Increasing women’s access to land is crucial to fight hunger and poverty. However, gender disparities in land access remain significant in most countries, regardless of their level of development. A new FAO database helps to understand the factors that prevent women from accessing land; and to design better policies to effectively address this situation.

Investment in agriculture is crucial for increasing productivity levels in developing countries and for creating economic and social benefits that contribute to the eradication of hunger. In addition, security of land tenure is critical for the realization of the right to food.

FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), GTZ (Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit) and other development partners are working together with countries to prepare Voluntary Guidelines that will provide practical guidance to states, civil society, the private sector, donors and development specialists on the responsible governance of tenure.

FAO and its development partners are working together with countries to prepare Voluntary Guidelines that will provide practical guidance to states, the private sector, civil society, academia, donors and development specialists on the responsible governance of tenure. By setting out principles and internationally accepted standards for responsible practice and associated technical guidance, the Voluntary Guidelines will provide a framework and point of reference that stakeholders can use when developing their own policies and actions.

This document is the first part of a two part manual on local level assessment of land degradation and sustainable land management:
? Part 1 ? Planning and Methodological Approach, Analysis and Reporting
? Part 2 ? Field Methodology and Tools