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Mission
Our mission is to build a fairer, more sustainable world, using evidence, action and influence in partnership with others.
Who we are
IIED is one of the world’s most influential international development and environment policy research organisations. Founded in 1971 by economist Barbara Ward, who forged the concept and cause of sustainable development, we work with partners on five continents. We build bridges between policy and practice, rich and poor communities, the government and private sector, and across diverse interest groups. We contribute to many international policy processes and frameworks, including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and the UN conventions on climate change and biological diversity.
What we do
IIED carries out research, advice and advocacy work. We carry out action research — generating robust evidence and know-how that is informed by a practical perspective acquired through hands-on research with grassroots partners — and we publish in journals and maintain high research standards. We advise government, business and development agencies, and we argue for changes in public policy. We focus on bottom-up solutions, stay open to flexible, adaptable solutions and are marked by a tradition of challenging conventional wisdom through original thinking.
Resources
Displaying 221 - 225 of 367Walking with villagers: How Liberia’s Land Rights Policy was shaped from the grassroots
In Liberia it is estimated that around half the country’s land mass has been promised to foreign companies and investors. From 2009-11 the Sustainable Development Institute and NAMATI embarked on an action research project to support rural communities to protect, document, and manage their customary lands and natural resources. Drawing from lessons learned in the field, they sought to bring the voices and realities from rural Liberia to influential policymakers.
Agricultural commercialisation contracts: concessions over people?
Recent actual and expected changes in global agricultural commodity prices have fostered a renewed business interest in tropical agriculture. Agricultural commercialisation concessions (ACCs) are contracts between governments and agribusiness companies allowing the company to supply inputs, purchase farm produce and also sometimes run processing operations and/or provide storage, marketing and distribution services in a given geographical area.
Analysis of the legal texts and reforms needed for the management of irrigated land in Niger
The start of the work of the Kandadji Programme, for the construction of the Kandadji dam, has provided the opportunity to analyse and reflect on the legal texts relating to irrigated land in Niger. This has led to strong recommendations for improving the legal framework for the management of public land, particularly irrigated land.
Notes de réflexion sur l’état des textes et les besoins de réforme pour la gestion du foncier irrigué au Niger
Le début de la mise en oeuvre du Programme Kandadji a fourni l'occasion de mener d’importants travaux et réflexions autour des textes sur le foncier irrigué au Niger, lesquels ont donné lieu à des recommandations fortes pour améliorer le cadre juridique de la gestion du foncier public, en particulier le foncier irrigué.
Position Papers for the National Land Tenure Summit
Position papers distributed to the 2,000 people who attended the South African Government’s National Land Tenure Summit, 4-6 September 2014. Comprises: Strengthening the Relative Rights of People Working on Land; Extension of Security of Tenure Amendment Bill; Communal Land Tenure Policy; Communal Property Associations; Agricultural Landholdings Policy; State Land Lease and Disposal Policy. Also an Oped by Ruth Hall, Secure tenure rights or share-holding for farm workers: will government listen?