In Cambodia, an increasing demand for land has accompanied rapid economic expansion over the past decade, leading to land tenure insecurity for many of the country's poor. Despite the adoption of a new land law in 2001 and the establishment of the Land Management and Administration Project (LMAP) in 2002, tenure problems have continued. The difficulties with land reform policy relate partly to LMAP's design problems and partly to poor execution.

In Vietnam, forest devolution policies were implemented in the early 1990’s under which the government transferred management power over large areas of forested land previously controlled by the state forest enterprises or local authorities to local households. The government believes that implementing devolution policies would improve local livelihoods for the upland poor and stabilize forest conditions to increase forest cover.

The dramatic increase in migration and settlement in several areas where indigenous people live is leading to a multitude of problems for the original inhabitants. Lowland immigrants are taking advantage of the vulnerable situation of indigenous people, and the absence of regulations, to lay claim to the people’s traditional lands. Illegal land transactions are taking place at an alarming rate without thought of the problems that would result from widespread landlessness among indigenous peoples or the impact this is likely to have on the remaining forested areas.

Land conflicts occur in Lao PDR in both the urban and rural environment. Recent research work points to an increase of land conflicts in a range of areas however it has been difficult to monitor how conflict resolution activities are actually working because detailed information on the types and nature of land conflicts, their occurrence rates and resolution mechanisms applied was not available.

This paper examines the impact of a land reform in Viet Nam which gave households the power to exchange, transfer, lease, inherit and mortgage their land-use rights. We expect this change to increase the incentives as well as the ability to undertake long-term investments on the part of households. Our difference-in-differences estimation strategy takes advantage of the variation across provinces in the issuance of land-use certificates needed to enforce these rights.

ABSTRACTED FROM PREFACE: This volume... present a rich set of articles presenting issues specific to a number of continents and regions, countries and communities, land tenures and land tenure databases. The articles in this volume are unique in presenting a set of regional perspectives on this important issue. They demonstrate the importance of collection, recording and analysis of land tenure data in all regions.

ABSTRACTED FROM THE SUMMARY: The impact of land titles on social and economic development and poverty reduction in the rural sector can be optimized by targeting land-titling efforts in areas where government agencies, NGOs, and private investors are actively engaged. The benefits for disadvantaged households can also be increased by policies that specifically link land-titling efforts to pro-poor development objectives.

ABSTRACTED FROM THE INTRODUCTION: My focus in this paper is on the kinds of development pursued by state agencies and large international aid organisations, and specifically, the displacement effects of what I am calling the new land tenure reform agenda. I will illustrate my arguments through an account of the Land and Forest Allocation Programme in Laos.

This is a mixed methods study on the Cambodian Cadastral Commission (CC), a body set up in June 2002 to resolve disputes involving unregistered land. It was conducted by the Center for Advanced Study in collaboration with the World Bank Justice for the Poor Program, National Cadastral Commission Secretariat and the German Development Cooperation (GTZ). The study undertakes a review of the functioning of the CC and evaluates a new case management/incentive scheme which was being piloted with the support of GTZ.

Land fragmentation, where a single farm has a number of parcels of land, is a common feature of agriculture in many countries, especially in developing countries. In Vietnam, land fragmentation is common, especially in the north. For the whole country, there are about 75 million parcels of land, an average of seven to eight plots per farm household. Such fragmentation can be seen to have negative and positive benefits for farm households and the community generally.

Vietnam Land Administration system has implemented successfully the land policy in recent decades. In the next phase of socio-economic development plan, land is requested to become important domestic resources for many investment projects. Obviously, land registration needs further development so that land use rights or land use right certificate can be used as asset in the open market. In the past ten years, many improved on land registration was undertaken. Many first-look problems have been identified and fixed. The issues of Vietnam land registration are more difficult to identify.

This ADI study in collaboration with the Land Information Centre seeks to understand the relationship between land titling and poverty reduction in two sangkat of Prey Nup District, Sihanoukville Municipality.