Land is the foundation for all life-sustaining processes on Earth. Through its physical, chemical, and biological attributes, land underpins a wide range of ecosystem goods and services that humanity depends on for survival.

La terre — une ressource vitale pour la population mondiale

The current study attempts to examine whether large-scale agricultural investment of this type benefits the poor and how this investment can be implemented to increase benefits for the poor. It is arguable whether the poor need more land to grow crops to meet their food security requirements or need to benefit from large-scale agricultural investment in Cambodia. Although the poor households are capable of operating small plots of a few hectares each, they generally lack capital and the means to work large chunks of new land with forests or degrade forests.

FIRST PARAGRAPH OF OVERVIEW: This paper is part of a study “Policy Analysis for the Development of Land Policy for Socio- Economic Development.” Land policy relates to the institutional arrangements through which the Government of Vietnam defines which individuals and groups have access to rights in land and the circumstances that apply to gaining and retaining that access.

ABSTRACTED FROM THE INTRODUCTION: This is a study of the rice economy in Myanmar. It seeks to identify barriers and bottlenecks that are hindering growth and depressing value in a sector that must play a central role in alleviating the extreme poverty that currently afflicts an expanding proportion of rural households.

INTRODUCTION: Over the last 30 years, the context of development in Cambodian has undergone dramatic changes. A succession of deep transformations, characterized by a complete restructuring of institutional and socio-economic environment, has resulted in a singular situation. Cambodian society remains largely agrarian, with land being the corner stone of the production system for a large majority of the population.

Estimates of the percent of Earth's land surface that has either been transformed or degraded by human activity range between 39 and 50 percent, with agriculture accounting for the vast majority of these changes. Although much of the focus of research on land use and cover change in the tropics has been on deforestation, ongoing socioeconomic changes both locally and globally have made land transitions in the tropics extremely fluid. In addition, feedbacks between land cover change and human behavior constrain the extent and trajectories of land transitions.

This e-newsletter issue argues for the prioritization of Sustainable Land management (SLM), given the dependency of the livelihoods of local communities on land and land resources. There are existing legal and legislative frameworks for citizens’ participation in decision making and development, however practice to date does not reflect effective participation of districts in central government planning, and sub-counties in district level planning. The report outlines barriers to policy development and practices as well as reparative policy reform proposals.

Wageningen UR (University & Research centre) en het Louis Bolk Instituut hebben in opdracht van het ministerie van Economische Zaken, Landbouw en Innovatie (EL&I), voorheen ministerie van LNV, een visie opgesteld over duurzaam bodembeheer. Ook worden bouwstenen aangedragen voor een kennisagenda. Op basis hiervan kan het beleid prioriteiten stellen voor onderzoek en kennisdoorstroming.