Policies and practices for securing and improving access to land
Cotula, Lorenzo, Camilla Toulmin and Julian Quan
This paper analyses the links between land access and poverty reduction, and reviews recent policy and practice to improve land access for poorer groups in different parts of the world. It reviews land access issues in Africa, Latin America and Asia, focusing on access to rural land in those three regions, while also referring to the major land reforms that have taken place in the transitional economies of Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States. It examines shifting approaches to land reform, different means to secure land rights and to achieve more equitable land distribution, the particular vulnerability of certain groups to losing their land rights, and the need to address land rights within conflict resolution and peace building. The paper concludes with broad recommendations for protecting land rights of poorer and more vulnerable groups. The paper identifies the challenges that need to be addressed to secure access to land for poorer and more vulnerable groups in a context of rapid global change. Given the very broad scope and great diversity within and between countries and continents, much valuable detail has been passed over. While the principal focus is on rural land and agrarian reform, it should be recognized that rural and urban land access issues cannot be separated. In particular, increasingly rapid urbanisation absorbs rural lands, for housing, commercial, and speculative purposes. Also, innovation in securing urban land rights offers some valuable lessons for addressing rural land claims. The paper focuses on agricultural land use - broadly defined here as including crop production, livestock rearing and other activities to produce food through the use of natural resources. Other forms of rural land use and assets (residential use, forestry, tourism, rural markets; environmental assets, water assets, etc.) are also very important for the livelihoods of many, but are only briefly touched upon here.
Event: A vision for the future : International Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development
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