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2020, Land Use Policy
Journal of Agrarian Change, 2002
Land reform is a many-splendoured thing. The term has been used to include not only redistributive reforms of ownership rights but also the establishment of collective or communal forms of farming, state sponsored land colonization schemes in frontier areas, and land tenure reforms, i.e., changes in the contractual arrangements between the landowner and those who cultivate the land. In addition, tax (and credit) measures intended to create incentives for large landowners to sell part of their holding sometimes are described as "market friendly" land reforms. These include penal tax rates on uncultivated or underutilized land, progressive land taxes with rates that rise sharply with the size of holding, and self-assessed land tax schemes under which the state may purchase the land at the self-assessed value if it believes the landowner has undervalued his land. 1 In this paper the term land reform will be restricted to programmes which redistribute land ownership from large private landowners to small peasant farmers and l andless agricultural workers. We are thus concerned with a redistribution of wealth.
Development and Change, 2011
2009
Agricultural Land Redistribution: Toward Greater Consensus addresses a major policy dilemma: how to benefit from the development gains agricultural land redistribution is expected to generate while avoiding the losses caused by the highly imperfect ways redistribution is generally implemented. The authors address this issue through a broad historical perspective and a world tour of case studies. They conclude that flexibility is needed when selecting transfer mechanisms, in particular seeking a balance between subsidized market transactions, land taxation, and expropriation; when introducing effective conflict resolution mechanisms during redistribution; when establishing secure property rights for beneficiaries; and when giving support to the new farmers so that they rapidly become competitive. The assessment is sobering; it points to actual gains as well as to numerous unresolved difficulties. The authors rightly note that the lack of solid impact evaluations complicates the task of identifying the best process for successful implementation. This book provides valuable information on a subject that remains incompletely understood, yet central to development.
AFRICAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL RESEEARCH, 2012
The main long standing objectives of the land reform programme have being to address the imbalances in land access. At the same time, extending and improving the base for productive agriculture in the smallholder farming sector, including bringing idle or under-utilized land into full production. This constitutes the key dimensions of land reform programme. Uncertainties regarding the distributed land have been reported. Cost-benefit analyses of the whole programme are made in terms of levels of output, foreign exchange earnings, land productivity, agricultural employment and the loss of agricultural expertise (white farmers). The main objective of this paper was to review relevant literature on the contribution of land reform towards poverty reduction in developing countries. This paper will also enable countries which are yet to implement land reform to either adopt the land reform strategy or utilise other poverty reduction initiatives aimed at resolving growth and development of the landless and the rural poor. The advocates of land reform claimed that if the problem of land ownership skewed towards race remains, racial conflicts may occur which are more costly and harmful to the citizens. With rapid population growth, the opponents of land reform claim that there is 'not enough land' to allow all those that are involved in farming to have their own land. Politically, it is not going to be easy to redress the present unacceptable land ownership inequalities without at the same time, seriously impairing the productive capacity of agriculture and without incurring costs which are at times unacceptable to society as a whole. Land redistribution alone will not bring any lasting benefits to agriculture but it should be accompanied by increases in farm and labour productivity.
Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks, 2013
Land reforms have played a central role in the political economy of many countries in the world and have been subject to massive disagreements between different political interest groups and ideologies. The 20 th Century included many of the largest social land reform experiments in history such as in the earlier Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, China, Vietnam, and Ethiopia. Many of these reforms have later partly been reversed. In other countries with a colonial history there have been tensions between property rights established during the colonial period and traditional (customary) land rights, and how to adapt these to changing conditions are critical issues. Some countries have had very skewed land distributions rooted in ethnic, colonial, and other historical circumstances and this has created demands for land redistributions to reduce discrimination and poverty and to stimulate economic development. Several factors have created a new interest in land reforms around the world: The Millennium Development Goals sharpened the international focus on poverty reduction and legal empowerment of the poor as seen by the establishment of the Commission for Legal Empowerment of the Poor (CLEP).
Inadequate supply of land and insecurity of tenure are major impediments to effective land delivery system for housing development in most developing countries of the world. The study seeks to explore viable alternatives from contemporary land models that have proved to enhancing the access of the poor to land and granting security of tenure to the urban poor. The paper noted the usefulness of drawing from global models in the search for more effective land modeling.
A host of internationally eminent scholars are brought together to explore the structural causes of rural poverty and income inequality as well as the processes of social exclusion and political subordination encountered by the peasantry and rural workers. Utilizing new empirical evidence from ten countries and in-depth analysis of key country studies, a comparative analysis of agrarian reforms and their impact on rural poverty in Africa, Asia, Latin America and transition countries is undertaken. This volume provides a critical analysis and framework for the study of neoliberal land policies in the current phase of globalization. Land, Poverty and Livelihoods in an Era of Globalization determines that the currently dominant neoliberal economic and social policies do not tackle the main causes of rural poverty and are thus unable to significantly reduce, let alone eliminate, this major development problem. The book undertakes a critical analysis of past agrarian reform policies as well as of current neoliberal land policies. It seeks to propose an agrarian reform policy embedded in an appropriate development strategy which is able to significantly reduce, and hopefully eliminate, rural poverty.
The paper presents a selection of empirical findings on land property in two rice farming areas, located in wetland ecosystems in Tanzania and Uganda. It connects a comparative appraisal of the different land policies and land law reforms in the two countries to an empirical examination of the politics of land at the local level. The consequences of large scale land transfers – and plans for transfers - on local land politics and on local structures of land properties are documented, leading on to a discussion of the empirical findings on the processes of land titling and formalisation of property rights and their reception in the rural societies affected by them. Valuation of land in rice farming areas is linked to the increase of large scale land transfers. The paper presents five conclusive points on the politics of land in Tanzania and Uganda, tracing connections between land dispossession and valuation processes.
Development Policy Review, 2009
After being marginalised in the 1980s, land-reform policies came back to national and international development agendas during the 1990s, resulting in a revival of academic research on the subject. This article reviews the empirical literature on access to land, rural development and public action for evidence on when and how the state should intervene in the allocation of rural land. The review suggests that positive impacts are obtained if, and only if, public actions on the allocation of land are carried out under certain conditions and in a certain way. The article ends by highlighting the need to elaborate empirical models that take into consideration opportunity costs and interactions, and that integrate individual responses with aggregate effects.
Normalization of the administration of land rights has been promoted as a pre-requisite for economic development. Perceived benefits include increased tenure security and improved access to credit, thereby providing the incentive and ability for farmers to invest in making improvements to the land. Formal administration is proposed as a means to facilitate a land market, allowing land to move towards its "highest and best use", thus helping farmers become more productive and consequently improved their lives.
Land, 2020
Land related inequality is a central component of the wider inequality that is one of the burning issues of our society today. It affects us all and directly determines the quality of life for billions of people who depend on land and related resources for their livelihoods. This paper explores land inequality based on a wide scoping of available information and identifies the main trends and their drivers. A wider conceptualization of what constitutes land inequality is suggested in response to shifts in how power is concentrated within the agri-food system. Land inequality is the difference in the quantity and value of land people have access to, the relative strengths of their land tenure rights, and about the appropriation of value derived from the land and its use. More data gathering and research needs to be done to better understand and monitor land inequality. Despite data limitations, what can be seen globally is a growing concentration of land in larger holdings leaving th...
This paper discusses the critically aspects of how land tenure systems and the access and utilization of land could be address to facilitate rural development. The paper takes Africa as a case study and it looks at some of the concerns associated with land tenure and the impacts of bad tenure practices and systems and policies. The paper will review some land tenure related literatures based on the review it will then offer some key recommendations on how improving land access and utilization could bring about rural development.
Agricultural Land Redistribution and Land Administration in Sub-Saharan Africa: Case Studies of Recent Reforms, 2014
Some rights reserved 1 2 3 4 17 16 15 14 This work is a product of the staff of The World Bank with external contributions. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this work do not necessarily reflect the views of The World Bank, its Board of Executive Directors, or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on any map in this work do not imply any judgment on the part of The World Bank concerning the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. Nothing herein shall constitute or be considered to be a limitation upon or waiver of the privileges and immunities of The World Bank, all of which are specifically reserved.
Journal of Agrarian Change, 2009
This collection of essays analyzes the experience of contemporary land reform policies in ten different national settings and makes a case for far-reaching comprehensive land reforms to combat inequality and rural poverty. The case studies are well researched, thorough and smart. The scholars who contribute to this volume have all done extensive work on the ground, having been involved with policy and practice in their own countries as well as in international settings and debates. In the final chapter, the editors conclude that land reforms are a necessary component of national poverty reduction strategies but they must be supported by civil society and the state and matched with productivity-enhancing agricultural policies. They argue that the dominant policy approach towards land, namely the neoliberal market-based reforms promoted by the World Bank and other multilateral, regional and bilateral development agencies, have reduced peasant access to land, increased inequality and largely resulted in negative or no reductions in poverty. Read this book, and then open the signature report of the organization against which the authors are arrayed: the World Development Report (WDR). The most recent report, published by the World Bank in 2008, is focused-for the first time in 25 yearsexclusively on agriculture. Skimming through the WDR, one gets a surprise: on the surface, it could almost be a companion piece to the edited volume. The Bank argues for policy changes in order to reduce inequality, cut rural poverty rates and stimulate growth. The seemingly sympathetic report was written under the co-direction of Derek Byerlee and Alain de Janvry, two academic-consultants who, like the editors of Land, Poverty and Livelihoods , have long experience in the field of rural development. While the report talks only briefly about land reform (and then mostly in terms of getting land markets right with secure property titles), it details ways to strengthen smallholder agriculture, create appropriate markets and diversify rural livelihoods. As noted, on the surface of things, the two publications appear to be complementary: the conclusions the three editors draw in their final chapter resonate strongly with the overview findings presented in the WDR. And yet the two groups of scholars could not be further apart in their theoretical and ideological focus-they are so far apart that Land, Poverty and Livelihoods is in large part a critique of World Bank policy. Why? Where is the divergence? Are these really two different approaches or just different emphases in one path towards development? This is an important issue. The strength of what Akram-Lodhi, Borras Jr and Kay call 'neoliberal globalization', embodied in the WDR 2008, has been its ability to present its very particular perspective as universal common sense and therefore as the only correct path (hence Margaret Thatcher's famous self-fulfilling tag line: 'there is no alternative'). The WDR 2008 sounds so eminently reasonable, and it seems to incorporate all of the
download with the link above Land tenure is a social construct, based on the relationships people establish in order to gain access to land and natural resources. As such, it has major economic, social and political implications. Land policies play a key role in development strategies because they define land rights and their management, and the rules governing land allocation. The debate about policy options raises numerous questions: Should the development of land markets be encouraged? How should local land rights be dealt with? Can economic growth be combined with equitable access to land and environmental protection? Developing countries need forms of land governance that take account of their diverse social, political and institutional situations in order to enable them to deal with the unprecedented challenges now facing them. Mechanisms for securing land tenure that recognise the wide range of rights and sources of legitimacy can provide the basis for equitable and sustainable economic development. Promoting such mechanisms often involves redefining the role of the public authorities in order to regulate competition between different actors over access to land. International development agencies need to support the land policies being debated at the national level by actors from the public and private sectors and civil society . This should be done in accordance with the Paris declaration, and bearing in mind the history of each country, thereby helping to promote democratic land governance. This is the message from the development practitioners that have been working on land tenure in association with the Land tenure and development committee, and their proposed strategy for the French Cooperation.
Michael Lipton has produced a unique work drawing upon the author's extraordinary expertise in rural development. Lipton takes on a great, complex, and contentious topic, land reform, and does justice to this huge topic. He delves deeply and widely, producing a text that is remarkable in its scope, insights, and historical knowledge. He never fears to point out the true complexities of topics that are all too often over-simplified. Lipton's work is also extremely timely, as the world turns its attention once again to smallholder agriculture after decades or relative neglect. Scholars, students, and policy makers in all parts of the world will turn to this new study with enormous benefit and with gratitude to Lipton for his remarkable efforts.
Name of the thesis: Property rights regime in land development process-Analysis of the influence of institutions on land development in terms of the property rights theory Date: 4 th December 2009 Language: English Number of pages: 311 p.