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Land Tenure and Land Grabs
Resources for Researchers is a database intended as a source for researchers, policymakers, students, and the public to become better informed of major recent analysis on global food security. Included are different perspectives provided through a range of academic journals, government research, think tanks, popular press and opinion pieces, and scholarly reviews. This information has been collected from open sources and includes works that have been produced within the last decade. We have noted gated articles. We will regularly update the database as new works are published. Other topics will be added in the future, such as climate change and forestry. This is a collaborative project. If you think we’ve missed a major piece of work, please let us know.
Land Tenure
“Land Tenure” is the de jure or de facto relationship between people and land, specifically regarding ownership, access, and usage. Land Tenure encompasses the competing interests of individuals, communities, corporations, and governments. Lack of coherent laws or enforcement of them often complicates land ownership for farmers in the developing world. Ownership based on male inheritance, and gender-selective ownership rights undermines the abilities of women who make up the majority of small share farm holders to manage the land they cultivate.
Explore the Land Tenure Topics and Regional Challenges below:
Understanding the Importance of Land Tenure Systems in Food Security
Land Tenure Systems in Africa
Land Tenure Systems in Asia
Land Tenure Systems in Central and South America
Understanding the Importance of Land Tenure Systems in Food Security
Tim Hanstad; The Chicago Council on Global Affairs and Landsea Commentary Series; 2014
In this joint series coinciding with the World Bank’s 2014 Land and Poverty Conference, Landsea President and CEO Tim Hanstad explains how critical land rights are in order to tackle global hunger.
Tenure, Governance, and Natural Resource Management
Dr. Safia Aggarwal and Dr. Mark S. Freudenberger; USAID Issue Brief; April 2013
This USAID brief assets that land tenure is critical as the component for ensuring good governance and effective natural resource management.
The Financial Risks of Insecure Land Tenure: An Investment View
Prepared for the Rights and Resources Initiative by The Munden Project; December 2012
Through the use of case study analysis, this paper illustrates the risks of investment in land that lacks a tenure system.
A ‘Land Sovereignty’ Alternative? Towards a Peoples’ Counter-Enclosure
Saturnino M. Borras Jr. and Jennifer C. Franco; Transnational Institute (TNI) Agrarian Justice Programme, July 2012
Is it appropriate to move from a land tenure and land grab discussion to one about land sovereignty?
Land Tenure Security and Poverty Reduction
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD); May 2012
Making an assumption that land tenure systems are critical to moving very poor people out of poverty, this IFAD report documents its work in several countries to improve people’s circumstances through the development of tenure systems.
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI); Global Hunger Index, 2012
In Chapter 5 of its Global Hunger Index IFPRI makes policy recommendations for countries to improve their food security strategies, one of which is the responsible governance of resources.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Committee on World Food Security (CFS); 2012
Produced by the FAO and the CFS this landmark document sets out a key set of guidelines for countries voluntarily seeking to implement responsible land tenure systems with the goal of obtaining increased food security.
New frontiers of land control: Introduction
Nancy Lee Peluso and Christian Lund; The Journal of Peasant Studies; September 14, 2011
This collection reinforces the role of land control and its economic impact still in the 21st century.
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food
Oliver De Schutter; United Nations Human Rights Council; December 2009
This report describes the role of land tenure and systems as a component to the right of each person to food.
United Nations Human Settlements Programme; 2008
The document examines the role of secure land rights in developing a more stable rural and urban future for all citizens.
Improving Access to Land and Tenure Security
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD); December 2008
This in-depth policy document provides policy guidance and recommendations for the complex process of developing land tenure systems.
Land Tenure Reform and the Drylands
United Nations Development Programme, Global Drylands Initiative; April 2003
Should dry lands also be included in a land tenure system?
Land Tenure and Rural Development
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Land Tenure Studies; 2002
This comprehensive document provides a clear understanding of the vital role of land tenure systems and how people involved in development projects may work to build and strengthen them.
Centre for Land Tenure Studies Publications
Publications Page; Centre for Land Tenure Studies, Norwegian University of Life Sciences
This page opens to the home of the Norwegian University of Life Sciences’ Centre for Land Tenure Studies, which devotes its work to issues on land tenure and related issues.
Land Tenure Center Publications
Publications Page; The Nelson Institute Land Tenure Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison
The page opens to comprehensive list of journals, papers and book chapters produced by LTC staff and affiliates.
The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else
Hernando de Soto; 2000
In his landmark book Peruvian Economist de Soto concludes that the existence of a strong legal structure regarding property and property rights directly impacts the success of capitalism.
Land Tenure Issues in Africa
Securing Africa’s Land for Shared Prosperity
Frank F. K. Byamugisha; World Bank; July 22, 2013
This World Bank report points to the lack of land tenure systems and highlights steps for improving these systems in order to bring the continent out of hunger and poverty.
Land Policy and Governance Reforms and Agricultural Transformation, Ghana
Hosaena G. Hagos; International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI); November 2012
This IFPRI Discussion Note highlights best practices for land tenure reform in sub-Saharan Africa using creative approaches in Ghana as an example.
Who Owns the Land? Perspectives from Rural Ugandans and Implications for Land Acquisitions
Allan Bomuhangi, Cheryl Doss, and Ruth Meinzen-Dick; International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI); November 2011
The authors present a review of the land tenure systems in three areas in Uganda with attention to the differences between men and women as landholders.
Land Reform: The State We are In (gated)
Stefan Schrimer; African Studies; November 25, 2009
This review provides the state of play of land reform efforts in South Africa.
Land Tenure Security and Agricultural Productivity
Karol Boudreaux and Daniel Sacks; Mercatus Center, George Mason University;
September 2009
Following the kick-off of the G-8 global food security project (2009), this report emphasizes the critical importance of addressing land tenure reform in Africa if the program is to have success.
Land Rights for African Development: From Knowledge to Action
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Collective Action and Property Rights; February 2006
The document is a collection of papers presented at a workshop hosted in 2005 by the UNDP and the International Land Coalition.
Land Tenure Issues in Asia
Roy Prosterman and Darryl Vhugen; New York Times; June 13, 2012
With the opening of Myanmar to economic development, these writers call attention to the critical need for land tenure reforms.
Land-Tenure Policy Reforms: Decollectivization and the Doi Moi System in Vietnam
Michael Kirk and Nguyem Do Anh Tuan; International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI); November 2009
The authors review the impact of 1980s land reforms on agriculture growth and economic development.
Land Tenure Issues in Central and South America
Zoe Brent; Food First – Institute for Food and Development Policy; December 12, 2013
The author describes the results of Argentina’s move to increase its agricultural development on its small holder farmers and indigenous populations in light of the country’s weak land tenure system.
Land Grabs
“Land Grabs” are the purchase of large tracts of land in poorer and developing countries by wealthier countries or by corporations. The purpose of these acquisitions is to grow and export crops to food insecure nations and region, often with large and growing populations, for government programs or corporate profit. Land grabs often take advantage of countries that are desperate for revenues and have loose enforcement of property rights. This situation has come under criticism as it has the potential to abuse environmental laws, labor laws, and cooperation for food security.
Explore the Topic of Land Grabs and Their Implications Across Regions below:
Understanding Land Grabs – Positive vs. Negative
Land Grabs in Africa
Land Grabs in Central and South America
Land Grabs in Asia and by Asian Companies and Governments
Understanding Land Grabs – Positive vs. Negative
Margaret Miller – Documentary – January 2014
Miller’s documentary provides interviews with small holder farmers across the developing world who provide first-hand accounts of losing their land and their livelihood.
Investors should work with farmers, not grab their land
Pascal Liu; The Guardian – Poverty Matters Blog; September 20, 2013
In this blog, Food and Agriculture Senior Economic Liu describes the reasons why governments should encourage large agriculture companies to work with small holder farmers to increase production rather than purchase their land.
In Ethiopia, more land grabs, more indigenous people pushed out
Will Davison; The Christian Science Monitor; September 16, 2013
Correspondent Davison describes a transformation taking place in Southern Ethiopia as the government leases land and relocates natives who have resided there for generations.
The politics of evidence: methodologies for understanding the global land rush
Ian Scoones, Ruth Hall, Saturnino M. Borras Jr., Ben White, and Wendy Wolford; The Journal of Peasant Studies; June 28, 2013
This document examines the methodologies used to quantify and evaluate land grabs and their usefulness.
Land & Sovereignty Brief No. 2 - Governing the Global Land Grab: Competing political tendencies
Saturnino M. Borras, Jr., Jennifer Franco and Chunyu Wang; Food First – Institute for Food and Development Policy; June 18, 2013
A look at the global land grab and the politics of global land governance.
Database says level of global ‘land grabs’ exaggerated
Matt McGrath; BBC News, Science & Environment; June 10, 2013
Are land grabs really occurring in a scope and size to be of concern?
Migration is expulsion by another name in world of foreign land deals
Saskia Sassen; The Guardian; May 29, 2013
Is the person who can no longer work the land following a land grab really just migrating?
Governing Global Land Deals: The Role of the State in the Rush for Land (gated)
Wendy Wolford, Saturnino M. Borras Jr., Ruth Hall, Ian Scoones and Ben White; Contested Global Landscapes, Cornell University; March 2013
In this introductory document for a special issue on global land grabs, the authors explain the complexities of “the state.”
Michael Kugelman; New York Times; February 5, 2013
The challenges of land grabs in developing countries and what can be done to prevent negative consequences.
Jennifer Franco, Saturnino Borras Jr., Alberto Alonso-Fradejas, Nick Buxton, Roman Herre, Sylvia Kay, and Timothe Feodoroff; Transnational Institute (TNI) Agrarian Justice Programme; February 2013
TNI offers a primer on land grabs.
‘Our Land, Our Lives’: Time out on the global land rush
Kate Geary; Oxfam International; October 4, 2012
In this Discussion Brief Oxfam calls on the World Bank to freeze its investments in large-scale land acquisition as a means of changing the debate on land grabs.
The Global Farms Race: Land Grabs, Agricultural Investment, and the Scramble for Food Security
Michael Kugelman and Susan L. Levenstein (Editors); 2012
Get a host of opinions on the pros and cons of land grabs.
Looking back to see forward: the legal niceties of land theft in land rushes
Liz Alden Wily; The Journal of Peasant Studies; May 28, 2012
This paper puts current land grab activities in an historical context.
Situating private equity capital in the land grab debate
Shepard Daniel; The Journal of Peasant Studies; May 28, 2012
What is the role of private equity in land purchases?
The new enclosures: critical perspectives on corporate land deals
Ben White, Saturnino M. Borras Jr., Ruth Hall, Ian Scoones, and Wendy Wolford; The Journal of Peasant Studies; May 28, 2012
This collection of papers examines land acquisition from both an historical context and in today’s political and economic climate and examines its impacts.
Green Grabbing: a new appropriation of nature?
James Fairhead, Melissa Leach, and Ian Scoones; The Journal of Peasant Studies; April 19, 2012
Through the purchase of land in the interest of food, fuel or to protect forests – green grabbing - who wins and who loses?
China’s ‘Developmental Outsourcing’: A critical examination of Chinese global ‘land grabs’ discourse
Irna Hofman and Peter Ho; The Journal of Peasant Studies; March 1, 2012
Is China really buying up vast hectares of land – what does the data show?
The gender implications of large-scale land deals
Julia Behrman, Ruth Meinzen-Dick, and Agnes Quisumbing; The Journal of Peasant Studies;
March 1, 2012
An examination of case studies on the impact of large land purchases on rural men and women
Land and Power : The growing scandal surrounding new waves in investments of land
Bertram Zagema; Oxfam International; September 12, 2011
Zagema discusses the results of land purchases on those working the lands and makes key recommendations.
Challenges posed by the new wave of farmland investment
Klaus Deininger; The Journal of Peasant Studies; March 24, 2011
This article attempts to bring together data in determining the amount of land purchases taking place, its anticipated productivity outcomes and other challenges.
How not to think of land-grabbing: three critiques of large-scale investments in farmland
Olivier De Schutter; The Journal of Peasant Studies; March 24, 2011
Are we really thinking about land acquisitions correctly, or should we frame the debate differently?
The Global Land Grab: An Analysis of Extant Governance Institutions
Phoebe Stephens; International Affairs Review; 2011
Stephens examines new regulatory systems that govern land purchases and draws a conclusion on which type will likely dominate.
Rising Global Interest in Farmland – Can it Yield Sustainable and Equitable Benefits?
Klaus Deininger; World Bank; 2010
This balanced document provides data to demonstrate current trends and recommendations for achieving benefits and caution regarding pitfalls to land purchases for agricultural development.
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, Policy Brief; June 2009
The FAOs policy brief acknowledges that we need more data on the true amount of land purchases taking place and then attempts to lay out recommendations for positive outcomes.
“Land Grabbing” by Foreign Investors in Developing Countries: Risks and Opportunities
Joachim von Braun and Ruth Meinzen-Dick; International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Policy Brief; April 2009
This concise brief defines the risks of land grabs but proposes solid recommendations for carrying out land purchases in developing countries in a positive, acceptable manner.
The Great Land Grab: Rush for World’s Farmland Threatens Food Security For The Poor
Shepard Daniel with Anuradha Mittal; The Oakland Institute; 2009
The authors question positives of land purchases for food production and express concern that the key focus of food security for the world’s hungry is being lost in the debate.
Land Grabs in Africa
The Great African Land Grab?: Agricultural Investments and the Global Food System
Lorenzo Cotula; Book, Royal African Society; August 6, 2013
Cotula offers a detailed look at large land acquisitions across Africa, pointing out the winners and losers.
When ‘helping’ Africa resembles grabbing its resources
George Manbiot; Mail & Guardian; June 13, 2013
Manbiot writes a cynical opinion about the work of the G8 to address global food security and its impact on Africa.
Large-scale land deals from the inside out: findings from Kenya’s Tana Delta
Rebecca Smalley and Esteve Corbera; The Journal of Peasant Studies; May 28, 2012
Go into depth with two case studies from Kenya.
New investment, old challenges. Land deals and the water constraint in African agriculture
Philip Woodhouse; The Journal of Peasant Studies; April 12, 2012
What about the role of adequate water for growing crops on these large tracts of land?
‘Land grab’ as development strategy? The political economy of agricultural investments in Ethiopia
Tom Lavers; The Journal of Peasant Studies; March 1, 2012
What’s going on in Ethiopia regarding land purchases?
Food Security or Food Sovereignty: The Case of Land Grabs
Logan Cochrane; The Journal of Humanitarian Assistance; July 5, 2011
Using an Ethiopian case study, Cochrane argues the importance of food sovereignty for achieving food security.
African Farmers Displaced as Investors Move In
Neil MacFarquhar; New York Times; December 21, 2010
A first-hand look at farmers being displaced through a large tract purchase in Mali.
Land grab or development opportunity? Agricultural investment and international land deals in Africa
Lorenzo Cotula, Sonja Vermeulen, Rebeca Leonard, and James Keely; Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO); 2009
An examination of the key trends and drivers of land purchases in Africa and their impacts.
Land Grabs in Central and South America
Land & Sovereignty Brief No. 3 - The Great Soy Expansion: Brazilian Land Grabs in Eastern Bolivia
Miguel Urioste F. de C.; Food First – Institute for Food and Development Policy; September 10, 2013
The author describes multiple negative results from the purchase of lowlands in Bolivia.
Alberto Alonso-Fradejas; Food First – Institute for Food and Development Policy; April 11, 2013
A glimpse into the impact of land purchases on natives communities in Guatemala; whose is buying this land, and why?
Divide and Purchase: How Land Ownership is Being Concentrated in Colombia
Oxfam International; September 2013
Using a case study of the purchase of a large tract of land in Colombia by Cargill, the authors share negative results on the small holder farmers.
Land grabbing in Latin America and the Caribbean
Saturnino M. Borras Jr., Jennifer C. Franco, Sergio Gomez, Cristobal Kay, and Max Spoor
The Journal of Peasant Studies; May 28, 2012
Based on multiple FAO reports on land grabs in Latin America and the Caribbean, the authors examine the context of purchases in the region and their differences from African land purchases.
The rifle and the title: paramilitary violence, land grab and land control in Colombia
Jacobo Grajales; The Journal of Peasant Studies; September 14, 2011
An examination of violence in land grabs in Colombia
Brazil Aims to Prevent Land Grabs in Amazon
Alexei Barrionuevo; New York Times; December 26, 2009
To save its rain forest from deforestation through large land grabs, Brazil implements a new law but faces several challenges in implementing.
Land Grabs in Asia and by Asian Companies and Governments
China ‘to rent five percent of Ukraine’
Alex Spillius; The Telegraph, September 24, 2013
A report on a new 50 year agreement between Ukraine and a Chinese company to lease three million hectares in Ukraine’s eastern Dnipropetrovsk region
Mu Sochua and Cecilia Wikstrom; New York Times; July 18, 2012
Devastating examples of real world victims of land grabs in Cambodia within the context of a lack of a positive land tenure system.
The land question: special economic zones and the political economy of dispossession in India
Michael Levien; The Journal of Peasant Studies; May, 28, 2012
The author examines the impact of the State’s push to transfer land ownership in India from small holders to capitalists through a program called Special Economic Zones (SEZs).
Land grabs, land control, and Southeast Asian crop booms
Derek Hall; The Journal of Peasant Studies; September 14, 2011
Hall utilizes information on booms in several agricultural crops to highlight land grabs and their locations and then compares the impact of these changes, depending upon the kind of land tenure systems that exist in countries across Southeast Asia.
Relevant Organizations
The Chicago Council on Global Affairs
Together with Landsea the Council has published a series on land rights and global food security.
The International Fund for Agricultural Development is a specialized agency of the United Nations that uses various tools and approaches to strengthen poor rural people’s access and tenure and their ability to better manage land and natural resources, individually and collectively.
Futures Agriculture Consortium is an Africa-based alliance of research organizations that focuses on many agricultural and food security topics, such as land grabs and the consequences, specifically in Africa.
The International Institute for Environment and Development highlights the latest publications and news in regards to land rights.
The Journal of Peasant Studies (gated)
This journal publishes many studies on the effects of land grabs and the importance of land rights.
Oxfam, a development organization, exposes land grabs in developing countries and advocates for land entitlements.
