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FAO voluntary guidelines endorsed

On 11 May 2012 the FAO Committee on World Food Security (CFS) officially endorsed the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security. More information here.

LANDac selects two foci for research: civil society and responsible investment

LANDac partners currently emphasize two subjects in their research activities:

1) The role of civil society (e.g. farmers’ organizations) in dealing with large-scale land acquisitions and related issues
2) Responsible investment in land: are there lessons to be learned from good practices?

More information will follow soon.

Utrecht Summerschool Land Governance for Development

2 – 13 July 2012
Utrecht University, the Netherlands

In July 2012 LANDac organises the third Utrecht Summerschool Land Governance for Development. The two-week intensive course will introduce students to the multiple dimensions of land governance in Africa, Asia, Latin America and beyond. Students will acquire the most up-to-date knowledge on new land pressures and learn how to place these in broader theoretical debates. In addition, they will learn about best practices in land governance from different contexts and on different levels: local, national and international. The course is useful for Masters’ students, academics and practitioners from anywhere in the world who are interested in or work…

Conference report ‘knowledge for development’ 2012. new donors, new investments: new development?

Report now available:
NEW DONORS, NEW INVESTMENTS: NEW DEVELOPMENT? Beyond the Millennium Development Goals  8th Knowledge for development conference, Utrecht, January 27, 2012

This seminar, organized by IDS (Utrecht University), LANDac, HIVOS, FNV Mondiaal, IOB (Antwerp University) and SID, aimed to critically assess the meaning of development in the context of contemporary transformations such as the increased involvement of giants like India and China in development cooperation and the increased role of southern countries in international investment flows. Some key questions were: How do these new relations influence the notion of development? What type of ‘development’ are they providing? What are the geopolitical implications of the new South-South and South-North relations? And: What do these new realities imply for development after the Millennium Development Goals? The report of this conference is available here.

Now available: summerschool 2011 participants’ work on Land Governance in Argentina and Russia / Ukraine

The 2011 Summerschool on Land Governance for Development participants’ best papers and posters are now available.

Two papers were chosen as best quality papers from the 2011 Summerschool participants: Matilde Carabellese’s paper Land grabbing in Argentina: tendencies and consequences, and Natalia Mamonova & Michelle Steggerda’s paper (which is here represented in a poster) Land governance in Russia and Ukraine. Same start with different policies.

Utrecht Summerschool “Land Governance for Development” back in 2012

2 – 13 July 2012
Utrecht University, the Netherlands

In July 2012 LANDac organises the third Utrecht Summerschool Land Governance for Development. The two-week intensive course will introduce students to the multiple dimensions of land governance in Africa, Asia, Latin America and beyond. Students will acquire the most up-to-date knowledge on new land pressures and learn how to place these in broader theoretical debates. In addition, they will learn about best practices in land governance from different contexts and on different levels: local, national and international. The course is useful for Masters’ students, academics and practitioners from anywhere in the world who are interested in or work in the fields of land governance, development studies, natural resource management, conflict studies etc.

Click here for more information and registration.

Report LANDac Lunch Meeting “Van Landjepik Naar Duurzaam Landgebruik” (20 October 2011)

In September 2011, Oxfam International presented the report “Land and Power”, which discusses the local implications of the global rush for fertile land by companies, and argues that international companies can and should assume responsibility for protecting local rights when deciding to invest in land (see attachment).This report has generated wide media interest and questions have also been asked in parliament. LANDac, the IS academy on land governance and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs invited Oxfam to present the report. Next, three organisations and initiatives that support Dutch private sector interest in developing countries, with financial support from BuZa were invited to comment on the report. These are AgentschapNL, FMO and IDH.

Following an introduction by Frits van der Wal (DDE), Monique van Zijl (Oxfam Novib) presented the key findings of the Land and Power report (see attachment).

Peter van Poortvliet (AgenstschapNL) agreed that companies have to act in a responsible way. AgentschapNL mainly works with small and medium scale enterprises. They seek to encourage responsible and profitable investments by making a careful analysis of project proposals as well as the track record of companies. They explore whether companies understand the land tenure situation n the country where they plan to investand check their permits or titles. AgentschapNL has a corporate social responsible policy and also monitors performance in the field. Moreover, in their experience farms of max about 150 ha are manageable and have a high production per unit of land. One example of a project that was not approved was a proposal for cultivation of 80.000 ha. The investor proposed to cut down the forest and then plant jatropha.

Marina Pannekeet (FMO) told that the investor, whose plan was to deforest 80.000 ha, also had approached FMO and that FMO had turned down the proposal. FMO works with larger companies and more substantive investments. Like AgentschapNL, FMO also analysis the business proposals and checks the track record of the company. FMO uses therein standards developed by the International Finance Cooperation (IFC) as a guide for assessing development impacts. FMO observes that national standards are often less demanding. FMO is sensitive for ‘reputational risks’ and is particularly careful with respect to displacement by the investor. FMO then explained how land tenure issues are addressed in Sierra Leone. Here, a company plans to cultivate 14.000 ha sugarcane to produce ethanol. Some people had to be displaced who have been compensated, also with a plot of land elsewhere, with soil preparation being undertaken by the company. The company also invested in registration of informal rights of the smallholders surrounding the plantation. This ”good neighbourship” adds to the initial investment costs, but is regarded as essential for the long term sustainability of the business (“license to operate”). Finally, frequent monitoring by FMO is part of the agreement with the investors.

Dave Boselie, from IDH explains that IDH does not yet have specific policies  that make links to cross sector issues like climate change, food security and land governance issues.  IDH has a data base of all ongoing activities and companies involved, but no data are collected that feed indicators on land use (or food security). In the various IDH sector sustainability analyses land grabbing has not yet come up as the first matter of concern.
Boselie also argued that the importance of land tenure depends on the type of commodity that is produced. Flowers and vegetables are generally grown on a smaller scale operation than oil palm, coffee, soy, or forestry. Moreover, a focus on enhancing productivity per unit of land, which applies in many of the pillar programs of IDH, reduces the need for expansion. If some regulation is needed, IDH prefers working through existing private sector standards, round tables and multi stakeholder initiatives. Despite the fact that these private ordening mechanisms might show shortcomings one should not try to capture the problems by bringing all responsibility under public ordening, laws and regulation in an era of shrinking government budgets and a diminishing apparatus. Finally, IDH is prepared to work with coalitions of the willing, including former “bad guys” who might have been pushed by NGO activists, public pressure and customer pressure to adjust their business model and business practices.

Discussion: Issues brought up during the discussion were amongst others, the role of NGOs, public sector and private sector in addressing land grabiing; the role of countries like China in large scale land acquisitions for food crops; the role of governments in protecting rights and ensuring a conducive business climate; the importance of acknowledging informal rights (not just formal rights), compensation policies; how to deal with land for which there are multiple claims etc.

Thea Hilhorst of KIT/LANDac summarised the discussion around the three questions formulated in the invitation for the lunch meeting.

1. What is the importance of large-scale land acquisitions for the Dutch Private sector?
–       Large-scale land acquisitions are internationally recognized as a potentially problematic issue as it may undermine food security and can become a flashpoint of conflict and poor governance.
–       It is happening and requests for funding are being made. This type of investments may increase but the degree of importance is difficult to assess.
–       General agreements that (international) companies should assume responsibility in their sourcing polieis themselves (agribusiness), when financing investments that also entail land acquisitions.
–       Policy coherence is required to link rights to investments (e.g. between EL&I and BuZa as well as at the international level (e.g. around the OECD guidelines and IFC performance standards for example)

2. what are preconditions for sustainable large-scale investments in land?
–       Due diligence – companies should check tenure rights thoroughly (land, other natural resources, water)
–       Free and prior informed consent needs to be done seriously (more investment in methodology development, capacity building  and exchange of lessons learned is needed)
–       The public sector has an important role to play as this is about land rights, which may have to be guaranteed by the state (e.g. by issuing land (use) titles/certificates). Moreover, governments have a role in promoting development but also a responsibility to protect the rights of (vulnerable) citizens.
–       Power relations are important and therefore smallholders need to be organised and allowed a respected voice (collective action)
–       Robust social and environmental impact assessments; Ecosystems services of landscapes may need to be protected; thish may require a more careful allocation of sites to investors
–       Careful assessments of businesses and companies (dare to say no); regularly monitoring of  agreements

3. How can the Dutch public and private sector contribute to the respect for local rights and that this type of investments will also benefit local people
–       Promote business models that consider the incorporation of smallholders and promoting the local economy as part of core business, not as corporate social responsibility.
–       Privilege investment upstream in the value chain  that benefit smallholders too over investments in primary production; as well as input supply firms that also offer capacity development
–       Aim for the development of economic clusters and corridors, instead of scattered  individual farms.
–       Build on existing standards and guidelines  (OESO, IFC, commodity round tables)
–       Use international standards; aim for a raise to the top, not to the bottom.
–       When NGOs or private actors are not able to agree on a certain issue, they can always appeal to the Dutch embassies for assistance (not only financial). The role of the embassies in partner countries is also to go in dialogue with local authorities.
–       NGOs are strengthening of the voice of local civil society and enhancing the quality of local governance.

 

Land and Power Oxfam Paper Presentation oct 20th.ppt

bp151-land-power-rights-acquisitions-220911-en[1].pdf

GROW230911_Land and Power – NL.pdf

IIAS Newsletter: Food Security and Land Grabbing in Asia

The most recent issue of the International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS) Newsletter contains a series of papers in on land problems in Asia, with a particular focus on food security. The issue was edited by Annelies Zoomers and contains several contributions from LandAc-related authors and studies.

Local crop or foreign commodity? Guest editor Annelies Zoomers considers the food security debate in Asia, in the context of domestic and international land acquisitions intended to meet increasing demands for both food and (bio)energy. Various strategies, such as offshore farming, the creation of agro-hubs, and foreign investors, aim to increase food security, yet often have an adverse impact on local communities and their ecosystems.

Argentina looks at limiting foreign land buys

Article in the Wall Street Journal on Argentina’s plans to limit foreign land acquisition (Matt Moffett – 1 September 2011). Dr. Irma Mosquera (Utrecht University) was interviewed about the judicial aspects of foreign land acquisition.

Conference report “The Global Land Rush – What’s real & what are the myths?” (24 March 2011)

Reports about land acquisitions in developing countries – often labeled as land grabbing – are on the rise. The number of land-related conflicts seems to be growing, leading to concerns about increasing land inequality in societies were many people depend on access to land for their livelihoods. On 24 March, 2011, International Development Studies (IDS) of Utrecht University, in collaboration with LANDac and the Society for International Development (SID), organised a seminar about the global land rush, referring to the increasing occurrence of land acquisitions by both domestic and international investors. This document gives a summary of the presentations and discussions during the seminar

Download the report: The Global Land Rush