Princetonlaan 8a, 3584 CB, Utrecht landac.geo@uu.nl +31 30 253 13 63

Other research on land governance (NL)

Below some links to other research based in the Netherlands with relevance to the theme “Land Governance for Equitable and Sustainable Development”.

RECENT RESEARCH GRANTS / PROJECTS

1) KNAW/NWO Agriculture Beyond Food Programme

2) NWO-CoCooN Integrated Projects (Conflict and Cooperation over Natural Resources in Developing Countries)

3) NWO Integrated Programmes (WOTRO)

4) SANPAD (South Africa Netherlands Research Programme on Alternatives in Development)

5) General Research Activities at Academic Institutions

1)    KNAW/ NWO Agriculture Beyond Food Programme

Sliding from greasy land? Migration flows and forest transformation caused by oil palm expansion in Riau (Sumatra) & Berau (East Kalimantan)
Utrecht University and Gadjah Mada University Yogyakarta, in collaboration with Bogor Agricultural University and Mulawarman University Samarinda
Coordinator: Dr. Paul Burgers (International Development Studies, Utrecht University)

This project aims to unravel the complexity and dynamics that exist between three interdependent themes: (illegal) logging, migration processes and forest transformation processes. It will contribute to a better understanding of how current developments (the combined effect of expanding oil palm plantations and deforestation) will influence migration flows and livelihood systems of the local population. Special attention will be paid to how local governments can play a positive role in balancing the situation. It will result in concrete recommendations for how to integrate oil palm expansion in broader livelihood systems, while also playing a positive role in reducing deforestation and contributing to economic growth. These insights will feed into the set up of a decision support model for scenario development in a bio based economy environment, in which forest protection or rehabilitation becomes a profitable option under for instance the future REDD mechanism.

Breakthroughs in biofuels; Mobile Technology for Biodiesel Production from Indonesian Resources
University of Groningen and Bandung Institute of Technology, in collaboration with Wageningen University and Research Center, Gadjah Mada University Yogyakarta, Universiteit Twente, University of Palangkaraya

JARAK: The commoditization of an alternative biofuel crop in Indonesia
Leiden University and Gadjah Mada University Yogyakarta, in collaboration with University of Indonesia, Wageningen University and Research Center, Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies, Parahyangan University Bandung, Mulawarman University Samarinda, International Institute of Asian Studies Leiden, Bogor Agricultural University

In close collaboration with the KNAW/NWO programme Agriculture beyond Food (AbF), LANDac organized an international conference on Jatropha: the boom and bust of a miracle crop. A report of this 2-day conference can be found under the ‘Report’ section on this website.

2)  NWO-CoCooN Integrated Projects (Conflict and Cooperation over Natural Resources in Developing Countries)

Land grab and dwindling water resources: Reconciling competing claims and conflicts over natural resources in Africa’s dry lands, specifically Kenya.
Coordinator: Dr. M.M.E.M. Rutten
Consortium partners: Rutten (UL-ASC, NL); Odipo (Moi University, Kenya); Davies (IUCN/World Initiative for Sustainable Pastoralism (WISP), Kenya); Barmentlo (Cordaid, NL)

Small-scale gold mining and social conflict in the Amazon: Comparing states, environments, local populations and miners in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, and Suriname (GOMIAM)
Coordinator: Dr. M.E.M. de Theije
Consortium partners: Theije (VU, NL); Emanuels (WWF-Guiana/Surinam, Guiana/Surinam); Mathis (Universidade Federal de Pará, Núcleo de Altos Estudos Amazonicos, Brasil); Schouten (Solidaridad, NL)

Nationalization of extractive industries, conflict and co-operation in Bolivia and Ecuador
Coordinator: Prof. dr. S.M. Murshed
Consortium partners: Murshed (ISS, NL); Gruenberger (Lidema, Ecuador); Mena (Universidad San Francisco de Quito /University of North Carolina, Ecuador/USA); van der Schoot (HIVOS, NL)

Assessing the socio-economic implications of industrial biofuel plantations: Repercussions of Jatropha curcas on rural land use alienation and conflict escalation in Ghana and Ethiopia
Coordinator: Mr. R.A.B. Antwi-Bediako
Consortium partners: Antwi-Bediako (Rural Environmental Care Association, Ghana); Teferi (HOAREC, Addis Ababa University (Ethiopia), Ethiopia); Timko (Univ. Of British Columbia, Canada); Acheampong (Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana); Hoogland (Both Ends, NL)

Lands and Rights in Troubled Waters – Land-use change, environmental harm and human rights violations in Colombia and Brazil: the case of the Cauca and Tapajós basins
Coordinator: Dr. T. Boekhout van Solinge
Consortium partners: Boekhout van Solinge (UU, NL); Salcedo Fidalgo (Centro de Estudios Sociales (CES-UNC), Colombia); Vélez Galeano (CENSAT Agua Viva – Friends of the Earth Colombia); Monsalve Suárez (FIAN International (Foodfirst Information & Action Network, Germany); de Jesus Rego (Comissão Pastoral da Terra – CPT/Santarem, Brazil); Pacheco Peleja (Universidade Federal do Pará – UFPA, Brazil)

Re-incorporating the excluded: providing space for small-scale fishers in the sustainable development of fisheries of South Africa and South Asia
Coordinator: Dr. J.M. Bavinck
Consortium partners: Bavinck (UvA, NL); Sowman (University of Cape Town, South Africa); Jaffer (Masifundise Development Trust, South Africa); Amarasinghe (University of Ruhuna,, Sri Lanka); Kumara (University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka); Menon (Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS), India); Sosai (University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka); Van Drumpt (Cordaid, NL); Vivekanandan (South Indian Federation of Fishermen Societies (SIFFS), India); Coulthard (University of Ulster, UK); Van Sittert (University of Cape Town, South Africa); Kumara (National Fisheries Solidarity, Sri Lanka)

Groundwater in the Political Domain
Coordinator: Dr. F. van Steenbergen
Consortium partners: van Steenbergen (MetaMeta, NL); Mostert (TUD, NL); Woldearegay (Mekelle University, Ethiopia); Babaqi (Water and Environment Centre, Sana’a University, Yemen); Alemayehu (Oromia Water Works Design and Supervision Enterprise, Ethiopia); Bateh (Palestinian Water Authority, Palestine Territories)

3) NWO Integrated Programmes (WOTRO)

GROUNDING LAND GOVERNANCE – Land conflicts, local governance and decentralization in post-conflict Uganda, Burundi and Southern Sudan
Consortium partners:
• Faculty of Development Studies, University of Science & Technology, Mbarara, Uganda
• African Studies Centre, Leiden, the Netherlands
• Centre for International Conflict Analysis and Management, Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands
• Law and Governance Group, Wageningen University, the Netherlands
• Disaster Studies, Wageningen University, the Netherlands
• Royal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
• VNG International, the Netherlands
• Resource Based Conflicts Management Network, Nairobi, Kenya
• LOGO South – Millennium Development Goal Program, Kampala, Uganda
• Bureau de la Coopération suisse, Burundi

The following link will take you to a short video from the ‘Grounding Land Governance’ researchers about the programme: http://youtu.be/mkG_g3h_5Og

Farm Dwellers, the Forgotten People? Consequences of conversions to private Wildlife Producton in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape
Coordinator: Dr M.J. Spierenburg (VU University Amsterdam)
Co-applicant: Dr. S.J. Brooks (University of KwaZulu-Natal)

Development as a Trojan Horse? Foreign Large-scale Land Acquisitions in Ethiopia, Madagascar and Uganda

Coordinator: Dr. S.J.T.M. Evers (VU University, Amsterdam)
Co-applicant: Dr. K Berhanu (Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia)

Gulf-state concessions in Indonesia and the Philippines: Contested control of agricultural land and foodcrops

Coordinator: Dr. R.A. Rutten (University of Amsterdam)
Co-applicant: Dr. E.A. Purwanto MA (Gadjah Mada University, Indonesia)

4) SANPAD (South Africa Netherlands Research Programme on Alternatives in Development) financed by Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs

SANPAD Research project:

A critical analysis of ‘land grabbing’ in selected areas in South Africa
In South Africa, as in many other countries of the Global South, a significant transformation of (rural) land is taking place, involving conversion to other uses and transfer of rights (ownership) to other users, including external investors. The study aims is to gain a deeper understanding of how the alternative use of land as opposed to agricultural use/production (contextualised as ‘land grabbing’ in the broadest sense) impact, positively and/or negatively on three separate but integrated aspects/sections: (1) land-use transformation (from rural to urban, and, a change in agricultural land use) (2) within a context of the current land reform and restitution policy framework, and (3) residential tourism, second home ownership, and identity and lifestyle transformation.

Partners in this project:
South Africa: University of Stellenbosch (Professor R. Donaldson, Prof. Ferreira, Dr. Van Niekerk, Mr. Poona, Ms. Z. Munch), University of Limpopo(Mr Kwaw), University of Pretoria (Dr Darkey), University of Free State( Prof. G. Visser)
Netherlands: Utrecht University (Prof. A. Zoomers, Dr. T. de Jong, Dr. Guus van Westen)

5) GENERAL RESEARCH ACTIVITIES AT ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS

CEDLA (Centre for Latin American Research and Documentation), Amsterdam
Research line 1: Partnerships and conflicts in natural resource use

ITC University of Twente (Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation)
Land administration for informed governance (LA)

Social and Cultural Anthropology, VU University

Globalisation Studies Groningen, University of Groningen

Van Vollenhove Institute, Leiden University

Plant Production Systems Group, Wageningen UR
Competing claims on natural resources

Law and Governance Group, Wageningen UR

International Institute of Social Studies (ISS): Initiatives in Critical Agrarian Studies (ICAS)