Suchergebnisse

Natural resources are likely to become, over the 21st century, the focus of an intensified competition among different uses, competition triggered by the rapidly increasing demand for water, energy, food and minerals related to population growth and urbanisation, and by changing lifestyles and diets. The availability of any kind of resource has a strict dependence on land. This dependence is very high for agriculture and water, and very significant for energy and minerals. Land ownership and use adds layers of complexity in the nexus relating water, energy and food, which are the key pillars of human well-being and societal development globally. In global this context, it seems to be important to increase understanding of the converging global dynamics that have spurred a global rush for agricultural land in Africa, Latin America and parts of South-east Asia, which has intensified after the food price crises in 2007-2008, after many years of little investments in the agricultural sector. This trend is generally referred to as land grabbing and is characterised by purchases or long-term leases (which typically run for 50 to 99 years) of farming land by either private or public investors. In the first part of the thesis, I have reviewed the literature, explaining the drivers and the trends of Large-Scale Land Acquisitions (LSLAs). It is easy to see that the majority of such investments are targeting Africa continent. This because at the first sight the continent presents the most available land in the world ready to be cultivated. "Available", "degraded" and "underutilized", have became epithets in common usage among proponents of large-scale land acquisitions, rendering landscapes as commodities ready for the taking. Foreign and local investments offer crucial opportunities to recipients in terms of access to capital, technology and innovation, foreign market access and infrastructure development. However there are development risk associated with insecure property rights and land concentration. Hence, concern for the recent capital flows is linked to the likelihood that it may shift the path of agricultural development away from smallholder strategies, with the possible negative implications extensively discussed in the development and agricultural economics literature. In the following part, using a beta regression, I have investigated the determinants of land acquisitions for large-scale agriculture. Results confirm the central role of agro-ecological potential as a pull factor, and also that such investments in Africa are targeting forested areas. During the 1980 – 2000 period, more than half of the new agricultural land across the tropics came at the expense of intact forests, and another 28% came from non intact forests, raising concerns about environmental services and biodiversity globally. Intensive farming, which continues to increase, has resulted in loss of natural habitats and species living in them. Forest and mixed-use woodlands are often targeted by government for agriculture expansion in order to avoid the displacement of crop land. In the third part of my thesis, I have analysed the link between inequality access to land and growth, given that the large size of foreign and domestic capital flows in conjunction with state landlordism in Africa may result in a development path that is geared towards large farms and land concentration. The average size of a farm in Africa is 2.2 ha, namely a very small size if compared to investments in land that are at least 200 ha large. In order to analyse the above link I have used a meta regression technique to review the land inequality literature. A large literature on inequality and growth has firmly established a strong role of land inequality as determinant of income inequality, and the negative impact of land inequality on long term growth; long term analysis also clearly shows that inequality in asset ownership once established is very difficult to reverse. The policy implications are that smallholder or outgrower strategies should be encouraged also in a context of large-scale deals, the degree of legal protection of land rights is crucial, elements of land related corporate social responsibility could usefully integrate public regulation in the domain of protection of user's rights. In the last part, I have done a preliminary assessment of loss of carbon following the conversation of land use from forest to crop land. Converting a forest to crop-land, for example, for biofuels production can result in much more global warming pollution than the amount that can be reduced by the biofuels grown on that land. Thus, I have assumed that 30 per cent of such investments are happening on forest land, unfortunately the inaccuracy of localization data do not allow an assessment more precise.

This book examines large-scale land acquisitions, or

"PAER4M1181"--P. 4 of cover. ; "PB132R"--P. 4 of cover. ; Cover title. ; Mode of access: Internet.

The enactment of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Rehabilitation Act, 2013, has made sweeping changes in the land acquisition laws of India (LARR Act, 2013). By increasing the compensation for acquired land, mandating a social impact assessment to be undertaken and requiring the prior consent of land holders in particular cases, the Act has no doubt corrected the imbalance that existed between the interests of land-owners and of the government as the custodian of public interest in the earlier land acquisition procedures. It has significantly increased transparency in the land acquisition process and given a voice to land owners in decisions on land acquisition. But the implementation of the Act, as originally enacted, could also retard the development process by slowing down the building of public infrastructure, and the processes of industrialisation and urbanisation. It could impede the provision of affordable housing for the vast majority of the population moving from rural to urban areas, which is crucial for controlling the spontaneous development of sprawls taking place across the country. The central government has tried to alleviate some of the adverse effects by introducing an amendment bill but its passage in Parliament has been stalled. Six states, however, have obtained presidential assent for carrying out amendments on the lines of the bill introduced in Parliament. This paper analyses the LARR Act, 2013, examines its impact on the development process and makes recommendations on the way forward for the central and state governments to lighten the adverse effects on infrastructure, industrialisation and urbanisation. While analysing the developments on urbanisation, the paper also makes an assessment of the possible expansion of urban settlements in the country in future and of the impact of such expansion on the area under agriculture.

Cities are growing in terms of economic activities, space and population thus over spilling in peri urban areas. Low population densities and land values have made the peri urban areas the target for land acquisition to accommodate planned expansion processes. In Tanzania, the Government initiated the 20,000 Plots Project in 2002 to among others, address critical shortage of planned and surveyed plots in the city and check proliferation of informal settlements. The Project was implemented in 12 areas in the City of Dar es Salaam, one of them being Wazo-Mivumoni. This study explored the processes and impacts of land acquisition on the livelihoods of peri urban households. It also built an understanding of peri urban areas in the Tanzanian context and further contextualized peri urban livelihoods in Wazo-Mivumoni. Data was collected through official, households and key informants interviews, likewise documentary review. An overarching understanding was drawn from the National Constitution (1977) that provides for the right of residents to own properties, the right to protection of their properties and payment of fair and adequate compensation subject to lawfully acquisition. Although the principal legislations for land acquisition recognize market values, government-regulated rates were instead used in Wazo-Mivumoni. The implementation process was characterized by lack of appreciation of the drivers of peri urban livelihoods, non-adherence to legal provisions and non-observarance of professional ethics. Further, the laws were found to be insufficient to adequately respond to present social and economic conditions. The implementation of the project amidst these conditions resulted to loss of assets, disruption of social networks and family ties. All these undermined household's capacity to sustain livelihoods after project implementation. Among the strategies adopted to overcome these impacts include intensification and increased innovation on farming and animal keeping; reliance on family support as well as reduction of family sizes. Despite the shortcomings, some positive gains including establishment of new economic activities (private schools, retail business and access to planned and surveyed plots) were realized. Residents participation and awareness creation during and after implementation is seen as paramount considerations for successful interventions. Others include establishment of a land cadastre to realise effective and efficient land administration system, establishment of a neutral body to verify valuation reports as well as provision of alternative plots as a measure to restore affected households to same condition as prior to acquisition.

Revision of the standards issued on Oct. 22, 1971 ; Mode of access: Internet.