Land tenure for resilient and inclusive rural transformation

Abstract

While land distribution and tenure security are being recognized as drivers of resilience and inclusive rural transformation, today many rural poor in low- and middle-income countries struggle for land. Pressures on and competition for land have increased under simultaneous processes of population growth, agro-extractive business interests and practices, and climate change. Trends in land concentration on one hand and land fragmentation on the other hand are leading to land scarcity for the rural poor, while non-farm employment prospects remain isolated. By reviewing the literature and discussing global land trends, we argue that policies for expanding access to land (including redistributive reforms) and tenure security (overall and of collective rights over forests and other biodiverse land held by Indigenous Peoples and other traditional communities in particular) are all the more relevant for inclusive rural transformation in the present context. By recognising that these land reform measures need to be accompanied by complementary support services and policies, the paper concludes by identifying key policy recommendations.