LANDac and the International Association for the study of the commons (IASC) are co-organizing a panel during a European Regional IASC conference in Bern, Switzerland, from 10-13 May 2016:
Large scale investments in land and Infrastructure in Africa, Asia and Latin America: what are the consequences for the commons – what is the maneuvering space for collective action?
Central question: What are the implications of large scale investments in land and infrastructure for the commons – what is the maneuvering space for collective action ? What new kind of civic-public and civic-private partnership do we see, what do these mean for local people’s capacity to develop their own plans – What are the consequences for ‘development as a freedom’?
European companies and funding agencies (often under the cover of various public –private partnerships) are very much involved in large scale investments in land and infrastructure development in various African, Asian and Latin American countries. Large-scale land investments in food and biofuels, but also in urban infrastructure, hydrodams, tourism complexes etc. are contributing to the rapid transformation of the landscapes, restricting people’s access to open commons (land, water, forests etc.) and leading to enclosures and fragmentation or competing claims. Local groups are increasingly under pressure as the consequence of three spatial trends which each is limiting local people’s manoeuvring space (Zoomers 2010): The rapid expansion of food and biofuels promote worldwide ‘monocultivation’, i.e., expansion of the areas used for industrial monocrops, for example soya, oil palm and sugar cane (Borras & Franco 2014; Budidarsono et al. 2014; Cotula 2012, 2014). Even though this might contribute to economic growth (employment, income etc.), it often goes at the cost of freedom of choice. Becoming an outgrower or plantation worker is the only way to benefit, but producing monocrops often make producers more vulnerable (price and climate variability). Second, there is a rapid increase of ‘no-go areas’ as consequence of large scale investments in (eco)-tourism and, in particular, the boom of REDD+ in the context of climate mitigation. Facilitated through multilateral funding for reducing forest emissions, thousands of forest emission projects are currently being implemented on large areas of land in countries with remaining forest frontiers. Even though local people are supposed to share the benefits (e.g. providing ecological services), levels of remuneration are low and the cost of losing access to common pool resources is often higher than the benefits. In addition, large-scale tourism development (usually at beautiful sites) is occurring in many countries, and is often followed by real estate booms and rapidly rising land prices. In addition, processes of landscape destruction are increasingly a cause of exclusion and displacement. Governments in countries such as Mozambique, Peru, Indonesia, Zambia and Nigeria have generously provided enormous concessions for the exploitation of oil, gas, bauxite, etc. In countries such as China, Vietnam, Brazil and Ecuador, large-scale investments are made in hydropower dams, often in the context of climate change mitigation (green energy), forcing local people to move or become resettled (Pham Huu 2015; Tanner & Allouche 2011). Local groups are at best compensated for their loss of land, but the amount they receive is in many cases not enough to rebuild their livelihood in new locations.
In this panel we aim to analyse the consequences of large-scale investments in land and infrastructure, by focusing in particular on what happens to the commons (local people’s access and use of natural resources). Current discussions are very much driven by questions such as how to stimulate ‘green inclusive growth’, ‘protecting local people’s rights’ (FPIC etc.) and taking care of ‘fair’ compensation. But what are the implications for local people’s manoeuvring space to ‘have the life they value – their capacity to develop their own plans and pursueing collective action? What new kind of civic-public and civic-private partnership do we see, what kind of negotiations are taking place? Do these help to defend ‘development as a freedom’?
Contributions by:
Hsing-Sheng Tai: “Commons, local people, and collective action amid large scale investments: an indigenous case study from Taiwan”
Christoph Oberlack: “Sustainable livelihoods through large-scale land acquisitions? Patterns, processes and potentials”,
Elyne Doornbos”Defending Social and Environmental Justice: Land Grabbing, Instrumental Freedoms & Politics ‘from below’ in the Context of Nicaragua’s Interoceanic Gran Canal”.
Dear Dr. Esther Leemann – Collective Action against Policies of Exclusionary Development in Cambodia”, has been uploaded properly.
Murtah Read tbc
Kei Otsuki and Annelies Zoomers
Last Updated: 26th July 2019 by Gemma
01/03/2016 News LANDac 2016 Annual Land Conference
The first panel descriptions of panels that are being organized in the context of the 2016 LANDac Annual Land Conference can be found here: panels. In the coming months we will continue to update the information about the conference, including programme and key note speakers. So stay tuned for more news!
Last Updated: 31st July 2020 by Gemma
Online (Dutch): UU Studium Generale lezing ‘Land te koop’
Annelies Zoomers (IDS Utrecht University/ Chair of LANDac) and Barbara van Paassen (Hoofd beleid en campagne ActionAid) gaven op 24 februari een lezing in het kader van de UU Studium Generale reeks over voedselzekerheid. De lezing is online terug te zien via deze link: https://www.sg.uu.nl/nieuws/2016/land-te-koop
Hieronder een blog over de lezing, van Rick Berends, programmamakers Studium Generale:
Land te koop
Veel ontwikkelingslanden hebben de verkeerde keuze gemaakt door hun land te verkopen aan buitenlandse investeerders. De rampzalige gevolgen hiervan zijn nu te zien in Ethiopië.
Er komt een hongersnood aan in Ethiopië. De komende maanden zullen miljoenen ondervoed raken. Tegelijkertijd stuurt het Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken uitnodigingen rond aan zakenlui voor een handelsmissie naar het land. Daarin zetten ze Ethiopië neer als ‘land of opportunities’. Hoe kunnen deze twee pijnlijke waarheden naast elkaar bestaan?
TULPEN UIT ADDIS ABEBA
De voedselzekerheid is laag in Ethiopië. De landbouwgrond die er is, wordt niet gebruikt voor het verbouwen van voedsel, maar voor bloemen of oliepalmen. En als er grond gebruikt wordt voor het verbouwen van voedsel, dan is dit voor de export. De oorzaak hiervan ligt in de ‘global landrush’ die in 2008 ontstond.
Prof. dr. Annelies Zoomers (Ontwikkelingsstudies, UU) legt in de serie Voedsel voor morgen uit wat er gebeurde. Door stijgende olieprijzen, droogtes en toenemende vraag vanuit Azië stegen de voedselprijzen hard in korte tijd. Zoomers: “Landen met veel kapitaal maar weinig landbouwgrond zoals de Golfstaten, Zuid-Korea, Japan en China begonnen zich zorgen te maken over het onderhoud van hun bevolking. Er ontstond een grote stroom van investeringen vanuit die landen richting Afrika om zelf voedsel te gaan verbouwen op land wat door de lokale bevolking niet productief werd gebruikt.”
Een nieuwe vorm van ‘offshore landbouw’ dus, waar ook de Europese landen en de Verenigde Staten aan meededen. Het ging hierbij om miljoenen hectare grond. Ethiopië was niet het enige land in Afrika waar deze investeringen plaatsvonden. Ook in Tanzania, Mozambique en Ghana werd land opgekocht. Op deze grond kon geen voedsel voor de eigen bevolking verbouwd worden met voedselonzekerheid als gevolg.
Zo komt het dat Nederlandse bedrijven bloemen telen in Ethiopië. Maar ook onze vraag naar biobrandstoffen voor groene energie en investeringen in natuurbehoud vertaalden zich naar ‘land grabbing’, het opkopen van land in ontwikkelingslanden door buitenlandse investeerders. Bijvoorbeeld voor het verbouwen van oliepalmen om biobrandstoffen te produceren. Wat duurzaam is voor het klimaat, is dus niet per se goed voor de mens. De ‘opportunities’ waar het Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken over spreekt, kunnen dus andermans ramp betekenen.
LEGAAL MAAR UNFAIR
De term ‘land grabbing’ klinkt negatief. Het lijkt op ‘grijpen’ misschien zelfs op ‘stelen’. Maar Zoomers nuanceert dit beeld en benadrukt dat overheden zoals die van Ethiopië zelf gekozen hebben voor deze strategie: “Wat wij ‘land grabbing’ noemen is het gevolg van beleid dat daar werd gevoerd.” De Ethiopische overheid kampte met een snelgroeiende bevolking en gebrek aan werkgelegenheid. Ze hoopten met de verkoop van grond meer economische voorspoed te brengen. En er is verbetering in de situatie. De Wereldbank heeft landgebruik hoog op de agenda gezet en er zijn richtlijnen en afspraken gemaakt. Het gaat dus te ver om te spreken van nieuw kolonialisme.
Bovendien is de urbanisatie een sterke kracht in landen als Ethiopië, Tanzania en Ghana. Mensen willen naar de stad. Die breidt uit en door die uitbreiding wordt landbouwgrond opgeslokt. De stad wordt dus ook ‘land grabber’. In de stad is echter te weinig werkgelegenheid. De baantjes zijn tijdelijk en slecht betaald, zodat de voedselonzekerheid in stand blijft.
LAND IS LEVEN
Barbara van Paassen, hoofd van Beleid en Campagne bij ActionAid, illustreert de ontwikkelingen met een persoonlijk verhaal. Halima uit Tanzania verloor haar land aan Sun Biofuels, een Engels bedrijf dat biobrandstoffen produceert. Ze kon haar kinderen niet meer voeden en ze niet meer naar school sturen. Van Paassen benadrukt: “Land is leven. Als dat wegvalt is de impact daarvan enorm.”
Maar er is wat aan te doen. Het belangrijkst, stelt Van Paassen, is dat de lokale gemeenschappen goed geïnformeerd en betrokken worden bij beleid: “Nothing about us, without is” vat ze het in een slogan samen. Zelf kun je indirect helpen. Consumeer minder dierlijke producten, omdat hier de meeste landbouwgrond voor nodig is. Dat is deel van de oplossing op de lange termijn. Zoomers voegt hieraan toe dat er ook direct actie moet komen, niet van consumenten maar van overheden. Anders is het voor Ethiopië te laat. Liever geen handelsmissie dus, maar hulp.
Bekijk de lezing ‘De een zijn brood’. Volgende week in deze serie: ‘Verandering van bovenaf’. Moet de VN meer macht krijgen om de wereld te verduurzamen? En hoe balanceer je als politicus tussen idealisme en pragmatisme?
Last Updated: 26th July 2019 by Gemma
24/02/2016 LANDac-IASC co-organized panel
LANDac and the International Association for the study of the commons (IASC) are co-organizing a panel during a European Regional IASC conference in Bern, Switzerland, from 10-13 May 2016:
Large scale investments in land and Infrastructure in Africa, Asia and Latin America: what are the consequences for the commons – what is the maneuvering space for collective action?
Central question: What are the implications of large scale investments in land and infrastructure for the commons – what is the maneuvering space for collective action ? What new kind of civic-public and civic-private partnership do we see, what do these mean for local people’s capacity to develop their own plans – What are the consequences for ‘development as a freedom’?
European companies and funding agencies (often under the cover of various public –private partnerships) are very much involved in large scale investments in land and infrastructure development in various African, Asian and Latin American countries. Large-scale land investments in food and biofuels, but also in urban infrastructure, hydrodams, tourism complexes etc. are contributing to the rapid transformation of the landscapes, restricting people’s access to open commons (land, water, forests etc.) and leading to enclosures and fragmentation or competing claims. Local groups are increasingly under pressure as the consequence of three spatial trends which each is limiting local people’s manoeuvring space (Zoomers 2010): The rapid expansion of food and biofuels promote worldwide ‘monocultivation’, i.e., expansion of the areas used for industrial monocrops, for example soya, oil palm and sugar cane (Borras & Franco 2014; Budidarsono et al. 2014; Cotula 2012, 2014). Even though this might contribute to economic growth (employment, income etc.), it often goes at the cost of freedom of choice. Becoming an outgrower or plantation worker is the only way to benefit, but producing monocrops often make producers more vulnerable (price and climate variability). Second, there is a rapid increase of ‘no-go areas’ as consequence of large scale investments in (eco)-tourism and, in particular, the boom of REDD+ in the context of climate mitigation. Facilitated through multilateral funding for reducing forest emissions, thousands of forest emission projects are currently being implemented on large areas of land in countries with remaining forest frontiers. Even though local people are supposed to share the benefits (e.g. providing ecological services), levels of remuneration are low and the cost of losing access to common pool resources is often higher than the benefits. In addition, large-scale tourism development (usually at beautiful sites) is occurring in many countries, and is often followed by real estate booms and rapidly rising land prices. In addition, processes of landscape destruction are increasingly a cause of exclusion and displacement. Governments in countries such as Mozambique, Peru, Indonesia, Zambia and Nigeria have generously provided enormous concessions for the exploitation of oil, gas, bauxite, etc. In countries such as China, Vietnam, Brazil and Ecuador, large-scale investments are made in hydropower dams, often in the context of climate change mitigation (green energy), forcing local people to move or become resettled (Pham Huu 2015; Tanner & Allouche 2011). Local groups are at best compensated for their loss of land, but the amount they receive is in many cases not enough to rebuild their livelihood in new locations.
In this panel we aim to analyse the consequences of large-scale investments in land and infrastructure, by focusing in particular on what happens to the commons (local people’s access and use of natural resources). Current discussions are very much driven by questions such as how to stimulate ‘green inclusive growth’, ‘protecting local people’s rights’ (FPIC etc.) and taking care of ‘fair’ compensation. But what are the implications for local people’s manoeuvring space to ‘have the life they value – their capacity to develop their own plans and pursueing collective action? What new kind of civic-public and civic-private partnership do we see, what kind of negotiations are taking place? Do these help to defend ‘development as a freedom’?
Contributions by:
Hsing-Sheng Tai: “Commons, local people, and collective action amid large scale investments: an indigenous case study from Taiwan”
Christoph Oberlack: “Sustainable livelihoods through large-scale land acquisitions? Patterns, processes and potentials”,
Elyne Doornbos”Defending Social and Environmental Justice: Land Grabbing, Instrumental Freedoms & Politics ‘from below’ in the Context of Nicaragua’s Interoceanic Gran Canal”.
Dear Dr. Esther Leemann – Collective Action against Policies of Exclusionary Development in Cambodia”, has been uploaded properly.
Murtah Read tbc
Kei Otsuki and Annelies Zoomers
Last Updated: 31st July 2020 by Gemma
8 maart: Lancering LAND RIGHTS NOW campaign
Lancering Land Rights Now campaign
8 maart 13.00 – 14.30
Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken, Den Haag
De ’Global Call to Action on Indigenous and Community Land Rights’ is een initiatief van Oxfam, Rights and Resources Initiative en de International Land Coalition. De Global Call heeft als doel wereldwijd gemeenschappen, organisaties, overheden en individuen te mobiliseren om het areaal aan land dat onder controle is van inheemse of lokale gemeenschappen binnen de komende 5 jaar te verdubbelen. De Global Call roept wereldwijd op om het belang van landrechten hoog op de agenda te zetten en landrechten van inheemse volkeren en lokale gemeenschappen veilig te stellen. Op dit momenthebben zich al meer dan 300 organisaties aangesloten bij het ondersteunen van de Global Call.
Tijdens de lancering zullen diverse sprekers ingaan in op het belang van de erkenning van landrechten voor lokale en inheemse gemeenschappen. Dit is essentieel voor zaken als inclusieve economische ontwikkeling, behoud van biodiversiteit en het bestrijden van klimaatsverandering. Speciale aandacht zal daarbij uitgaan naar het belang van betere landrechten voor vrouwen en de positie van vrouwen in land conflicten.
Aan het einde van de bijeenkomst zullen aanwezigen bij de lancering van Global Call en deelnemers aan de High Level Land Governance Multi Stakeholder Dialoog – die aansluitend tussen 15.00 en 17.00 uur zal plaalsvinden – uitgenodigd worden om de Call te ondertekenen.
Meer informatie over het programma en de sprekers: Programma lancering GCA. Een bevestiging van deelname moet gestuurd worden naar: nona.bouwman@oxfamnovib.nl.
Last Updated: 31st July 2020 by Gemma
New study on Dutch floriculture investments in eastern Africa and the impacts on local food security
The Netherlands Academy on Land Governance (LANDac)/ IDS Utrecht University has conducted a scoping study on Dutch flower farms, land governance and local food security in eastern Africa within the Food & Business Knowledge Platform (F&BKP). While earlier research focused mainly on evaluating the socioeconomic and environmental impacts of floriculture investments, there is still a significant knowledge gap on the land governance arrangements around the investments, and how the investments impact local food security. In this report, the complex linkages between land governance – policies and regulations governing the access to and use of land – and how they relate both directly and indirectly to local food security have been studied. The study found that floriculture investments have both negative and positive impacts on local development and local food security: through land use changes and land acquisition processes; through job creation and employment conditions and; through technology and knowledge transfers.
Download the report ‘Flowers for food?’ here
Background
The findings of the Dutch flower sector contributions to local development and food security are based on field research that was conducted in four countries hosting communities of Dutch flower farmers, namely Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Ethiopia. Interviews and focus group discussions were conducted with flower company representatives and their employees, neighbouring households as well as key informants such as local chiefs and elders, businesspersons active in the food sector, government employees and representatives from NGOs.
“Flowers for food?” Key findings
The study highlights complex and multi-level impacts of Dutch private investments on local food security in the four countries. A first impact is through land use change. Flower farms have been established on land that was previously used for different purposes, including: smallholder farming and food production; pastureland and forests; floriculture and other cash crops; or land that was uncultivated. The land use change is one of the impacts on local food security. In terms of acquisition, land was usually acquired through the market or the state, with consultation of local communities being rather limited or taking place on a voluntary basis.
While land acquisition has often decreased local people’s access to land, and sometimes food production, the establishment of the flower farms has generated needed employment opportunities through a labour intensive industry, especially amongst women. Employment therefore is the primary contribution of Dutch floriculture investors in eastern Africa: through waged labour, employees gain access to food. These impacts were found to be complex, especially because most employees originated from other parts of the countries and established themselves in the areas following the establishment of flower farms. This in turn has led to higher food prices at local markets, yet it has also stimulated local economic activities.
Examples showed that the floriculture sector can, under certain circumstances, transfer knowledge and contribute to local agricultural development with well-thought-out mechanisms in place. An example is provided by the smallholder out-grower scheme that is showcased in the report and serves as evidence that floriculture can be modified so that it can be practiced at smaller scales by local smallholder farmers. Such a setting contributes to increasing local food security through agricultural knowledge transfer and changing perceptions about agriculture and its potential to make a business out of it.
Knowledge agenda
The Netherlands is a primary producer of flowers in eastern Africa. At the same time, the Dutch government views private sector investments as levers for poverty alleviation and inclusive growth, and envisions a contribution to food security by those means. However the current study, as well as another study carried out within the F&BKP that focused on the fruit and vegetable sector, shows that linkages between the investments and impacts locally are often complex and therefore more research needs to be done to uncover these relationships. Moreover, there is a need to stimulate the dialogue between different stakeholders, including the floriculture sector.
In response to this need, LANDac developed a knowledge agenda around land governance and food security. Three country-specific learning platforms in Uganda, Ghana and Ethiopia have been set up, while Utrecht University (International Development Studies) in collaboration with Kenyan, Ethiopian, Ghanaian and Dutch partners has embarked on a long-term research project called, ‘Follow the food’. In order to contribute to the dialogue between different stakeholders, LANDac presents the outcomes of their research at several occasions, including its multi-stakeholder think-tank the LANDforum, its annual summer school and meetings with different partners such as the World Bank, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Netherlands Enterprise Agency. The possibility of follow-up field studies of community-level attitudes and ideas for collaboration in areas of Dutch flower farms in close collaboration with the flower farmers is currently being explored. For more related activities, keep an eye on the F&BKP website or contact Vanessa Nigten (vanessa.nigten@ knowledge4food.net) or Gemma Betsema (g.betsema@uu.nl).
Last Updated: 26th July 2019 by Gemma
16/02/2016 EXTENDED DEADLINE CALL FOR ABSTRACTS 26 FEBRUARY 2016
Due to several requests, we are glad to announce that the deadline for our Call for abstracts – extended deadline is extended until Friday 26 February 2016. You can still send in your abstracts to landacconference2016@gmail.com until Friday (including Friday).
The LANDac Annual International Land Conference will take place on 30 June – 1 July 2016 in Utrecht, the Netherlands. The Conference is organized by the Netherlands Academy on Land Governance (LANDac) and its partners and focuses on ‘Large-scale land acquisition in the context of urban sprawl and climate change: Linking the rural and the urban’. In various panels, the conference aims to analyse the global land rush in the context of rapid urbanisation and climate change, aspects that until now have remained under researched.
We are inviting abstract submissions for papers, posters and other forms of contributions on the topics outlined in the call. You are kindly invited to submit your abstract of no more than 300 words to landacconference2016@gmail.com by 26 February 2016 mentioning ‘LANDac conference 2016’ in the subject line. Abstracts should be written in English and submitted in a Word-file. The organizing committee will decide on the selection of abstracts.
Please note that the Conference precedes our 7th LANDac Summer school ‘Land Governance for Development’ (4-15 July 2016, Utrecht). Participants of the Conference can also register for this annual two-week course which provides a multidisciplinary analysis of the various dimensions of land governance in Africa, Asia, Latin America and beyond. Find out more about this opportunity on our call for abstracts.
In case of any questions, please contact the conference organizers through: landacconference2016@gmail.com. We are very much looking forward to your contributions to make this conference an inspiring event!
Last Updated: 31st July 2020 by Gemma
9/2/2016 New publication: Advances in Responsible Land Administration
Advances in Responsible Land Administration
Jaap Zevenbergen, Walter de Vries, Rohan Mark Bennett
Features
Summary
Advances in Responsible Land Administration challenges conventional forms of land administration by introducing alternative approaches and provides the basis for a new land administration theory. A compilation of observations about responsible land administration in East Africa, it focuses on a new empirical foundation rather than preexisting ideals. Presenting practical knowledge resulting from real cases, it incorporates empirical studies highlighting Rwanda, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda, and Kenya.
The book considers contemporary change forces that include responsible technological innovation, post-conflict contexts, rural poverty, rapid urbanization, food security, and citizen participation. It covers land information system design, innovative data capture tools and techniques, and algorithms and approaches to support land consolidation and pastoralist land administration. The book also evaluates the outcomes of approaches specifically geared toward workflow design, land use changes, land tenure perceptions, conflict reduction, and governance measures.
Outlining key aspects of what fit for purpose land administration looks like, this book presents:
Advances in Responsible Land Administration is an up-to-date discourse thatpromotes the theoretical notion of responsible land administration. The book highlights real cases, provides real data, and introduces novel alternatives to conventional methodologies in land administration. Using the information in this book, you can develop a coherent theoretical foundation for further research in this area.
More information:
https://goo.gl/NJLytq
Last Updated: 31st July 2020 by Gemma
9/2/2016 Launched: 3rd edition of MOOC Natural resources and sustainable development
Just launched is a third edition of the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) ‘Ressources naturelles et développement durable’ by the Université catholique de Louvain.
The course addresses the link between the exploitation of natural resources (land, water, minerals, forests, etc.) and sustainable development and helps you understand the opportunities and challenges that the presence of natural resources offer, both at local and global level. By analyzing the socio-economic and ecological effects of the current rush these natural resources will help you understand the links between the agrarian crisis, the food crisis and the environmental crisis. Learning from specific case studies, your view on contemporary global dynamics will change.
The course will be taught in French. Duration of the course is 8 weeks, with a course load of 4-6 hours per week.
More information and enrollment:
https://www.edx.org/course/ressources-naturelles-et-developpement-louvainx-louv4x-0#!
Last Updated: 31st July 2020 by Gemma
25/01/2016 Now taking place: online debate on GLTN Gender Evaluation Criteria on the Land Portal
Sharing Best Practices and Lessons Learned for Supporting Women’s Land Rights: A debate on the Gender Evaluation Criteria (GEC)
From 25 January to 5 February, the Land Portal Foundation will be holding a debate on the Global Land Tool Network’s Gender Evaluation Criteria (GEC), which were created to assess the effectiveness of land tools in supporting women’s land rights. The discussion will focus on sharing best practices and lessons learned for supporting women’s land rights.
If you are a stakeholder on land governance issues and care about improving women’s land rights, now is the time to bring your voice to this discussion.
How Can I Participate?
The debate will take place on the Land Portal in English, French and Spanish from January 25 to February 5.
If you are already registered on the Land Portal, you will need to sign in to post comments. If you do not yet have an account on the Land Portal, please create your account now. Everyone working on land issues can benefit from being part of the Land Portal community!
Last Updated: 26th July 2019 by Gemma
20/01/2016 Website: Open Development Mekong
Open Development Cambodia, has launched its new Generation 2 website today, 20 January. On the new website you will find about 100 pages of briefings covering 17 development sectors, an expanded law compendium, a comprehensive listing of Economic Land Concessions, new maps, and an improved map explorer, as well as the daily news summaries. You can visit the website here: Open Development Mekong.
This makes Open Development Cambodia the first country website to interface with the new regional Open Development Mekong (https://opendevelopmentmekong.net), as part of a platform expansion that will eventually include websites for all five Lower Mekong countries. The regional platform provides a single centralized database for all five countries, offering up a facility through which data can be collaboratively aggregated to create views at both country and transborder levels. The regional platform is the result of East West Management Institute’s Open Development Initiative. The new platform’s architecture significantly expands development-related data available to the public, as well as offering improved functionality.
This year Open Development Mekong and partners are also interested in expanding their partnerships with other groups to increase the website’s offerings. If you have data you would like to share or if you are interested in working with EWMI-ODI, ODC or other OD country partners on developing particular datasets and other information at country or regional level, please contact the partners.