On 13 January, Ty Pham Huu successfully defended his PhD thesis entitled ‘Dilemma’s of hydropower development in Vietnam: between dam-induced displacement and sustainable development’ in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Ty’s work has been closely dovetailed with LANDac research and dissemination activities. In his thesis, he gives considerable attention to land-related impacts and challenges linked to hydropower development. In particular, his work sheds light on the issue of resettlement and compensation policies in Vietnam.
Ty is currently drafting a policy brief based on his PhD research; a summary of his thesis is provided below. The policy brief will be send to our LANDac mailing list when finalized. In case you want to sign up for our mailing list, please send an e-mail to: landac.geo@uu.nl.
Summary
Dilemmas of sustainable hydropower development in Vietnam: from dam-induced displacement to sustainable development?
Hydropower is one of the biggest controversies in Vietnam in recent decades because of its adverse environmental and social consequences that constrain the objectives of the Vietnamese government on equitable and sustainable development, especial negative impacts on displaced people who make way for hydropower dam construction. The goal of this book is to explain the controversies related to hydropower development in Vietnam in order to make policy recommendations for equitable and sustainable development. This book focuses on the analysis of emerging issues, such as land acquisition, compensation for losses, displacement and resettlement, support for livelihood development, and benefit sharing from hydropower development. The analysis emphasizes the role of different stakeholders in the decision-making process for hydropower development in Vietnam as a means to find a better governance model. This study was conducted from 2010 to 2014; however, the data and results of previous studies are also used to explain more completely the trends of this controversial issue. Qualitative and quantitative research methods were applied for data collection and analysis of research problems. Opinion of various stakeholders at different levels were collected and analyzed to understand better the roles and influences of the parties involved in the process of making decisions in relation to hydropower dam construction in Vietnam.
Since independence in 1945, Vietnam has considered hydropower as one of the most important strategies to promote industrialization and modernization of the country. Hydropower potential in Vietnam is 20,560MW. Currently, Vietnam has installed 13,694MW, accounting for 70% of hydropower potential. According to the Electricity Development Plan, Vietnam will have completed the hydropower development plan by 2030. In 2013, hydropower accounted for 40% of total electricity production and provided sufficient electricity to Vietnam. Electricity stability has contributed to the growth of Vietnam’s economy. The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank appreciate Vietnam efforts, as the electrification program is very successful. Currently, more than 90% of rural areas are connected to the national electricity network. This has contributed to promoting socio-economic development and improvements of services and infrastructure of rural areas. The success hydropower and electricity sector is a source of pride for Vietnamese people (see chapter 2).
However, the benefits of hydropower cannot be compared with the negative impacts that hydropower caused to the environment and society. The construction of hundreds of large-scale hydropower dams has caused a huge loss of natural forests and bio-diversity. Hundred thousand hectares of fertile land areas for agricultural production are submerged under hydropower reservoirs. Also, hydroelectric dams have caused many conflicts over water resources for various economic sectors; for instance, the conflict between the use of water to produce electricity and water needs of people downstream for agriculture, transportation, and drinking water. Many dams have failed, causing damage to property downstream. In particular, earthquakes have occurred near hydropower dams threatening locals and resettled people’s lives. To date, approximately 200,000 People have been displaced and relocated for the construction of hydroelectric dams, of which over 90% are ethnic minorities. The majority of resettled people have no stable life after resettlement, and their living standards are increasingly more difficult than before resettlement. In practice, very few cases of resettlement due to hydropower dam construction are considered as successful examples in Vietnam (see chapter 2, 3, 4 and 5).
Consequences caused by hydropower development are defined by the following underlying causes. First of all, land acquisition policies, compensation for damages, displacement and resettlement in Vietnam have made significant improvement, but this situation is still not perfect. In addition, there is a big gap between policy and practice. The implementation of these policies at the local level is poor, the responsibility of local governments is not high, and local staffs’ capacity for policy implementation is weak. Very often, policy implementation is imposed by government and local authorities. There is a lack of involvement of key stakeholders except for hydropower investors and local governments. Those people whose land is appropriated do not have sufficient rights and opportunities to participate in making decisions related to land acquisition, compensation, displacement and resettlement. Most decisions are given and implemented by local authorities and hydroelectric investors, and, therefore, the voice of displaced people is not considered as important in these decision-making processes. For example, the price of land compensation and other assets is made by the Provincial People’s Committee each year; it is strictly fixed, and, therefore, land losers cannot negotiate with investors to compensate at market prices. Furthermore, displaced people do not have any opportunity to select an appropriate site for resettlement, as hydropower investors and local governments select most resettlement areas. Consequently, most of resettlement areas are located in difficult areas, with narrow land and poor soil quality.
More importantly, investors are responsible for the compensation and support for resettlement of displaced people for only 1-2 years; afterward, they do not have any responsibility to share the benefits of building hydropower dams. For example, resettled people are subsidized with electricity within 1 year, but then they have to pay for electricity. This is a paradox because displaced people have sacrificed their properties and health for hydropower dam construction, but they are then not provided free electricity. In addition, investors and local governments do not have along-standing policy to support resettled people to recover and develop their livelihoods. Most resettled people do not have adequate land for production and employment and most face a more difficult life after resettlement. Consequently, they return to using outmoded and illegal slash-and-burn agriculture and destroy forests or return to the areas they once lived near the dams for forest exploitation and agriculture production, causing many conflicts between resettled people and hydropower investors, local authorities, and local people (See chapters 3, 4, and 5).
The negative impacts of hydropower on the environment and society led to a movement against hydroelectric dam construction by a network of non-governmental organizations in Vietnam and among resettled communities. This network has become more and more organized and powerful. As a result, their voice has strong influence on hydropower development policy of the Vietnamese government. In addition, NGOs have found an important position in Vietnamese society and the Vietnamese government has become more tolerant to NGOs activities. Today, NGOs are protected by formal laws. So far, NGOs have expanded their activities in different geographical areas and fields since they succeeded in anti-dam movement. Besides VNGOs, international NGOs also have participated in improving the benefit sharing policies from hydropower investment by promoting the Vietnamese government and local authorities to implement the payment for forest environment service (FPES) model for the protection of forests for hydropower reservoirs. To date, many resettled communities have benefited from this model. The success of this benefit sharing pilot has prompted the government to expand the model on a national scale; as a result, Vietnam developed the first policy of its kind for payment for forest environmental services in Southeast Asia (See chapter 6).
Thus, the study results reflect that the construction of hundreds of hydropower dams has caused many negative consequences for the environment and society, especially for displaced and resettled people. Globally, the Vietnam example shows that these problems occur in most hydroelectric dam construction, in most regions, with dams of different sizes from large-scale to small-scale hydropower dams. These problems continue to occur and last for many years, as there is no solution to solve these problems efficiently. In other words, issues related to hydropower development, such as land acquisition, compensation for damages, displacement and resettlement, livelihood rehabilitation and development for resettled people is extremely difficult and cannot be successfully resolved. Therefore, we can see that the government of Vietnam, investors, and society do not have sufficient capacity and effective solutions to solve existing problems caused by hydropower dam construction. If the government of Vietnam continues investing in hydropower development, the burden to environment and society will become more severe than it might be possible to cure. Hydropower development can be equitable and sustainable only when it produces benefits that are shared equitably to displaced people and effectively allocated to rectify the consequences that it causes to the environment and society.
Last Updated: 31st July 2020 by Gemma
27/01/2015 Global trends in land tenure reform: gender impacts (NEW PUBLICATION)
‘Global trends in land tenure reform: gender impacts’ edited by Caroline Archambault (Utrecht University, International Development Studies) and Annelies Zoomers (Utrecht University, International Development Studies/ Chair of LANDac), will be published in February 2015. The book explores the gendered dimensions of recent land governance transformations across the globe in the wake of unprecedented pressures on land and natural resources. These complex contemporary forces are reconfiguring livelihoods and impacting women’s positions, their tenure security and well-being, and that of their families.
Bringing together fourteen empirical community case studies from around the world, the book examines governance transformations of land and land-based resources resulting from four major processes of tenure change: commercial land based investments, the formalization of customary tenure, the privatization of communal lands, and post-conflict resettlement and redistribution reforms. Each contribution carefully analyses the gendered dimensions of these transformations, exploring both the gender impact of the land tenure reforms and the social and political economy within which these reforms materialize. The cases provide important insights for decision makers to better promote and design an effective gender lens into land tenure reforms and natural resource management policies.
This book will be of great interest to researchers engaging with land and natural resource management issues from a wide variety of disciplines, including anthropology, sociology, development studies, and political science, as well as policy makers, practitioners, and activists concerned with environment, development, and social equity.
The book will be launched at the World Bank Land and Poverty Conference in Washington DC (23-26 March 2015) and in the Netherlands during the LANDac International Conference (8-10 July 2015). More information about the launch during the LANDac International Conference will be available through the conference page on this website.
Last Updated: 26th July 2019 by Gemma
Lunch lecture: Land governance, commercial land acquisition and rural development in Africa – some observations from the Great Lakes Region
LANDac and the Dutch Ministries of Economic Affairs and Foreign Affairs kindly invite you to a lunch lecture by Dr. Chris Huggins.
‘Land Governance, commercial land acquisition and rural development in Africa – some observations from the Great Lakes Region’
When: Tuesday, February 3rd, 2015 (12.00 – 12.30 hrs: sandwiches; 12.30 – 14.00 hrs: lecture followed by discussion)
Where: Ministry of Economic Affairs, Veegenszaal, Bezuidenhoutseweg 73, the Hague
This is a time of rapid change in the agricultural sector in Africa, with the so-called ‘global land grab’ taking place against the backdrop of an African Union-backed Land Policy Guidelines process, efforts to bring about a Green Revolution for Africa, and rumblings of military or socio-political conflict in many countries. The Great Lakes Region of Africa offers a set of useful comparisons in terms of land governance, dispute resolution, commercial acquisition of land, and national approaches to food security.
Based on numerous research visits to the region since 2003, this presentation will use the contrasting examples of Rwanda and the D.R. Congo to illustrate some of the key challenges facing African governments, investors and the development partners today.
Dr. Chris Huggins is a researcher, lecturer and trainer with more than 16 years experience on land and natural resources rights in Africa, particularly the political economy of land and agricultural reform in post-conflict contexts. Chris is now Postdoctoral researcher within LANDac.
Please register for this event by sending an e-mail before 30/1/2015 12.00 hrs to: gemma.verijdt@minbuza.nl;
When attending, please note you will need to bring your ID card in order to get access to the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
Last Updated: 28th June 2019 by Gemma
Dilemmas of hydropower development in Vietnam: between dam-induced displacement and sustainable development
On 13 January, Ty Pham Huu successfully defended his PhD thesis entitled ‘Dilemma’s of hydropower development in Vietnam: between dam-induced displacement and sustainable development’ in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Ty’s work has been closely dovetailed with LANDac research and dissemination activities. In his thesis, he gives considerable attention to land-related impacts and challenges linked to hydropower development. In particular, his work sheds light on the issue of resettlement and compensation policies in Vietnam.
Ty is currently drafting a policy brief based on his PhD research; a summary of his thesis is provided below. The policy brief will be send to our LANDac mailing list when finalized. In case you want to sign up for our mailing list, please send an e-mail to: landac.geo@uu.nl.
Summary
Dilemmas of sustainable hydropower development in Vietnam: from dam-induced displacement to sustainable development?
Hydropower is one of the biggest controversies in Vietnam in recent decades because of its adverse environmental and social consequences that constrain the objectives of the Vietnamese government on equitable and sustainable development, especial negative impacts on displaced people who make way for hydropower dam construction. The goal of this book is to explain the controversies related to hydropower development in Vietnam in order to make policy recommendations for equitable and sustainable development. This book focuses on the analysis of emerging issues, such as land acquisition, compensation for losses, displacement and resettlement, support for livelihood development, and benefit sharing from hydropower development. The analysis emphasizes the role of different stakeholders in the decision-making process for hydropower development in Vietnam as a means to find a better governance model. This study was conducted from 2010 to 2014; however, the data and results of previous studies are also used to explain more completely the trends of this controversial issue. Qualitative and quantitative research methods were applied for data collection and analysis of research problems. Opinion of various stakeholders at different levels were collected and analyzed to understand better the roles and influences of the parties involved in the process of making decisions in relation to hydropower dam construction in Vietnam.
Since independence in 1945, Vietnam has considered hydropower as one of the most important strategies to promote industrialization and modernization of the country. Hydropower potential in Vietnam is 20,560MW. Currently, Vietnam has installed 13,694MW, accounting for 70% of hydropower potential. According to the Electricity Development Plan, Vietnam will have completed the hydropower development plan by 2030. In 2013, hydropower accounted for 40% of total electricity production and provided sufficient electricity to Vietnam. Electricity stability has contributed to the growth of Vietnam’s economy. The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank appreciate Vietnam efforts, as the electrification program is very successful. Currently, more than 90% of rural areas are connected to the national electricity network. This has contributed to promoting socio-economic development and improvements of services and infrastructure of rural areas. The success hydropower and electricity sector is a source of pride for Vietnamese people (see chapter 2).
However, the benefits of hydropower cannot be compared with the negative impacts that hydropower caused to the environment and society. The construction of hundreds of large-scale hydropower dams has caused a huge loss of natural forests and bio-diversity. Hundred thousand hectares of fertile land areas for agricultural production are submerged under hydropower reservoirs. Also, hydroelectric dams have caused many conflicts over water resources for various economic sectors; for instance, the conflict between the use of water to produce electricity and water needs of people downstream for agriculture, transportation, and drinking water. Many dams have failed, causing damage to property downstream. In particular, earthquakes have occurred near hydropower dams threatening locals and resettled people’s lives. To date, approximately 200,000 People have been displaced and relocated for the construction of hydroelectric dams, of which over 90% are ethnic minorities. The majority of resettled people have no stable life after resettlement, and their living standards are increasingly more difficult than before resettlement. In practice, very few cases of resettlement due to hydropower dam construction are considered as successful examples in Vietnam (see chapter 2, 3, 4 and 5).
Consequences caused by hydropower development are defined by the following underlying causes. First of all, land acquisition policies, compensation for damages, displacement and resettlement in Vietnam have made significant improvement, but this situation is still not perfect. In addition, there is a big gap between policy and practice. The implementation of these policies at the local level is poor, the responsibility of local governments is not high, and local staffs’ capacity for policy implementation is weak. Very often, policy implementation is imposed by government and local authorities. There is a lack of involvement of key stakeholders except for hydropower investors and local governments. Those people whose land is appropriated do not have sufficient rights and opportunities to participate in making decisions related to land acquisition, compensation, displacement and resettlement. Most decisions are given and implemented by local authorities and hydroelectric investors, and, therefore, the voice of displaced people is not considered as important in these decision-making processes. For example, the price of land compensation and other assets is made by the Provincial People’s Committee each year; it is strictly fixed, and, therefore, land losers cannot negotiate with investors to compensate at market prices. Furthermore, displaced people do not have any opportunity to select an appropriate site for resettlement, as hydropower investors and local governments select most resettlement areas. Consequently, most of resettlement areas are located in difficult areas, with narrow land and poor soil quality.
More importantly, investors are responsible for the compensation and support for resettlement of displaced people for only 1-2 years; afterward, they do not have any responsibility to share the benefits of building hydropower dams. For example, resettled people are subsidized with electricity within 1 year, but then they have to pay for electricity. This is a paradox because displaced people have sacrificed their properties and health for hydropower dam construction, but they are then not provided free electricity. In addition, investors and local governments do not have along-standing policy to support resettled people to recover and develop their livelihoods. Most resettled people do not have adequate land for production and employment and most face a more difficult life after resettlement. Consequently, they return to using outmoded and illegal slash-and-burn agriculture and destroy forests or return to the areas they once lived near the dams for forest exploitation and agriculture production, causing many conflicts between resettled people and hydropower investors, local authorities, and local people (See chapters 3, 4, and 5).
The negative impacts of hydropower on the environment and society led to a movement against hydroelectric dam construction by a network of non-governmental organizations in Vietnam and among resettled communities. This network has become more and more organized and powerful. As a result, their voice has strong influence on hydropower development policy of the Vietnamese government. In addition, NGOs have found an important position in Vietnamese society and the Vietnamese government has become more tolerant to NGOs activities. Today, NGOs are protected by formal laws. So far, NGOs have expanded their activities in different geographical areas and fields since they succeeded in anti-dam movement. Besides VNGOs, international NGOs also have participated in improving the benefit sharing policies from hydropower investment by promoting the Vietnamese government and local authorities to implement the payment for forest environment service (FPES) model for the protection of forests for hydropower reservoirs. To date, many resettled communities have benefited from this model. The success of this benefit sharing pilot has prompted the government to expand the model on a national scale; as a result, Vietnam developed the first policy of its kind for payment for forest environmental services in Southeast Asia (See chapter 6).
Thus, the study results reflect that the construction of hundreds of hydropower dams has caused many negative consequences for the environment and society, especially for displaced and resettled people. Globally, the Vietnam example shows that these problems occur in most hydroelectric dam construction, in most regions, with dams of different sizes from large-scale to small-scale hydropower dams. These problems continue to occur and last for many years, as there is no solution to solve these problems efficiently. In other words, issues related to hydropower development, such as land acquisition, compensation for damages, displacement and resettlement, livelihood rehabilitation and development for resettled people is extremely difficult and cannot be successfully resolved. Therefore, we can see that the government of Vietnam, investors, and society do not have sufficient capacity and effective solutions to solve existing problems caused by hydropower dam construction. If the government of Vietnam continues investing in hydropower development, the burden to environment and society will become more severe than it might be possible to cure. Hydropower development can be equitable and sustainable only when it produces benefits that are shared equitably to displaced people and effectively allocated to rectify the consequences that it causes to the environment and society.
Last Updated: 26th July 2019 by Gemma
February/ March 2015: free online course (in French) on natural resources and sustainable development
In February and March, an online course (in French) on natural resources and sustainable development will be available for free! The course focuses on the linkages between the exploitation of natural resources (land, water, minerals, forests etc.) and sustainable development. The course offers insights into the opportunities and challenges of the availability of natural resources in countries, at a local and global level. By analyzing the social-economic and environmental consequences of the increasing pressures on natural resources, the course will contribute to a better understanding of the impacts on farming, food and environment.
Please find more information about this course here: Cours online: Ressources naturelles et développement durable
Last Updated: 31st July 2020 by Gemma
20/11/2014 Forthcoming publication (early 2015) – Global trends in land tenure reforms: Gender impacts
We are pleased to announce the forthcoming publication ‘Global trends in land tenure reforms: gender impacts’, due to be launched in the first half of 2015.
The book explores the gendered dimensions of recent land governance transformations across the globe in the wake of unprecedented pressures on land and natural resources. These complex contemporary forces are reconfiguring livelihoods and impacting women’s positions, their tenure security and well-being, and that of their families. Bringing together fourteen empirical community case studies from around the world, the book examines governance transformations of land and land-based resources resulting from four major processes of tenure change: commercial land based investments, the formalization of customary tenure, the privatizations of communal lands, and post-conflict resettlement and redistribution reforms. Each contribution carefully analyses the gendered dimensions of these transformations, exploring both the gender impact of the land tenure reforms and the social and political economy within which these reforms materialize. The cases provide important insights for decision makers to better promote and design an effective gender lens into land tenure reforms and natural resource management policies.
This book will be of great interest to researchers engaging with land and natural resource management issues from a wide variety of disciplines, including anthropology, sociology, development studies, and political science, as well as policy makers, practitioners, and activists concerned with environment, development, and social equity.
This book, edited by Dr. Caroline Archambault (Utrecht University/ University College Utrecht) and Prof. Dr. Annelies Zoomers (Chair of LANDac/ IDS, Utrecht University), follows builds upon the 2-day Gender & Land Conference held in Utrecht, the Netherlands (organized by IDS, Utrecht University in collaboration with LANDac), on January 14-15, 2013. The conference drew gender and land experts from across academia and public policy.
Last Updated: 26th July 2019 by Gemma
29/10/2014 New publication: ‘Losing your land’
New publication: Losing your land – Dispossession in the Great Lakes
Dispossession of land on a small scale can have as great an impact on living conditions as large-scale land-grabs. With the increasing commodification of land, new forms of dispossession, in urban as well as rural districts, are also gaining in importance.
This book looks at this largely uninvestigated issue through case studies in the Eastern DRC, Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda: here the loss of land often represents the loss of people’s livelihoods in these areas of extreme land scarcity in highly populated regions. In the post-conflict states of the Great Lakes, governance challenges increase the risk of dispossession of the already poor and vulnerable: formal institutions are weak or biased; customary authorities have lost some of their moral authority. The cases in this book show in particular how local power dynamics, often rooted in history, bear upon the processes of land competition, dispossession and land grabbing. This timely volume will be important not only for those in African Studies, but for those in development studies, as well as practitioners and policy-makers worldwide.
Contents
1 Introduction: Causes and risks of dispossession and land grabbing in the Great Lakes region by An Ansoms and Thea Hilhorst
2 Land grabbing and development history: The Congolese experience by Jean-Philippe Peemans
3 This land is my land: Land grabbing in Ituri (DRC) by Dan Fahey
4 Land grabbing by mining companies: Local contentions and state reconfiguration in South-Kivu (DRC) by Sara Geenen and Jana Hönke
5 Competition over soil and subsoil: Land grabbing by local elites in South Kivu (Eastern DRC) by Klara Claessens, Emery Mudinga and An Ansoms
6 The continuities in contested land acquisitions in Uganda by Mathijs van Leeuwen, Ilse Zeemeijer, Doreen Kobusingye, Charles Muchunguzi, Linda Haartsen and Claudia Piacenza
7 Land grabbing and power relations in Burundi: Practical norms and real governance by Aymar Nyenyezi Bisoka and An Ansoms
8 Land grabbing and land tenure security in post-genocide Rwanda by Chris Huggins
9 The reorganization of rural space in Rwanda: Habitat concentration, land consolidation and collective marshland cultivation by An Ansoms, Giuseppe Cioffo, Chris Huggins and Jude Murison
10 “Modernizing Kigali”: The struggle for space in the Rwandan urban context by Vincent Manirakiza and An Ansoms
11 Conclusion by Thea Hilhorst and An Ansoms
An Ansoms is assistant professor in development studies at the Université Catholique de Louvain (Belgium); Thea Hilhorst is a senior advisor at the Royal Tropical Institute in Amsterdam.
Link to the publisher’s website:
Losing your land
Last Updated: 26th July 2019 by Gemma
20/10/2014 – Principles for responsible agriculture and food investments are approved
Principles for responsible agriculture and food investments are approved
Rome, 16 October 2014
During the 2014 annual meeting of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) from 13-18 October in Rome, governments from around the world have approved a landmark set of principles meant to guide investment in agriculture and food systems, aimed at assuring that cross-border and corporate investment flows lead to improved food security and sustainability and respect the rights of farm and food workers.
The Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems were approved by the Committee on World Food Security (CFS).
The Principles were hammered out over two years of consultations and negotiations. They build on and are complementary to the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security, endorsed by the CFS in May 2012 amid heightened global concern about rising food prices and large-scale purchases of agricultural land and operations in developing countries, dubbed “land grabbing” by critics and widely seen as a threat to smallholders.
For more information about the endorsement, please see the FAO press release:
Principles for responsible agriculture and food investments are approved
Full text of the approved principles:
Full text
Last Updated: 28th June 2019 by Gemma
20/10/2014 – Vacancy announcement: Land Matrix Project Support Coordinator
Vacancy announcement: Land Matrix Initiative Project Support Unit Coordinator
Deadline for applications: 31 October 2014
The Land Matrix Initiative (LMI) is a global and independent initiative monitoring competition over land use in the Global South. Its goal is to facilitate an open development community of citizens, researchers, policy-makers and technology specialists to promote transparency and accountability in decisions over land and investment. The LMI has become an international innovative benchmark for its open data and development approach, database structure, web appearance, and multi-stakeholder character, and has received wide interest among policy makers, development practitioners, NGOs, the media, researchers and the informed public.
In view of enhancing the quality of the LMI, and increasing its impact on policy-dialogue and decision making, the LM is presently involved in a process of decentralization and expansion. Five new organizations have joined the network in June 2014 and will act as Regional Focal Points – and regional, national and thematic Land Observatories will complement the well-established LM Global Observatory that monitors and collects data on large-scale land transactions worldwide.
The Project Support Unit
As the LMI expands and decentralizes, project coordination becomes necessary. In the framework of this expansion and decentralization, it has been decided to establish a Project Support Unit (PSU). The PSU will be the coordinating entity of the LMI and will act as an intermediary body coordinating and implementing the decisions taken by the Steering Committee.
It will be based at the University of Pretoria, hosted by the Post-Graduate School of Agriculture and Rural Development, in the Department of Agricultural Economics and the Centre for the Study of Governance Innovation. Initially the PSU will be composed of:
1. Coordinator
2. Research assistant (reports to PSU coordinator)
3. Communication assistant (reports to PSU coordinator)
TORs LM Coordinator_9 10 14
More information and the full vacancy text, including task/ responsibilities and skills/ competencies:
Last Updated: 31st July 2020 by Gemma
16/10/2014 – Available now: report of the launch of the World Bank report ‘Voice & Agency’ about gender and land
On 11 September 2014, LANDac organized, together with the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the World Bank Group, a launch of the new World Bank publication ‘Voice & Agency: empowering women and girls for shared prosperity’ in The Hague. The report and presentation gives specific attention to issues of women and land. The report of this launch is now available here:
Report_WB Gender
Last Updated: 26th July 2019 by Gemma
15/10/2014 – Deadline call for papers LDPI Conference 5-6 June 2015, Thailand
Deadline for abstracts is 31 October 2014!
CALL FOR PAPERS
International Academic Conference
Land Grabbing: Perspectives from East and Southeast Asia
5-6 June 2015
Chiang Mai University, Thailand
The Land Deal Politics Initiative (LDPI, www.iss.nl/ldpi) is collaborating with several initiatives and institutions to hold an international conference with a regional focus on East and Southeast Asia, with emphasis on land grabbing, responses to climate change consequences and policy responses as well as resource conflict. The co-organizers are: BRICS for Critical Agrarian Studies (BICAS, http://www.plaas.org.za/bicas), the research project MOSAIC (www.iss.nl/mosaic), and Chiang Mai University (http://rcsd.soc.cmu.ac.th). It will be organized in collaboration with the Transnational Institute (TNI, www.tni.org), Inter-Church Organization for Development (ICCO) Cooperation – Southeast Asia, and Focus on the Global South (www.focusweb.org), and in partnership with: University of Amsterdam (WOTRO/AISSR Project on Land Investments); Université de Montréal – REINVENTERRA (Asia) Project; University of Wisconsin-Madison. It will be held on 5-6 June 2015 in Chiang Mai, Thailand and to be hosted by The Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development (RCSD) of Chiang Mai University. See attached flyer.
The 2015 conference is a follow up to the highly successful international academic conferences organized by LDPI: in 2011 in IDS University of Sussex, UK and in 2012 in Cornell University, New York, USA. Since the 2012 Cornell conference, there has been a popular clamor for more regionally focused international conferences. There will be one each for Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe/Central Asia, and China and/in Southeast Asia to be held during the period of 2014-2016.
The purpose of the 2015 Chiang Mai conference is to continue deepening and broadening our understanding of global land deals – but in the specific regional context, with special attention to climate change and the role of China and other middle income countries within the region. As before, we remain open to broader topics around land grab intersections with political economy, political ecology and political sociology, and will convene a series of parallel sessions on a range of themes responding to the issues below (and others):
• Agrarian Change: What changes in broad agrarian structures are emerging? Are land deals motivated by new forms of agrarian capitalism or repeats of the past? What is the nature and extent of rural social differentiation – in terms of class, gender, generation and ethnicity – following changes in land use and land property relations as well as organizations of production and exchange? What are the emerging trends around dynamics of power, elites and corruption; land as a source of patronage? How can we make sense of the politics of land deals in different contexts? What are the dynamics of international politics of land grabs in the broader context of energy, mining, forestry and conservation; and the role of big capital and powerful interests?
• Finance: How are land deal contracts developed between foreign and local companies and national states and financiers? Who finances these deals? What is the role of sovereign funds, hedge funds, pension funds and other financial instrument? Who is involved? How does the money flow? How and to what extent has (trans)national finance speculation played a role in land deals in the context of the convergence of food, fuels, climate and finance crises?
• Green Grabbing: What environmental rationales are being deployed to appropriate land and nature? How does nature conservation, carbon sequestration, ecosystem service valuation intersect with land grabbing? What are the intersections between land deals and climate change mitigations strategies such as REDD+ and biofuels?
• The role of BRICS/China, other East Asian countries and middle income countries (MICs): What is the role of BRICS/China in the emerging patterns of investments in agriculture in the region? What is the extent and character of its investments in agriculture in the region, and what are the motivations inside China for such regional investments? What are the emerging land use and agrarian change inside China? To what extent are the rising MICs (middle income countries, e.g. Thailand) within the region involved in recent large-scale land investments? Where are the East Asian countries (Japan, Taiwan, South Korea) in all these new agrarian dynamics?
• Resistance and Alternatives: What is the range of reactions from local communities to these investments? To what extent have agrarian political struggles been provoked by the new land investment dynamics? What are the issues that unite or divide the rural poor, organized movements, and rural communities around the issue of land deals? What are some of the relevant emerging alternatives from key actors? Are some of the traditional policies such as land reform, and some of the more recent alternative visions such as ‘food sovereignty’ relevant and useful in protecting and promoting the interest of the rural poor in the midst of these (trans)national commercial land deals?
• International Policy Actors: Have global land policies of different overseas development agencies (eg World Bank, ADB, FAO, EU) contributed to facilitating/encouraging or blocking/discouraging land deals? What are the limitations of ‘code of conduct’, certification, regulation, FAO’s Tenure Guidelines, FPIC, information dissemination, and capacity-building strategies?
The organizers invite papers that offer rigorous and innovative analysis of this list of issues. Papers based on recent, original field research are especially welcomed. We also encourage comparative studies. Doctoral students and younger researchers, particularly from within the region, are especially encouraged to participate.