Land Matters was a month-long global conversation on Devex during September 2013. While this particular campaign to raise awareness about land rights for global development has since come to a conclusion, the importance of land remains a key issue for all development practitioners working toward a more sustainable future.

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for food security

In 2010, for the first time in human history, more people lived in cities than rural areas. Urbanization, population growth and rising incomes have changed the way we feed ourselves. Food security depends more than ever on a productive relationship between urban and rural landscapes. As demand for food production increases, so do pressures on the land cultivated by farmers and used by communities to ensure their livelihoods. Smart land policies can help to promote shared growth and increase food security.

How smarter land use can curb global hunger

Population growth is putting pressure on farmers and others to increase food production or leave their land to those who will. Land matters for food security – here’s what the international community can do to help.

Why strong land rights advance food security

Development practitioners can play a role in strengthening land rights and food security, write Eric Postel and Tjada McKenna of the U.S. Agency for International Development in this guest opinion.

Understanding food security and land grabs

Done right, large-scale land acquisitions can boost development, says Gregory Myers, division chief of the U.S. Agency for International Development’s land tenure and property rights division.

Mapping the Future of Land Rights for Global Development

Land matters for sustainable economies, livelihoods, human rights, and the environment- the development community cannot afford for land to be a trend. Expert panelists from DAI, Chemonics International, USAID, and Omidyar Network sat down with Devex to discuss what land rights mean for the future of global development.

Must reads

Land tenure and food security

The linkage between land tenure and food security encompasses food production, economic growth, governance and vulnerability dimensions.

Voluntary guidelines on the responsible governance of tenure

These guidelines, endorsed by the Committee on World Food Security, have gained support by G-20 leaders. The goal: to encourage sustainable development and reduce poverty and hunger through secure tenure rights and equitable access to land, fisheries and forests.

3 ways to secure property rights for the rural poor

In this video, Tim Hansted of Landesa discusses three ways to secure property rights for the rural poor and in doing so, reduce poverty and hunger.

A powerful piece of paper

In Ethiopia, land certificates provide a sense of security and decision making power, which allows families to lease the land or invest in small farming plots.

How Africa can transform land tenure, revolutionize agriculture and end poverty

This World Bank report lays out ten steps needed to improve land governance, reduce poverty and food insecurity and boost shared prosperity in Africa.

To combat hunger, give land rights to world's poor women

How can we reduce hunger in the developing world? By enabling women to own the land they cultivate, this op-ed argues.

Strengthening land and property rights in Ethiopia

See how USAID's Ethiopia Land Administration Program (ELAP) strengthens land rights, which enables increased agricultural production.

Without land, what would a farmer do?

We need to strengthen the rights of people in rural areas to own land and natural resources by limiting government powers to restrict or extinguish private property rights. This animated video imagines what would happen if a farmer in sub-Saharan Africa was told to leave their land.

Experiences in land registration in Cameroon

A look at Cameroon since 1959, when customary land tenure rights were briefly recognized, through land reforms in 2005. Challenges remain, leaving many farmers without secure claims to their plots.

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