Many rural areas of Africa are characterised by high levels of unemployment, poverty and increasing population densities. Arid climates and erratic rainfall also make many of these areas marginal for agriculture and offer few alternative employment opportunities. Ecotourism in these areas can offer a sustainable land use option that promotes biodiversity conservation, can assist in poverty reduction and promote local socio-economic development. Receipt of benefits from ecotourism is also claimed to improve community attitudes towards conservation.

Food-for-work (FFW) programs are commonly used both for short-term relief and long-term development purposes. This paper assesses the potential of FFW programs to reduce poverty and promote sustainable land use in the longer run.

The study sets out to assess the link between land leasing behavior and productivity differentials between male and female headed households.

Everyone wants to blame the undervalued Yuan for global problems. Economists have claimed it will prolong the global recession. Pundits link the export-driven economy to lax environmental regulations and low labor standards. US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner called it a contributing factor in a round of capital controls and currency-market interventions by emerging economies.

For as much heat as the Yuan is getting, you’d think it was responsible for global warming.

A new EfD/RFF Book titled "Land Reforms in Asia and Africa - Impacts on Poverty and Natural Resource Management" is planned for 2012. Editors are Professors Stein Holden and Keijiro Otsuka.

The research project on land reforms is ongoing, and a first book workshop was held on Jan 24-25, 2010, at Peking University.

New land reforms are again high on the policy agenda and low-cost, propoor reforms are being tested in poor countries.

Although early attempts at land titling in Africa were often unsuccessful, the need to secure rights in view of increased demand for land, options for registration of a continuum of individual or communal rights under new laws, and the scope for reducing costs by combining information technology with participatory methods have led to renewed interest.