Meetings on access to land issues

Two events discussing issues related to land took place last April and May, shedding light on the delicate issues of access to land, property, food security and successful projects.

One of the events was a Workshop on Participatory and Negotiated Territorial Planning and Management held in Budapest from 27 to 30 April, 2003. The main objective of the Workshop was to discuss views and alternative answers on participatory and negotiated territorial planning approaches adequate for the Central Eastern European Region. Over 50 people from both the public and private sectors participated in the event by exchanging experiences on land issues and natural resources management in order to explore ways of integrating the diversity of territories and actor visions.

The workshop, which was organized by several FAO services (Land Tenure, Rural Institutions and Participation and Land and Plant Nutrition Management) along with the FAO sub-regional office for Central and Eastern Europe (SEUR), focused on main key issues such as: Territorial concept and negotiation processes, decentralized institutions and participation and land use planning and natural resource management among others.

In addition, an informal panel discussion on "The impact of Access to land on Improving Food Security and Alleviating Rural Poverty - A review of Successful cases of Land reform in Selected Countries" took place in mid May. This second meeting was held as a side event during the 29th session of the Committee on World Food Security at FAO headquarters in Rome. The panel discussion included the studies carried out by Michael E. Carter, Professor of Agricultural and Applied Economics of the University of Madison Wisconsin, USA on "Designing Land and Property Rights Reform for Poverty Alleviation and Food Security." Other case studies on the Process of Agrarian Reform in Brazil and the Philippine Experience were also presented during the informal panel discussion enabling representatives of Member States and other attendants to the meeting, to have an insight on the experience of other countries in improving land access and combating food insecurity.

For more information on the Workshop on Participatory Territorial Organisation, please click here.

To visit the Land Tenure section of FAO's Sustainable Development Website please click here.