June 2013: The International Land Coalition (ILC) has supported the release of a new paper, titled ‘Land Governance in Asia,’ which highlights the role of land reform in Asian agricultural performance and economic growth.

The paper attributes the growth of the Chinese and Vietnamese agricultural sectors to de-collectivization measures. It also tracks the history of land reforms across South Asia and Southeast Asia, noting that land reform has fallen from development priorities since the 1980s. The report stresses the series of themes that have dominated land tenure discourse over recent decades including: the unfinished task of past land reforms; the viability of improving access for poor people; debases on market-assisted land reform; the issue of women’s access to land; land rights for Asia’s indigenous peoples; large-scale land acquisitions; the role of Asia’s small farms; and the effects of climate change.,

The paper provides a background for the current discourse on land rights and land reform in Asia by outlining key debates and describing pathways for arriving at current land issues and policies. [ILC Paper: Land Governance in Asia: Understanding the Debates on Land Tenure Rights and Land Reforms in the Asian Context]