Land acquisitions and rights news
IIED webinar: civil society submissions in investor-state arbitration – do they work?
16 January 2018Join our webinar to discuss how civil society groups can bring forward community perspectives, human rights or environmental issues in investor-state arbitrations
New IIED legal tools newsletter focuses on legal empowerment
14 August 2017The latest legal tools newsletter reports on how we are helping citizens exercise their rights in relation to land-related decisions and investments
IIED webinar: improving accountability in agribusiness investments
16 May 2017Join our webinar on 6 June 2017 to discuss how rural people can increase the accountability in agribusiness investments, looking at examples from Cameroon, Ghana and Senegal
GWI animation: how to secure land rights of people affected by dams
9 February 2017The Global Water Initiative (GWI) West Africa has released a new animation explaining how policymakers can work with local communities to protect the rights of people affected by large dams in West Africa
IIED webinar: Using community by-laws to secure customary land rights in Kenya
3 November 2016 Join us for a webinar on 16 November 2016 to discuss how communities can use by-laws to secure their land rightsIIED webinar: using web platforms to promote transparency and strengthen land rights
9 June 2016 Join us for a webinar on 6 July, 2016 to discuss how web platforms can be used by civil society organisations to support communities whose land rights and livelihoods are affected by agricultural projectsIIED webinar: strengthening women's rights in land governance
11 January 2016 Join us for a webinar on 2 February 2016 to discuss how women's rights in land governance can be strengthenedECOWAS water ministers agree to build fairer dams
16 December 2015The Economic Commission of West African States (ECOWAS) has approved a proposal for a directive designed to ensure future water infrastructure projects respect the environment and benefit all
New online database of investment contracts hailed as a "game changer"
6 October 2015 IIED principal researcher Lorenzo Cotula will celebrate the launch of the first searchable online repository of investment contracts at an event at Columbia University on WednesdayIIED to host webinar on promoting accountability in agricultural investment chains
19 August 2015 Join us for a webinar on 11 September to discuss how communities groups can take action to get increased accountability in agricultural investment chainsIIED animation to help communities protect legal rights
19 May 2015IIED has released a new animation designed to help local communities protect their rights in the face of large-scale land acquisitions
ECOWAS encourages states to learn from returns on investment of large dams in West Africa
25 March 2015Government representatives and economists from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) are meeting in Burkina Faso to review the economic impacts of large dams
Niger hosts forum on securing land rights in irrigated areas
7 May 2014 On 7-8 May, in the town of Konni, Niger's Minister of Agriculture will chair a national forum on legal protection of land tenure in irrigated areas. The forum will be attended by representatives from government, regional and local authorities, local groups, the private sector and civil societyLarge land deals: Complex financial flows create routes for accountability
24 March 2014 Complex webs of finance can often create barriers but research by IIED shows understanding and harnessing this complexity can create opportunities for public accountabilityHow to use law to make foreign investment work for sustainable development
22 November 2013 As foreign investments in agriculture and extractive industries increase pressures on land and natural resources, governments and civil society can harness the law to promote sustainable development.Book charts path from harmful land grabs to people-centred investment in Africa
15 July 2013The time is ripe for a new approach to the large-scale land deals that ultimately connect millions of consumers and savers in rich nations with millions of poor rural farmers in Africa, says a new book by one of the world’s leading experts in such deals.
IIED urges G8 to see transparency as critical step on road to accountability
14 June 2013 Information alone is not enough. People need to be able to access and use information and this is something the G8 leaders can promote and support in concrete ways.Gaining Ground? Report sheds light on demand for accountability amid resistance to land deals in Africa
5 April 2013 People who feel wronged by large scale land deals in Africa are taking a variety of steps to seek justice, according to new research that examines the accountability of public authorities that preside over such deals and asks whether legal empowerment offers citizens scope to expect fairer outcomes.Biggest study of large land deals to date warns of threats to poor
14 December 2011Four key failures of governance harm the rural poor in developing nations
The most comprehensive study of large land acquisitions in developing countries to date — published online on 14 December by the International Land Coalition (ILC) — has found more evidence of harm than benefits.
African governments signing away water rights for decades
24 November 2011A paper published today by IIED warns that African governments are signing away water rights for decades with insufficient regard for how this will affect millions of local users, including fishing, farming and pastoralist communities.
Rising demand for renewable energy could drive more land grabs
30 August 2011Rising demand for the dominant form of renewable energy worldwide – wood – could drive yet more acquisitions of land in developing countries where food insecurity is rising and land rights are weak, say researchers at IIED.
Open letter to Bill Gates on African land acquisitions
11 February 2011IIED's director Dr Camillla Toulmin, responds to comments Bill Gates made about large-scale land acquisitions in a recent interview.
Report shows how secret land deals can fail to benefit African nations – and how to make them better
31 January 2011African nations risk giving investors access to large areas of land in rushed, secretive and one-sided deals that fail to deliver real benefits or create new social and environmental problems, according to the first ever legal analysis of contracts which is published today (31 January) by the International Institute for Environment and Development.
IIED's director Camilla Toulmin discusses 'land-grabs' on Guardian podcast
28 January 2011Large-scale international land deals are having a huge impact on local communities. In this podcast produced by The Guardian, journalist Madeleine Bunting and a panel of guests discuss the issue and debate whether anything can be done to make these agricultural investments work for global development.