Land Reform, the Environment and IFIs Project

About this grant

The project supports the Land Research Action Network, a network of researchers working on land reform issues. The goal of the project is to bring the network together with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and grassroots organizations that are concerned with improving access to land for the poor in developing countries.Multiyear funding will support objectives that include conducting research to analyze ongoing land reform processes promoted by the World Bank, governments and landless people; convening researchers, NGOs, leaders of landless peoples’ movements and policymakers to learn from experience and contribute to the analysis of land reform policies; and creating targeted educational materials for various audiences, such as an academic-quality report, "Land Reform Realities and Alternatives."Accomplishments during the past two years included producing eight country-focused background papers; developing a network of researchers in Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Indonesia, Mexico, South Africa, Thailand and the United States; creating a Web site in both English and Spanish; organizing a mid-term meeting of collaborating researchers; co-sponsoring an international seminar on the World Bank’s market-assisted land reform policies during the World Bank and International Monetary Fund spring meetings; and conducting research for a book on the Brazilian movement of landless people.