Author Profile: Tim Hanstad

Tim has led Landesa’s institutional growth for much of the past two decades. Tim also has more than 20 years of experience in project management, research, consulting, policy advocacy, training and writing on issues of expanding land access, improving land tenure security, and developing land markets for poverty alleviation and economic growth in developing countries. Tim has worked in 15 countries in Asia, Eastern Europe, Africa, and Latin America, including four years living in India. His project experience includes work with numerous international donor agencies and foundations such as the World Bank, United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, United Nations Development Programme, United Nations HABITAT, United States Agency for International Development, DFID, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Omidyar Network, and The John T. Templeton Foundation. Tim also teaches at the University of Washington School of Law, where he co-directs a graduate program in Law of Sustainable International Development. He holds a J.D. and an LL.M. (both with Honors) from the University of Washington School of Law, and B.A. (magna cum laude) from Seattle Pacific University (1985) in Political Science and History.

A Prosperous New Year for China’s Farmers

As more than 200 million people board buses, trains, and planes for lunar New Year celebrations in their ancestral homes across China, it is worth pausing to consider what this—the largest annual migration of people on the planet—says about the …
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I’ll Tell You a Story

Reflections from Sundance: The Power of Data versus Story I’ll Tell You a Story A week spent at the Sundance Film Festival usually includes photo opportunities in your best mountain chic, mingling with celebrities, and getting a sneak peak at …
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Spanking, drunk driving and women’s land rights

What do smoking, spanking, and drunk driving have in common?

Once upon a time they were behaviors accepted by society.

Now they aren’t.

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Getting ALL Children Back to School

As my three daughters sharpen pencils, don their backpacks, and head back to school, it pains me to remember that far too many primary school aged children — an estimated 67 million worldwide — will never enroll in school. These …
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Poor Land Tenure: A Key Component to Why Nations Fail

This article was originally posted on The Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars’ New Security Beat blog The murder of five land rights campaigners during the last two months – one in Colombia, three in Brazil, and one in Cambodia – …
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How women can help solve the global food security problem

Four years ago, Asira Nzamwitaakuze, a Rwandan farmer and mother of four young children, more than doubled her harvest when she gained a powerful tool not normally kept in a barn or tool shed. Her tool? A land title. This …
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A Plot of Land, a Path to Freedom

Zack Foreman was among the wealthiest men in the West during the 1890s. He had his own private railroad, herds of cattle, and a lucrative deal with the Kansas City Southern Railroad company. But what makes him so remarkable is …
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Plotting a Path to a More Peaceful World

‘Tis the season when hope for peace runs high. The season when I renew my commitment to creating a better world, based in large measure on the experiences of villagers across the globe, like the ones I met recently in …
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Growing Tomorrow’s Leaders, One Land Title at a Time

It should be simple. A country ensures free education for all children, and everyone benefits. But we all know it’s not that easy. One in 10 children of primary school age is not in school, with 67 million children out …
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Washington State’s Most Important Export: Hope

Think of Washington state and you probably picture a rainy emerald region with an economy powered by airplanes, timber, software, and salmon, and a people powered through the eternal mist by coffee. But there is one vital industry absent from …
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