Landesa Landesa partners with governments and local NGOs to ensure the world’s poorest families have secure land rights, which develops sustainable economic growth and improves education, nutrition, and conservation

New bill in India would give homesteads to millions

May 18, 2013 – The Right to Homestead Bill could help millions in India by providing homestead plots to virtually all landless rural families across the country. Landesa founder Roy Prosterman writes in the Times of India about this crucial moment to address the principal cause of rural poverty in India – landlessness.
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Wall Street Journal Real Time Posts Landesa Editorial

April 19, 2013 — An editorial stressing the importance of women’s land rights in India was published by the Wall Street Journal’s India Real Time blog. Sanjoy Patnaik – Landesa’s state director of Odisha, India – explains how land is a priceless asset for India’s women.
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The Seattle Times Features Landesa in Front Page Special Reports

Landesa was featured on the front page of the The Seattle Times print edition and on their website. The three articles can be accessed here: Seattle-based nonprofit plants seeds of hope in India | Front-page story on Landesa working with girls …
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533 previously landless families receive land titles in Odisha, India

February 4, 2013 — 533 poor tribal families received legal title to plots of land on which they could build a house, grow crops and be secure. These tribal families have lived in the area for generations, but without legal …
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1-minute video shows the impact of micro-plots

September 26, 2012 — Since 2007, Landesa has partnered with state governments in India to help more than 200,000 families receive secure rights to micro-plots — land parcels the size of a tennis court that can help provide a way out for families in India who have been stuck for generations within the poverty cycle.
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Pioneering Women’s Support Centers announced in Ganjam to focus on land rights

In a pioneering step to support single women who have not been reached by land entitlement and social security schemes, on May 18, 2012, Odisha’s Ganjam District Administration launched a comprehensive program on Land Rights for Women through Women Support Centers (WSC) across the district.
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Paralegals in Andhra Pradesh bring land and food security to tribal families

It was a deal struck almost 40 years ago by a poor, illiterate farmer, driven by desperation after a drought wiped out his crops and left his family close to starvation.
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Odisha’s 500,000 tribal families set to receive land titles in next five years!

In a major breakthrough promising land titles to about 500,000 tribal families in Odisha, the state government has announced a massive extension of its flagship homestead scheme based on Community Resource Persons (CRPs) – a model developed by Rural Development Institute (RDI).
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Advocacy success in Karnataka opens access to rural housing scheme

In an important breakthrough for the rural homeless in Karnataka, the state government has changed eligibility norms for access to national and state housing support schemes for families with small pieces of agricultural plots.
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After 65 years of insecurity and struggle, tribal families get right to their land

Thousands of tribal families are living for generations in Odisha on lands for which they do not have recognized legal title.
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