Issue Briefs

• Smallholder Farming and Achieving Global Development Goals – This brief makes the case that smallholder farms can be more productive than large farms. Investments in infrastructure, technology, inputs and land rights for small farmers – especially for women – can boost agricultural productivity, create employment, reduce poverty, and empower women.
• Women’s Secure Rights to Land – Women make up 43% of the agricultural labor force in developing countries, yet many don’t have secure rights to the land they farm. This issue brief illustrates the benefits of secure rights to land for women and their households, the barriers they face, and recommendations for strengthening those land rights.
• The Global Land Rush – An overview of commercial land acquisitions around the world outlining the historical context, facts, misconceptions, risks, benefits, recommendations for investors, and resources for further reading.
• Land Rights and Food Security – This issue brief establishes the link between improved land rights, particularly for women, and subsequent benefits in improved household food security and nutrition. When farmers, especially women, have more control over assets like land, they are better equipped to grow and purchase nutritious food for their families.
• Land Rights and Agricultural Productivity – Property rights to land represent the key institutional asset on which rural people build their livelihoods. The nature of farmers’ property rights to land substantially impacts their willingness and ability to adopt productivity-enhancing inputs and investments.
• Is Bigger Better? – Developing countries are moving toward corporate farming as a way to boost production and jump-start agricultural development. But the basis of their strategy, the assumption that bigger farms are better farms, is one of the most enduring myths influencing agricultural development policy around the world.