Description of work

Making an effective contribution to improved land policy and interventions requires a combination of high quality, focused research, and a capacity to work within the policy process. The in-depth analysis of institutions regulating access to land and collective resources in areas of rising scarcity (WPs 1 and 2) will provide very valuable insights into current dynamics, diversified practice and social adaptation. In combination with the analysis of policy process and impacts from WP3, this will provide the basis for debate with decision makers at national and local levels about current strengths and weaknesses of policy, legislation and interventions in the field of land tenure. WP4 will identify several means for engendering debate, feedback, and communication between the research team and a range of actors at local and national levels. It will combine the promotion of communication on land issues through a set of publications and briefing notes targeted at a non-specialist audience, with the use of other media to communicate new ideas (such as rural radio, newspapers etc). WP4 will also establish a Participatory Learning Group (PLG) on land in each of the four countries. Choice of the appropriate level and location of such a learning group will depend on the specific setting, but will aim to include a broad range of actors concerned with land issues (local and national government, researchers, NGOs, producer organisations and so on). Selection of group members will ensure representation of important social groups such as women, migrants, and herders. The status of such a group would be informal, with members committed to contribute perceptions, advice, and lessons from experience, through a series of meetings over the course of the research.