Micro-credit programs and land distribution: a note

"Micro-credit" has come to refer to a popular extension strategy---usually in the agricultural sector---whereby a government or NGO extends credit at favorable rates to poorer borrowers, with repayment being supported by some kind of mortgage on the borrower's social capital. In the commonest case, eligibility is determined by the borrower's wealth, as indexed by his/her landholding. This note shows that, with an imperfect land market, the response to such a program will be to fragment landholdings which are smaller than a certain threshold, while larger holdings remain unaffected. Thus the pattern of landholding will tend to become more polarized.

Land reform Viet-Nam; a program to speed land distribution.

Includes bibliographical references.

Forests as landscapes of social inequality: tropical forest cover and land distribution among shifting cultivators

Can social inequality be seen imprinted in a forest landscape? We studied the relationship between land holding, land use, and inequality in a peasant community in the Peruvian Amazon where farmers practice swidden-fallow cultivation. Longitudinal data on land holding, land use, and land cover were gathered through field-level surveys (n = 316) and household interviews (n = 51) in 1994/1995 and 2007. Forest cover change between 1965 and 2007 was documented through interpretation of air photos and satellite imagery. We introduce the concept of “land use inequality” to capture differences across households in the distribution of forest fallowing and orchard raising as key land uses that affect household welfare and the sustainability of swidden-fallow agriculture. We find that land holding, land use, and forest cover distribution are correlated and that the forest today reflects social inequality a decade prior. Although initially land-poor households may catch up in terms of land holdings, their use and land cover remain impoverished. Differential land use investment through time links social inequality and forest cover. Implications are discussed for the study of forests as landscapes of inequality, the relationship between social inequality and forest composition, and the forest-poverty nexus.

The project of land restitution in Colombia: an illustration of the civilizing force of hypocrisy?

This article offers a theoretical interpretation of the dispositions on land restitution contained in the famous “Victims’ Bill”, which was debated in the Colombian Congress during the year 2008. The bill included specific mechanisms aimed at guaranteeing the restitution of land to victims of the Colombian armed conflict. At the time, the bill was endorsed by all the main political actors in the country –notably the government and the elites that support it, on the one hand, and victims’ and human rights organizations and other opposition groups, on the other–. The fact that the restitution of land to victims of the Colombian armed conflict was being considered as a serious possibility by all political actors in the country seemed to indicate the existence of a consensus among actors whose positions are ordinarily opposed, on an issue that has traditionally led to high levels of polarization. This consensus is quite puzzling, because it seems to be at odds with the interests and/or the conceptions of justice advocated by these political actors, and because the restitution of land faces enormous difficulties both from a factual and a normative point of view, which indicates that it may not necessarily be the best alternative for dealing with the issue of land distribution in Colombia. This article offers an interpretation of said consensus, arguing that it is only an apparent consensus in which the actors are actually misrepresenting their interests and conceptions of justice, while at the same time adopting divergent strategies of implementation aimed at fulfilling their true interests. Nevertheless, the article concludes that the common adherence by all actors to the principle of restorative justice might bring about its actual realization, and thus produce an outcome that, in spite (and perhaps even because) of being unintended, might substantively contribute to solving the problem of unequal land distribution in Colombia. Even though the article focuses in some detail on the specificities of the 2008 Bill, it attempts to make a general argument about the state of the discussion on how to deal with the issue of land distribution in the country. Consequently, it may still be relevant today, especially considering that a new Bill on land restitution is currently being discussed in Congress, which includes the same restitution goals as the Victims’ Bill and many of its procedural and substantive details, and which therefore seems to reflect a similar consensus to the one analyzed in the article.

Land Reform, Latifundia and Social Development at Local Level in Colombia, 1961-2010

The paper analyzes the effects of land reform on social development – poverty and land distribution-at the local level. Land reform in Colombia, understood as the allocation of public land to peasant, has granted 23 million hectares which comprises around 20% of Colombian territory and about 50% of usable productive land. Theoretically, the net impact of land reform on development is the combination of a poverty effect and a land distribution effect. Our findings suggest that land reform from 1961 onwards has slightly reduced poverty and mildly improved land distribution. Nonetheless,municipalities with strong presence of latifundia prior to1961 have experienced both a slower drop in poverty and a weaker improvement of land distribution .This paper finds that prevalence of latifundia partially offset the positive effect of land reform in promoting social development.

Property rights and the rural land market in Latin America

Includes bibliography

On the road through the Bolivian Amazon: a multi-level land governance analysis of deforestation

Previous studies have shown that collective property rights offer higher flexibility than individual property and improve sustainable community-based forest management. Our case study, carried out in the Beni department of Bolivia, does not contradict this assertion, but shows that collective rights have been granted in areas where ecological contexts and market facilities were less favourable to intensive land use. Previous experiences suggest investigating political processes in order to understand the criteria according to which access rights were distributed. Based on remote sensing and on a multi-level land governance framework, our research confirms that land placed under collective rights, compared to individual property, is less affected by deforestation among Andean settlements. However, analysis of the historical process of land distribution in the area shows that the distribution of property rights is the result of a political process based on economic, spatial, and environmental strategies that are defined by multiple stakeholders. Collective titles were established in the more remote areas and distributed to communities with lower productive potentialities. Land rights are thus a secondary factor of forest cover change which results from diverse political compromises based on population distribution, accessibility, environmental perceptions, and expected production or extraction incomes.

Does it matter how much land your neighbour owns? The functioning of land markets in Poland from a social comparison perspective. Factor Markets Working Document No. 59, August 2013

While many factors have been studied in relation to the functioning of land markets, the role of land distribution has received relatively little attention. In this paper, we ask to what extent farmers’ propensity to buy land is related to the difference between them and their neighbours in terms of land ownership. To this end, we employ the concept of relative deprivation. Drawing on micro-level data from the transition period in Poland and using both OLS and instrumental variables strategy, we find that interpersonal comparisons with others in one’s reference group may have motivated a farmer’s behaviour in the land market. In particular, the propensity to purchase land is positively associated with experiencing higher relative deprivation. In addition, this relationship waned over time in a predictable manner: late in the transition period it was weaker than at the beginning of the period.

Issues and concerns of microscopic calibration process at different network levels : case study of pacific motorway

Calibration process in micro-simulation is an extremely complicated phenomenon. The difficulties are more prevalent if the process encompasses fitting aggregate and disaggregate parameters e.g. travel time and headway. The current practice in calibration is more at aggregate level, for example travel time comparison. Such practices are popular to assess network performance. Though these applications are significant there is another stream of micro-simulated calibration, at disaggregate level. This study will focus on such micro-calibration exercise-key to better comprehend motorway traffic risk level, management of variable speed limit (VSL) and ramp metering (RM) techniques. Selected section of Pacific Motorway in Brisbane will be used as a case study. The discussion will primarily incorporate the critical issues encountered during parameter adjustment exercise (e.g. vehicular, driving behaviour) with reference to key traffic performance indicators like speed, land distribution and headway; at specific motorway points. The endeavour is to highlight the utility and implications of such disaggregate level simulation for improved traffic prediction studies. The aspects of calibrating for points in comparison to that for whole of the network will also be briefly addressed to examine the critical issues such as the suitability of local calibration at global scale. The paper will be of interest to transport professionals in Australia/New Zealand where micro-simulation in particular at point level, is still comparatively a less explored territory in motorway management.

亚洲地形和海陆分布变化对东亚环境格局形成演化的作用：数值模拟与地质记录对比

Earlier studies on the distribution of geological environmental indicators in China revealed drastic changes from a zonal climate pattern (planetary-wave-dominant pattern) in the Paleogene to a monsoon-dominant one in the Neogene, which suggested an inception of the initial East-Asian summer monsoon. However, there are different views about the time and causes of the changes.Here, we attempt to compile a series of paleoenvironmental maps based on newly collected climate indicators from the literatures and chronologically constrained evidence of geological maps in order to re-examine the temporal and spatial evolution of climate belts in China during the Cenozoic with special emphasis on the changes of the arid belt. These indicators include mammalian fauna, coal, carbonate concretions, jarosite, salt, gypsum deposits and pollen assemblages etc, with chronological controls that we believe reliable. Pollen assemblages and mammalian fauna have been classified into three categories (arid, semi-arid/sub-humid, humid) to reflect the intensity of aridity/humidity. Salt, jarosite and gypsum deposits are classified as the arid indicators. Carbonate concretions and coal are classified into the semi-arid/sub-humid and humid one respectively. Paleoenvironmental maps at 8 time slices have been reconstructed. They are the Paleocene, Eocene, Oligocene, Miocene, Early Miocene, Middle Miocene, Late Miocene and Pliocene.And furthermore, we attempt to use IAP^AGCM to simulate the evolution of climate belts in emphasizing on the changes of the rain band, and compare the results with the paleoenvironmental maps in order to examine the causes of the drastic paleoenvironmental changes near the Oligocene/Miocene boundary. 36 sensitive numerical experiments are carried out using the IAP__AGCM to analyze the impacts of the uplift of the Himalayan-Tibetan complex, shrinkage of the Paratethys Sea, expansion of the South China Sea and the development of the polar ice sheets on rain band in China.The main conclusions are as follows:The obtained results essentially confirm the earlier conclusions about a zonal climate pattern in the Paleogene and a different pattern in the Neogene, and illustrate that a monsoon-dominant environmental pattern with inland aridity formed by the Early Miocene, which is temporally consist with the onset of eolian deposits in China.Cenozoic cooling and the formation of polar ice sheets are unlikely the main causes to the changes of environmental patterns mentioned above in China. But northern hemispheric cooling and the ice-sheets can intensify the Siberian High Pressure, and strengthen the winter monsoon circulations and enhance the aridity in the west part of China. These results support the earlier studies.Shrinkage of the Paratethys Sea and uplift of the Himalayan-Tibetan complex played important roles in strengthening the East Asian monsoon and induceing the above changes of environmental pattern, which is consistent with the earlier studies. Furthermore, "the monsoon-dominant pattern" appears when the Himalayan-Tibetan complex reaches to about 1000-2000 meters high and the Paratethys Sea retreats to the Turan Plate.4) Expansion of the South China Sea is another significant factor that drives the evolution of environmental patterns. We believe that the above three factors co-act and drive the change of the environmental patterns from a planetary-wave-dominant one to a monsoon-dominant one. However, the impacts of each factor vary by regions. The uplift mainly increases the humidity in Southwestern China and the aridity in northwestern country. The shrinkage mainly increases the humidity in Northern China and also enhances the aridity in the northwestern country. The expansion greatly increases the humidity in the south part of China.

La institucionalización de la violencia en Colombia

En el presente ensayo se examinan algunos antecedentes históricos –los factores institucionales en particular– que contribuyeron al surgimiento del conflicto armado en Colombia. En este sentido, se intenta explorar en qué medida la incapacidad de las instituciones del Estado para resolver los conflictos por los derechos de propiedad y distribución de la tierra, hizo que algunos actores sociales, campesinos sin tierra y que las ocupaban ilegalmente, aparceros y trabajadores migrantes de las haciendas, así como terratenientes, crearan instituciones violentas paralelas en la contienda para lograr sus objetivos antagónicos.

Papel de la Organización de Naciones Unidas ONU (MINUGUA) en el proceso de reconstrucción posconflicto guatemalteco en materia de justicia transicional (1994-2004). Un estado del arte

Estado del arte que recopila pronunciamientos de diversos autores sobre el papel de la Organización de Naciones Unidas, específicamente la Misión MINUGUA, en el proceso de reconstrucción posconflicto en Guatemala comprendido entre el año 1994 y 2004. Se basa en algunas dimensiones de la democratización como son el Estado de Derecho, la democracia representativa, la preeminencia del poder civil, y el fortalecimiento de la cultura democrática. Así mismo, tiene en cuenta los elementos de la justicia transicional, a saber: verdad, justicia y reparación.

Agricultura familiar, multifuncionalidade da agricultura e ruralidade: interfaces de uma realidade complexa

The last decades witnessed the revitalization of the debate around family farming with the addition of discussions regarding the multiple functions of agriculture, given the fact that rural areas are longer devoted exclusively to agricultural activities. In the Brazilian context, we believed that this debate must be permeated by analyses of how differentiated processes of land distribution and economic development, and the resulting types of agriculture, generate specific ruralities with characteristics such as, in the case of family farming, the maintenance of social and work practices marked by the relations among relatives and neighbours. It is in this light that this research analyses family agriculture in a rural area of Ouro Fino-MG, its historical heritage, and its participation in the creation of a physical and human landscape that greatly contributes to the attractiveness of the region.

The sustainability of development in Latin America and the Caribbean: challenges and opportunities

Includes bibliography

Reforma agrária e desenvolvimento sustentável: aspectos obrigacionais e instrumentos legais de proteção

Pós-graduação em Direito - FCHS