Resources

As global land cover/ land use change (LULCC) threatens the human’s well-being, accurate detection and characterization of LULCC is of paramount importance. The increasing availability of dense satellite image time series (SITS), together with the ever-improving change detection algorithms, has allowed significant progress to be made. However, much remains to …

Despite the numerous initiatives for sustainable agricultural supply chains in high-income countries (HIC), there is little evidence on whether these initiatives effectively reduce environmental degradation in tropical cultivation areas. This paper, presented by the Land Matrix Initiative's Christoph Kubitza and Jann Lay at the 2024 World Bank Land Conference in …

By 2035, the International Energy Agency predicts that $48 trillion will need invested to meet global energy needs, with at least half of these amounts needed to be funneled into renewable electricity sources and energy efficiency efforts. The energy transition is an important dimension of a global climate change mitigation …

New evidence from geospatial maps reveals the shocking extent of forest damage to Saamaka territory in Suriname’s Amazon due to illegal logging and mining concessions granted by the government. Saamaka territory is also a critical carbon sink. More than 14 years after the Inter-American Court of Human Rights mandated the …

The Senegal River Valley has a clear agricultural vocation. Developed by riverside populations for decades, its biophysical conditions offer significant potential for hydro-agricultural, fisheries, and pastoral development. The delta, which forms the western part of the region, is a unique area. Since the 1960s, public authorities have focused on supporting …

Published: 2024
Source: IPES-Food

Soaring land prices, land grabs, and carbon schemes are creating an unprecedented ‘land squeeze’, threatening farmers and food production, reveals a comprehensive new report by IPES-Food.

The 2008 global financial crisis unleashed a huge wave of land grabbing. But the pressures on farmland never went away. …

Authors: Christoph Kubitza, Vijesh V. Krishna, Stephan Klasen, Thomas Kopp, Nunung Nuryartono and Matin Qaim
Published: 2024
Source: Land Economics

This research by Land Matrix partner GIGA analyses the labour market effects of oil palm cultivation among smallholder farmers in Indonesia. Oil palm requires less labour per unit of land …

Authors: Jorge A. Rincón Barajas, Christoph Kubitza and Jann Lay
Published: 2024
Source: Land Use Policy

This research by Land Matrix partner GIGA conceptualises and empirically assesses the socioeconomic and environmental risks of large-scale land acquisitions (LSLAs) for communal lands in the Global South. These risks include the displacement of …

After the start of the full-scale invasion of Russia on Ukraine on 24 February 2022, many representatives of foreign businesses left their management positions in Russian companies or withdrew their investments. However, there are also foreign companies that continue to operate in the Russian market, thereby providing income to the …

Authors: Anastasiia Splodytel, Oleksandr Holubtsov, Serhii Chumachenko, and Liudmyla Sorokina
Published: 2023
Source: Ecoaction

Since 2014, Russia’s war against Ukraine has dramatically disrupted the soil environment and caused large-scale and long-term environmental degradation. This drastic change of landscape requires an immediate and comprehensive study, followed by the development of policies …

Author: Konrad Hentze
Published: 2023
Source: Remote Sensing Research Group (University of Bonn)

This storyline gives an overview of current land grabbing databases, their lack of spatial information, and how remote sensing datasets can overcome this lack when being used to detect large scale agricultural production schemes.

View the story …

Authors: Marc Wegerif, Mohamed Coulibaly
Published: 2023
Source: International Land Coalition

In May 2012, the Committee on World Food Security adopted the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (VGGT) to promote secure tenure rights and equitable …

Authors: Quentin Grislain and Jeremy Bourgoin
Published: 2023
Source: Land Use Policy

Sub-Saharan Africa is confronted with land issues such as the private appropriation of farmland, land use conflicts, and access to land for women and younger generations. These diverse issues and the promotion of evidence-based policies encourage actors in …

Authors: Jeremy Bourgoin, Djibril Diop, Camille Jahel, Roberto Interdonato, and Quentin Grislain
Published: 2023
Source: Land Use Policy

This paper, co-authored by members of the Land Matrix, looks at how, despite a growing awareness, the patterns and regimes of dispossession are still subject to blind spots, due in part to …

Authors: Chuan Liao, Kerstin Nolte, Daniel G. Brown, Jann Lay, Arun Agrawal
Published: 2023
Source: Elsevier

This paper, co-authored by the Land Matrix's Prof Jann Lay from GIGA, makes use of a global dataset on large-scale land transactions (LSLTs) for agricultural production to estimate potential carbon emissions based on different …

Russia's war against Ukraine has provoked widespread and long-term degradation of the environment, including the soil ecosystem. Mined areas, shelling craters, landslides, destroyed military equipment in the fields, and more are all signals of serious soil disturbances with devastating consequences for both soil and human health. Without proper restoration, damaged …

Authors: Davis, K.F., Müller, M.F., Rulli, M.C., Tatlhego, M., Ali1, S., Baggio, J.A., Dell'Angelo, J., Jung, S., Kehoe, L., Niles, M.T. Eckert, S
Published: 2023
Source: IOP Science

Agricultural large-scale land acquisitions have been linked with enhanced deforestation and land use change. Yet the extent to which transnational agricultural large-scale …

Authors: Diop, D., Bourgoin, J., Ba, A., Dièye, M., Segnane, S., Grislain, Q.
Published: 2022
Source: ISRA-BAME

Au Sénégal les acquisitions de terre à grande échelle (ATGE) se développent dans un contexte marqué par de multiples défis qui ont des implications sur la gouvernance foncière. Malheureusement, les données disponibles sur …

Autora: Lorena Izá Pereira
Fecha de publicación: 2022
La procedencia: Land Matrix LAC

No es posible comprender el espacio agrario brasileño sin considerar las nuevas dinámicas derivadas de los nuevos usos del territorio. La expansión de los proyectos de energía eólica, una actividad intensiva en el área, ha resultado en …

Por cuarto año consecutivo, Land Matrix LAC pone a disposición una herramienta que busca visibilizar diversas situaciones de acaparamiento de tierras en América Latina. A partir de los casos de grandes transacciones subidos a la base de datos Land Matrix Lac, investigadores de siete institutos académicos de varios países de …

Source: Centre for Development and Environment (CDE), University of Bern
Published: 2022

Much arable land in developing countries is inefficiently managed or lies fallow: Since this became the accepted, World Bank-endorsed narrative in 2008, it has shaped the agricultural policies of many developing countries. At the same time, it has …

Autora: Venencia, C.D, Salas Barboza, A.G.J, Agüero, J.L, y Seghezzo, L.
Fecha de publicación: 2022
La procedencia: Land Matrix LAC

Después de más una década, el fenómeno de grandes transacciones detierrascontinua en aumento, al igual que susefectos sociales y ambientales. En este contexto, a partir de la base de datos …

Large-scale land acquisitions (LSLAs) in forests bring considerable economic, social and environmental impacts to communities in Asia. As the regional focal point of the Land Matrix Initiative (LMI) in Asia, the Asian Farmers Association for Sustainable Rural Development has recorded 1,009 LSLAs in the region, of which 40% are intended …

Landlessness and lack of secure access to and tenure over land, water, and forest resources have been identified as one of the priority issues by many farmer organisations in Asia. As this continues to be a major problem for small-scale farmers, LSLAs have become a serious threat to their livelihoods. …

Authors: Ward Anseeuw, Jeremy Bourgoin, and Angela Harding
Published: 2022
Source: Rural 21 - The International Journal for Rural Development

Without doubt, the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure (VGGT) have promoted development and uptake of global and regional land policy frameworks and guidelines. But what about implementation …

Authors: FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO
Published: 2022
Source: FAO

This year’s report should dispel any lingering doubts that the world is moving backwards in its efforts to end hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition in all its forms. We are now only eight years away from 2030, but the …

Authors: Alexander De Juan, Lisa Hoffmann and Jann Lay
Published: 2022
Source: OSF Preprints

This paper, co-authored by the Land Matrix's Jann Lay from GIGA and using Land Matrix data, investigates whether and how large-scale agricultural investments (LSAIs) influence the risk of communal conflict. The study assessed a mechanism that …

Authors: Saturnino M. Borras Jr, Jennifer C. Franco, Tsegaye Moreda, Yunan Xu, Natacha Bruna, Binyam Afewerk Demena
Published: 2022
Source: Land Use Policy

This article intensively engages with the Land Matrix's contributions. It underscores that the land rush has remained, and is likely to remain, a significant global phenomenon despite …

Authors: Alexander De Juan, Daniel Geissel, Jann Lay, and Rebecca Lohmann
Published: 2022
Source: GIGA

How do large-scale land acquisitions (LSLAs) increase the risk of conflict, and what kind of policies can mitigate this effect? We address these questions with a systematic and policy-oriented synthesis of prior research. First, we …

Authors: Danya-Zee Pedra and Christoph Kubitza
Published: 2022
Source: RICS Land Journal

In 2007/08, agricultural commodity prices spiked. Following a similar pattern of rising food prices last year, independent global monitor the Land Matrix Initiative reviewed the global land rush in developing countries. The alarming results are explained in this …

Authors: J. D. Unruh , S. Akhobadze , H. O. Ibrahim , B. Karapinar, B. S. Kusum , M. Montoiro , M. S. Santivane
Published: 2019
Source: FAO - Land Tenure Journal

Land degradation neutrality (LDN) as a broad framework guiding research, policy and practice has gained considerable attention in …

Authors: Wegayehu Fitawek and Sheryl L Hendriks
Published: 2022
Source: African Journal on Land Policy and Geospatial Sciences

This study, which used Land Matrix data, set out to estimate the role of large-scale agricultural investments (LSAIs) on household vulnerability to food insecurity in sample communities in Kenya, Madagascar and Mozambique …

Authors: Dr Regina Neudert and Dr Lieske Voget-Kleschin
Published: 2021
Source: MISEREOR

In the Global South, the demand for fertile land has resulted in international investors making large-scale land acquisitions (LSLAs). Africa is by far the most targeted continent in this respect. According to the Land Matrix, 37% of the …

Authors: Mykhailo Amosov and Danya-Zee Pedra

As the demand for land and natural resources accelerates in Eastern Europe, reliable, up-to-date data is crucial to monitor large-scale land acquisitions (LSLAs) in order to ensure that their negative social and environmental impacts can be mitigated. However, collecting information about land deals is …

En el marco de su beca doctoral del Programa Land Matrix, Cristian Venencia presento el Primer Informe Técnico del año 2021 titulado: «Tierras estatales transformadas en Grandes transacciones de tierras». El informe aborda dos casos de estudios, que representan cuatro grandes transacciones de tierras registradas en la base de datos …

Authors: Evheniia Maruniak, Serhii Lisovskyi, Oleksandr Holubtsov, Viktor Chekhnii, Yurii Farion, and Mykhailo Amosov
Published: 2021
Source: Center for Environmental Initiatives Ecoaction

Generally, the term ‘land concentration’ is used to denote large-scale purchases or leasing of agricultural land, predominantly by private and public investors and agribusinesses in order to manufacture …

Author: Sam Szoke-Burke
Published: 2021
Source: Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment

Transparency is often seen as a means of improving governance and accountability of investment, but its potential to do so is hindered by vague definitions and failures to focus on the needs of key local actors. In a new …

Authors: Sam Szoke-Burke, Samuel Nguiffo, and Stella Tchoukep
Published: 2021
Source: Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment

Despite a recent transparency law and participation in transparency initiatives, Cameroon’s investment environment remains plagued by poor transparency. In a new report focusing on agribusiness projects in Cameroon, CCSI and the Centre pour …

Authors: Markus Giger, Sandra Eckert and Jann Lay
Published: 2021
Source: One Earth

A new commentary in One Earth highlights the link between large-scale land acquisitions (LSLAs), deforestation, and emerging zoonotic diseases. Analysing Land Matrix data from 2,485 domestic and international large-scale agricultural deals, the authors found that 87% of …

Authors: Lorenzo Rosa, Maria Cristina Rulli, Saleem Ali et al.
Published: 2021
Source: Nature Communications

Large-scale land acquisitions for commercial agriculture and cash crops have been rising at an alarming rate worldwide. This research, using Land Matrix datasets, considers the hidden energy consumption and carbon impact of this "great agrarian …

Authors: Danielle D. Legault and Logan Cochrane
Published: 2021
Source: Land

For the past decade, the land rush discourse has analyzed foreign investment in land and agriculture around the world, with Africa being a continent of particular focus due to the scale of acquisitions that have taken place. Gabon, a …

Authors: Wegayehu Fitawek and Sheryl L Hendriks
Published: 2021
Source: Land

This study set out to estimate the effects of large-scale agricultural investments (LSAIs) on household food security in one community each in Kenya, Madagascar and Mozambique. An endogenous switching regression model was adopted to control for a possible selection …

This brief, published by the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact, Coalition for Tenure Justice in Indonesia, and the Rights and Resources Initiative, discusses legislative developments during COVID-19 in India, Indonesia, and the Philippines that undermine sustainable human-environment interactions and Indigenous Peoples' and Local Communities' broader enjoyment of their rights over their …

Authors: Caterina Conigliani, Nadia Cuffaro and Giovanna D’Agostino
Published: 2018
Source: Land Use Policy

Recent years have witnessed an increasing interest in land-based investments for food, feed, fuel, and fibre, driven by the volatility in commodity prices, economic growth of emerging economies, policy drivers of biofuel demand, and investor strategies …

Authors: Chuan Liao, Kerstin Nolte, Jonathan A. Sullivan, Daniel G. Brown, Jann Lay, Christof Althoff and Arun Agrawal

Published: 2021

Source: Nature Food

Large-scale land transactions can promote agricultural intensification, but may be accompanied by negative socioeconomic and environmental consequences. Estimated carbon emissions from converting transacted lands to large-scale farms, …

Authors: Ward Anseeuw and Giulia Maria Baldinelli

Published: 2020

Source: International Land Coalition

In most countries, land inequality is growing. Worse, new measures and analysis published in this synthesis report show that land inequality is significantly higher than previously reported. The “uneven ground” alluded to in the title of this …

The ASEAN Guidelines and Action Plan on Responsible Investment in Food, Agriculture and Forestry workshop, held from 30-31 July 2019 in Bangkok, Thailand, brought together more than 60 participants from ASEAN governments, the global and regional private sector, civil society organizations, farmer organizations and other key stakeholders. The aim of …

The primary purpose of the ASEAN Guidelines on Promoting Responsible Investment in Food, Agriculture and Forestry ('ASEAN RAI') is to promote investment in food, agriculture and forestry in the ASEAN region that contributes to regional economic development, food and nutrition security, food safety and equitable benefits, as well as the …

Authors: Roberto Interdonato, Jérémy Bourgoin, Quentin Grislain, Matteo Zignani, Sabrina Gaito and Markus Giger

Published: 2020

Source: PLOS ONE

Land is a scarce resource and its depletion is related to a combination of demographic and economic factors. Hence, the changes in dietary habits and increase in world population that upturn …

Authors: Insa Flachsbarth, Jann Lay, Kerstin Nolte, Angela Harding, Ward Anseeuw and Jérémy Bourgoin

Published: 2020

Source: Think20 (T20) Saudi Arabia 2020

This policy brief, produced by the Land Matrix for the T20 Saudi Arabia 2020 Summit, suggests that, in light of the fact the G20 has recognised the …

Authors: Frédéric Mousseau, Andy Currier, Elizabeth Fraser, and Jessie Green

Published: 2020

Source: The Oakland Institute

Driving Dispossession: The Global Push to “Unlock the Economic Potential of Land,” sounds the alarm on the unprecedented wave of privatization of natural resources that is underway around the world. Through six case studies—Ukraine, …

Authors: Anton Biatov, Oleh Prylutskyi and Mykhailo Amosov

Published: 2020

Source: Ecoaction

How careful are the agricultural companies with the land they use? This study tried to answer this question by conducting a remote assessment of the state of land in areas where businesses have invested in agriculture.

There is …

Authors: Jérémy Bourgoin, Djibril Diop, Djiby Dia, Moussa Sall, Romaric Zagré, Quentin Grislain, and Ward Anseeuw

Published: 2020

Source: Cahiers Agricultures

The food issue related to population growth is at the heart of international sustainable development agendas and feeds the debates on the transitions to be undertaken or supported. Often …

Auteurs: Jérémy Bourgoin, Djibril Diop, Djiby Dia, Moussa Sall, Romaric Zagré, Quentin Grislain et Ward Anseeuw

Publié: 2020

La source: Cahiers Agricultures

L’enjeu alimentaire lié à l’augmentation démographique est au cœur des agendas internationaux de développement durable et nourrit les débats sur les transitions à entreprendre ou soutenir. Souvent défini …

Authors: Markus Giger, Emily Mutea, Boniface Kiteme, Sandra Eckert, Ward Anseeuw, Julie G. Zaehringer

Published: 2020

Source: Land Use Policy journal

Many experts agree that more agricultural investment is needed in the global South to improve local food security and reduce poverty. However, there is a lack of consensus about …

Authors: Davis, K.F., Koo, H.I., Dell’Angelo, J. et al.

Published: 2020

Source: Nature Geoscience

Tropical forests are vital for global biodiversity, carbon storage and local livelihoods, yet they are increasingly under threat from human activities. Large-scale land acquisitions have emerged as an important mechanism linking global resource demands to forests …

Authors: Cecilia Coccia, Angela Harding and Danya-Zee Pedra

Published: 2020

Source: RICS Land Journal

In the latest issue of the RICS Land Journal, the Land Matrix explains how large-scale land acquisitions (LSLAs) can have substantial global impacts, and why the availability of reliable, up-to-date data is crucial to understand the …

Authors: Maria Cipollina, Nadia Cuffaro and Giovanna D’Agostino

Published: 2018

Source: Sustainability, MDPI

Increasing commercial pressure on land may lead to land concentration in developing countries, especially in the context of complex systems of property rights. In this article we review through meta-analysis (MA) the econometric findings of the …

Autora: Natalia Espinosa Rincón

Fecha de publicación: 2020

La procedencia: Land Matrix LAC

Este artículo presenta algunas características del proceso reciente de acaparamiento de tierras en Colombia que se pueden observar a partir de los datos recogidos por el Observatorio Land Matrix, en el que se han registrado más de …

Authors: Quentin Grislain, Jeremy Bourgoin, Ward Anseeuw, Perrine Burnod, Eva Hershaw and Djibril Diop

Published: 2020

Source: Land Journal

In recent decades, mechanisms for observation and information production have proliferated in an attempt to meet the growing needs of stakeholders to access dynamic data for the purposes of informed decision-making. …

Authors: Roberto Interdonato, Jeremy Bourgoin, Quentin Grislain, Matteo Zignani, Sabrina Gaito, and Markus Giger

Published: 2019

Source: Complex Networks and Their Applications VIII. COMPLEX NETWORKS 2019. Studies in Computational Intelligence, vol 882. Springer, Cham

Large-scale land acquisitions (LSLAs) by private companies or states have seen a sudden increase in recent …

Authors: Sara Balestri and Mario A. Maggioni

Published: 2019

Source: Journal of Defence and Peace Economics

The paper, which uses Land Matrix data, provides evidence that large-scale land acquisitions in sub-Saharan Africa raise the likelihood of experiencing outbursts of organised violence. This evidence is achieved through a spatially disaggregated approach, …

Authors: Brendan Schwartz, Lorenzo Cotula, Masalu Luhula, Tomaso Ferrando and Hayden Fairburn

Published: 2019

Source: IIED

A recent wave of large-scale commercial investments in agriculture, extractive industries and other land-based sectors has compounded the ‘global resource squeeze’ in low- and middle-income countries. But many communities affected by land rights violations …

Authors: AGJ Salas Barboza, JM Cardón Pocoví, C Venencia, LL Huaranca, JL Agüero, MA Iribarnegaray, M Escosteguy, JN Volante & L Seghezzo

Published: 2019

Source: Journal of Land Use Science

In this study, the authors present a critical account of the enforcement of the Forest Law in the Province of …

Author: Emmanuel Sulle

Published: 2017

Source: Tanzania Natural Resource Forum

From the mid-2000s, Tanzania has experienced a significant interest in land-based investments, with foreign investors leasing chunks of land for agriculture, tourism and forest plantations. To date, few land-based investments have generated significant incomes for rural communities, while others are …

Authors: Masalu Luhula, Godfrey Massay, Naomi Shadrack, Zakaria Faustin, Sophia Masuka and Emmanuel Sulle

Published: 2019

Source: Tanzania Natural Resource Forum

Tanzanian policy makers have an opportunity to spearhead the implementation of the country’s industrialisation agenda through integrated and people-centred land-based investments. In a country where most people depend on …

Authors: CED and IIED

Published: 2019

Source: LandCam

LandCam will track developments in policy and practice relevant to land governance, in the light of guidance or commitments contained in applicable international instruments. To develop a list of ten major policy questions to be tracked, the LandCam team identified land-related provisions …

Authors: James Mayers, Samuel Nguiffo and Samuel Assembe-​Mvondo

Published: 2019

Source: IIED

Chinese investment in Cameroon – in roads, water, electricity, ports, agribusiness and forestry - is estimated to be worth two times more than all other sources of investment combined. But it comes with major implications for forests and …

Authors: Michelle Sonkoue and Samuel Nguiffo

Published: 2019

Source: IIED

Cameroon’s current land law appears to have two conflicting objectives: to attract investors through large-scale land concessions while simultaneously protecting biodiversity, defending local people’s rights and promoting rural development. But the legislation governing large-scale land-based investments is outdated and sometimes …

Authors: Quentin Grislain, Jérémy Bourgoin, Djibril Diop, Ward Anseeuw, Perrine Burnod, and Djiby Dia

Published: 2019

In recent decades, observatories have multiplied. Some of these observatories, known as land observatories, may reflect the need for knowledge and information in view of the scale and diversity of land issues (large-scale land …