The Land Deal Politics Initiative
The
initiative aims to provide a global platform and network to generate
solid evidence on the 'global land grab' phenomenon through detailed,
field-based research.The phrase ‘global land grab’ has become a catch-all phrase to describe and analyse the current explosion of (trans) national commercial land transactions. Around the world, various state, corporate and civil society groups have reacted, albeit in different ways. Some see this as a major threat to the lives and livelihoods of the rural poor worldwide, and so opposes such commercial land deals. Others see economic opportunity for the rural poor, although they are wary of corruption and negative consequences, and so calls for the improving land market governance feature prominently. And, of course, between these two extremes for and against large scale land purchases/sales are a range of intermediate positions offered by other groups.
These issues are being explored by the Land Deal Politics Initiative, as outlined further in the information page. The initiative aims to provide a global platform and network to generate solid evidence on the 'global land grab' phenomenon through detailed, field-based research.
PLAAS administered the 2011 African small grants programme, details of which are available here.
The second phase of the grants programme is now open:
LDPI Small grant competition Part 2 –
2011-12: Call for applications
Encouraged by the success of last year’s
LDPI small grant competition, and confronted by the challenge of having
a deeper understanding of the dynamics of land grabbing, LDPI is
launching a Small
Grants Competition Part 2: 2011-12. Grants of up to US$3000 per
study are available to successful applicants who wish to undertake
original field research, carry out follow up fieldwork on an ongoing
related initiative, or write up a paper based on research that is
being/has been undertaken on any of the following themes (or
combinations).
For the 2011-12 small grants competition, we are particularly keen on themes around resistance and alternatives, although we remain open to broader topics around political economy, political ecology and political sociology.
| LDPI Working Papers |
As part of the small grants programme, we are producing a series of working papers on 'land-grabbing' in Africa, which are made available here as they are published.
Bottom-up Engagement in Policy-Making Affecting Rural Areas: The State of Rural Civil Society