The Programme for Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS) celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. Over the last ten years we have undertaken research on land and agrarian reform, the changing composition of livelihoods and poverty dynamics in both rural and urban contexts, rural governance, community-based natural resource management, fisheries management, and linkages between land and water rights. All of our work has had a strong applied dimension, and PLAAS researchers have often engaged in policy debates and argued strongly in favour of particular objectives and ways to achieve them. PLAAS has been an important provider of short course and in-service training to the land and agrarian reform sector and has established the first post-graduate programme in Land and Agrarian Studies in the country and in the region. Notable occasions in the last ten years include: the Land and Agrarian Reform Conference of July 1999; a symposium on African Perspectives; and a workshop on Rangelands at Equilibrium and Non-equilibrium at the VIIth International Rangelands Congress.
