The Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) is co-hosting with Forest Peoples Programme (FPP), a panel discussion and the launch of its annual review of the current status of forest and land rights in developing countries. In 2012, a key choice facing developing countries was revealed ever more starkly. Would they choose a development path built on inclusiveness and respect for the rights of their citizens, or would they opt instead for extractive exploitation of their people's land and natural resources? The report identifies this and other key choices and challenges that emerged in 2012 for forest rights and tenure globally, faced now by leaders of developing countries in 2013 and beyond. Panelists include:
Li Ping - Senior Attorney, Landesa, China
Alfred Brownell - Executive Director, Green Advocates, Liberia
Samuel Nguiffo - Director, Center for Environment and Development, Cameroon
Maung Maung Than - Project Coordinator/Consultant (Capacity Building Program for Community Forestry in Myanmar), RECOFTC - The Center for People and Forests
Joji Carino - Coordinator of the IIFB Working Group on Indicators, Tebtebba, Philippines
Saskia Ozinga - Campaign Coordinator, Climate Change, Export Credit Agencies and Forest Peoples, FERN
Jeffrey Hatcher - Director, Global Programs, Rights and Resources Initiative
The agenda for this event will be available soon. Please contact Madiha Qureshi at [email protected] with questions.

Day-long conference on the “Impacts of Indian agricultural investments in Ethiopia” with representatives from impacted communities along with Oakland Institute researchers and Indian civil society. Preceded by a press conference.

El Departamento de Campañas y Redes de Manos Unidas ha organizado una mesa redonda sobre el acaparamiento de tierras en Africa. Un fenómeno por el que países ricos y empresas agrícolas multinacionales adquieren tierras fértiles y agua en países pobres para producir para el mercado internacional de alimentos, biocombustibles, créditos de carbono, especulación con los alimentos, etc.
Todo ello afecta a las personas más pobres que se ven muchos de ellos expulsados de sus tierras. El acaparamiento de tierras es uno de los factores que hoy en día dificulta a nivel mundial garantizar una seguridad alimentaria para todos, especialmente para los más vulnerables.
¿Dónde? Universidad Pontificia de Comillas. Sala de Conferencias. C/Alberto Aguilera, 23. Madrid
¿Cuándo? El martes 22 de enero de 2013 a las 12:00h
Organiza: Manos Unidas
Entrada: Libre

The theme of GFFA 2013, organised by the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (BMELV), the Senate of Berlin and the Messe Berlin GmbH, is "Responsible investment in the food and agriculture sectors – Key factor for food security and rural development". Land grabbing is very much on the programme.

The panel will consist of the following speakers:
Willy Schuster -an organic farmer and representative of Romania’s peasantry whose interests he defends as co-president of the EcoRuralis NGO.
Attila Szocs works for EcoRuralis where he focuses on the CAP reform, landgrabbing, seed issues and agroecology.
Carlo Horn an organic farmer from the German county of Brandenburg.
Simon Wolk is cofounder of the Germanagrar group and its various subsidiaries. Since 2001 he has been in charge of the company’s agricultural investments and farming in the Baltic States and since 2005 he is responsible for Germanagrar’s Romanian activities.
Stig Tanzmann works for the Bread for the World – Protestant Development Service. He is currently working on the international dimension of the reform of the Common European Agricultural policy, EU meat exports to Africa and seed policies.
Hannes Lorenzen is senior adviser to the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development of the European Parliament in Brussels and Strasbourg.

At Markthalle 9
Eisenbahnstraße No. 42/43, 10997 Berlin.
On 17. January 2013
From 19:00 pm.

The conference is scheduled to take place in Utrecht, the Netherlands, from January 14-15, 2013. Details at landgovernance.org.

75% of Mali's population are farmers, but rich, land-hungry nations like China and Saudi Arabia are leasing Mali's land in order to turn large areas into agribusiness farms. Many Malian peasants do not welcome these efforts, seeing them as yet another manifestation of imperialism. As Mali experiences a military coup, the developers are scared off - but can Mali's farmers combat food shortages and escape poverty on their own terms? Watch the trailer on Youtube: http://youtu.be/Szx0cvJBemk

GAI Europe 2012 (London, 3-5 Dec) will build off of the recent success of our flagship event, in New York, which in April 2012 attracted over 700 attendees who represented over:
- $3.5 trillion in aggregated institutional assets managed by attending institutional investors
- 25 million acres under cultivation by attending companies
- $12.5 billion of farmland assets managed by attending fund managers
GAI Europe 2012 will help end investors understand different strategies and different risk/reward exposures that are being pursued by fund managers within the ag space. They will hear from fund managers about the challenges and opportunities presented by different geographies and operating strategies across illiquid investment vehicles (farmland, infrastructure and ag private equity), as well as liquid investment alternatives such as agricultural-focused hedge funds, public equities and commodities.

"The German Federal Ministry for Development and Cooperation has formulated six principles that investments in land should adhere to with the goal for them to be structured in such a way as to promise sustained benefits for the development of the populations affected. 75% of the poor are living in rural areas and are relying on agriculture for their survival. At the same time many countries with poor smallholder agriculture systems have areas of suitable agriculture land and/or land which produce below its potential. Investments could result in an increased production of food and a transfer of know-how of sustainable and more productive agriculture systems.

Financing institutions have started to revise their investment policies, a few agro-business investment groups have started to develop specific strategies into sustainable use of land which aim to be beneficial for local communities too. Large food corporations and agricultural commodity traders have started to invest into more sustainable production of coffee, cocoa, cotton, soy, timber and many other commodities. They have to secure their raw material sources and understand more and more that benefit sharing along the supply chain is a must to stay in business.

How can “land grabbing” be avoided and responsible investments be further encouraged? Which are “good practices” of responsible investments into agricultural land (and other resources)? Which governmental guidelines exist? Neither governmental organizations nor the private sector can manage this situation alone.How can they work hand in hand for a broader impact?"

1st Annual Africa Food Security Conference - AFSC 2012 is a regionally focused forum that aims to bring the interrelated parties together for discussions that will refocus food security issues in Africa in alignment with the continent’s requirement. The forum aims to generate discussions on how consistent and accurate investment in agriculture, rural development, development aid, research and innovation can be increased because for most countries in Africa a healthy agricultural sector is essential to overcome hunger and poverty and is a pre-requisite for overall economic growth. Food security solutions in Africa should become visionary, long-term and sustainable.