Issue Briefs

Land tenure issue briefs examine how property rights and natural resource governance connect with development priorities. This collection brings together concise archive resources on climate change, food security, women’s empowerment, investment, conflict, and other land-related questions. Use the briefs to identify relevant concepts, then consult the original resource and its publication context.

Find land tenure issue briefs by topic

Browse the collection below and use its filters to narrow the results. A focused search can start with a sector, a type of tenure question, or a group whose rights are affected. Compare resources that address similar questions across different places, while keeping their dates and original authorship in view. An issue brief offers an entry point; it should be read alongside the evidence and sources supporting its analysis.

Suggested starting points

Read Climate Change, Property Rights, and Resource Governance to explore the relationship between tenure systems and climate-related policy and programming. The Land Tenure and Food Security fact sheet introduces another cross-sector connection. For a gender perspective, begin with Land Tenure and Women’s Empowerment. These resources provide different lenses on the role of rights, access, and governance in development.

Use the archive in professional practice

When preparing research, a policy discussion, or a program review, note the question each brief addresses, the rights holders it considers, and the institutions involved. Distinguish a general principle from a country-specific example or a recommendation made for a particular program. Check whether the source presents research findings, a conceptual framework, or guidance.

Historical briefs preserve useful knowledge, but publication dates matter. Read them in their original context and verify current laws, institutions, and program conditions before applying their recommendations. The archive supports informed comparison and further inquiry rather than substituting for locally grounded analysis.

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Climate Change, Property Rights, & Resource Governance

IntroductionClimate change and associated policy responses will cause progressive, extreme and unpredictable shifts in the value of land and natural resources. Climate change and societal responses will disrupt existing tenure regimes by contributing to the forces that drive migration. Tenure considerations will be crucial to the equitable distribution of benefits and the management of transaction...Read More

Environmental Defenders Under Threat – Global Lessons from the Amazon

  Mounting global concerns about climate change and biodiversity loss are bringing even closer attention to a related human rights issue—the growing threats and violence directed at environmental defenders. These are people who seek to protect populations, territories, livelihoods, cultures, and biodiversity from the harmful environmental effects of ill-advised or illegal resource use. Beyond the…Read More

Fact Sheet: Land Tenure and Food Security

There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that securing land and resource rights for men and women has a positive impact on food security and broader development outcomes, such as household investment, agricultural productivity, women’s empowerment, nutrition, and more robust rental markets for farmland. The existing literature highlighting the positive impact of strengthened land…Read More

Fact Sheet: Land Tenure and Women’s Empowerment

Reading the 2016 women’s empowerment fact sheet This preserved fact sheet brings together evidence and programme examples on women’s land tenure. Its main reading routes are: How access to and control of land relate to women’s economic opportunities. The connections between land rights, agricultural productivity and household food security. Strategies and historical programme examples for…Read More

Gender Issues in the Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining Sector

Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) is a significant source of income for tens of millions of people in developing countries. ASM refers to small groups and individuals engaged in low-cost and laborintensive excavation of minerals using minimal mechanization.

Green Energy and Mining: Challenges and Opportunities | Issue Brief

  Just as fossil fuels have been the backbone of global energy needs for over a century, several dozen minerals will make possible the green technologies of tomorrow’s energy systems. Addressing the development challenges associated with mining is vital for a low-carbon future. This Issue Brief summarizes key findings of the Mining and the Green…Read More

Issue Brief: Environmental Defenders

This USAID Issue Brief on Environmental Defenders provides an introduction to the range of issues facing environmental defenders worldwide, followed by a discussion of key areas of engagement and donor support that demonstrate possible responses to protect the rights and well-being of environmental defenders. Environmental defenders are people who “take a stand and peaceful action…Read More

Land and Conflict

Introduction: Land and Conflict USAID released the updated Land and Conflict: A Toolkit for Intervention 2.0 in October 2022. Download the toolkit here. Land so pervasively underpins human activity that it usually plays some role during war and civil violence. Land-related issues figure into many violent disputes around the world. Ongoing communal violence in Nigeria...Read More