Access to Land, Rural Poverty, and Public Action

Redesigning access to land to increase efficiency and reduce poverty is back on the policy agenda. This book broadens the analysis of alternative options beyond state-led redistributions to consider channels of access such as inheritance and inter-vivos transfers, intra-household and intra-community land allocations, community titling of open access resources, the break up of common property resources and the individualization of rights, decollectivization, land markets, and land rental contracts. Each of these channels of access to land is analyzed, and recommendations made to enhance their effectiveness for poverty reduction.

Alain de Janvry is Professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of California, Berkeley. Elisabeth Sadoulet is Professor of Economics in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of California, Berkeley. Jean-Philippe Platteau is Professor of Economics in the Department of Economics at the University of Namur. Gustavo Gordillo is Director of the FAO office in Santiago, Chile.