Land settlement policies and population redistribution in developing countries: performance,problems and prospects

The author describes and compares land settlement in various developing countries, focusing on the movement of people to underutilized agricultural areas. "The purpose of this article is fourfold: first, to discuss the performance of settlement programmes, concentrating on the extent to which they have achieved their population redistribution and other objectives; second, to analyse major economic and social problems confronting them; third, to identify factors that have contributed to their success or failure; and, fourth, to assess alternative policy options." This analysis of land settlement programs "suggests that so far they have made no more than a modest contribution to the solution of the problems of population distribution, unemployment and poverty."     

Rural Azerbaijan through Quantitative and Qualitative Research Lenses: Debating the Transition to Small Farm Capitalism

This article examines agrarian relations in post‐Soviet Azerbaijan after redistributive land reforms. We argue that the reforms failed to establish small‐farm capitalism on former collective and state farm land. Commodity production in rural Azerbaijan is characterized by increasing concentration of land and capital, and the recipients of the privatized land shares procure livelihoods not through commercial farming, but through a combination of strategies—including wages, remittances from migrant relatives, and subsistence agriculture. This study is based on the combination of state statistics, government reports, and local ethnography—in‐depth interviews with land reform administrators and with rural residents in six diverse villages from two distinct regions of Azerbaijan. Previous studies of post‐Soviet transition in rural Azerbaijan reported different results of the land reforms. A quantitative account based on the state statistics reported a postreform countryside where small farmers, former collective and state laborers, live off their privatized land shares and increase agricultural productivity. A qualitative account based on local ethnography suggested that the privatized land shares play a marginal role in the livelihoods of local residents. We show how the discrepancy is illusory and stems from an erroneous, legal definition of “small farms” used in the state statistics, which conflates socially distinct categories of land use. When the statistical terms are put into their social context, the quantitative data confirm the qualitative findings.     

Locational Choices of the Legal and Illegal: The Case of Mexican Agricultural Workers in the U.S.1

This paper examines relationships between legal and illegal farmworker migration from Mexico and state‐level labor market, agricultural, demographic, and public policy variables. The study uses a nationally representative farmworker survey providing direct legal status data. Consistent with previous literature, results indicate that personal and community networks are primary determinants of locational choices. Conversely, border enforcement is negatively related to migration to certain areas. Results are strongest for California migrants and for those with previous migration experience. Potential welfare and education program values are uncorrelated with locations of recent Mexican agricultural workers.     

Small-scale farming in semi-arid areas: Livelihood dynamics between 1997 and 2010 in Laikipia,Kenya

The rural population of semi-arid lands in Kenya face multiple challenges that result from population growth, poor markets, land use and climatic changes. In particular, subsistence oriented farmers face various risks and opportunities in their attempt to secure their livelihoods. This paper presents an analysis on how livelihood assets and strategies of smallholders in Laikipia County, Kenya, have changed within the last decade and discusses the implications for development interventions. The analysis is based on bi-temporal data from 170 semi-structured household interviews in 1997 and a follow-up survey of 30 households conducted in 2010. Well-being indicators were developed and livelihood portfolios compared. The results show a striking persistence in low asset endowment for the majority of smallholders from an aggregated perspective, whereas transitions into and out of better livelihood conditions become evident from a household perspective. The investment in, and accumulation of, conventional buffer or productive assets, such as grain stocks, livestock or land, does not shield households from adverse shocks and stresses as smallholders were shown to easily slip back into poverty. Household portfolios display particular constraints for smallholders in expanding natural resource related activities and a substantial decrease in livestock numbers. While off-farm activities could possibly increase well-being, the prevailing low income levels and high insecurity for the majority who are engaged in off-farm employment, limits the ability to increase livelihood assets in the area.     

The impact of the daily lottery on the numbers game: Does legalization make a difference?

There has been a profusion of state run legal lotteries over the last two decades. One justification for them has been their supposed diversion of funds from illegal games known as numbers, policy and bolita. Records obtained in a police raid in south Florida provided an opportunity to analyze the impact of Florida' legal lottery on its illegal counterpart. The records ranged over a 13 week period encompassing five weeks prior to the inception of Florida's legal daily numbers and lotto games and seven weeks afterward. While there was a 17 percent decline in monies wagered on the illegal games during the first week of the legal games, illegal wagers quickly rebounded to prelegalization levels.An earlier version of the paper was presented at the annual meeting of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, Washington, D.C., March 1989. The authors wish to express their deep appreciation to the Metro-Dade Police Department, Miami, Florida, and particularly to Max Schuman and Sgt. James Boyd for their assistance in this research.     

Subsistence farming in transitional economies: lessons from Bulgaria

Transition to market economies in Central and Eastern Europe has increased the practice of small-scale subsistence farming. Consequently agriculture is characterised by a dualistic structure of market-oriented commercial farms and much small-scale subsistence farming. An important part of the production and consumption of many food products is not marketed and this large share of subsistence makes agriculture performance unpredictable. The widespread prevalence of subsistence farming is a problem in predicting the aggregate effects of agricultural and rural policies. Analysis of this phenomenon is therefore important for policy making which will lead to adjustments in the agricultural and rural economy. Detailed study of one country in transition, Bulgaria, is presented. Findings and conclusions are then expanded to other CEECs.     

Temporary and illegal labour migration: the Israeli experience

In recent years, Israel has become a major recipient of documented and undocumented temporary labour migrants from many countries outside the Middle East region. The purposes of this article are to describe Israel's experience of temporary labour migration and its concomitant, illegal labour migration; and also to explore what her policies on temporary labour migration indicate about the nature of the policy-making process in this policy domain in Israel.
To these ends the article traces the evolution of temporary labour migration – legal and illegal – and recent policy initiatives of the Israeli government. It then considers some of the major conceptions of the policy-making process found in public policy literature. The article concludes by pointing to the uniqueness of Israel's experience of temporary labour migration and to the fact that her policies have been overwhelmingly reactive – inadequately considered, ill-conceived, ambivalent in relation to their ultimate purpose and, in the course of implementation, vulnerable to "privatization" (being taken over by vested interest groups).
Analysis of the most recent policy initiatives designed to reduce the number of legal labour migrants and address the problem of illegal labour migrants, reflect a policy-making process that is not followed by commensurate action.     

Settlement clustering on a socio-cultural basis: The bloc settlement policy of the religious Kibbutz movement in Palestine

From the end of World War I, the kibbutz began to play a central role in Jewish agricultural settlement in Palestine. By the time the state was established, nearly 150 kibbutzim dotted the landscape. One of the settlement bodies involved was the Religious Kibbutz Movement, founded in the 1930s, which declared from the outset that its kibbutzim would be organized in clusters. This policy was the product of unique socio-cultural factors (such as the need for religious schooling), and had two components: (a) the territorial component, i.e. the siting of at least three kibbutzim in geographical proximity; and (b) the collaborative component, i.e. the creation of cooperative frameworks that would serve the entire bloc. While it appears that the first component of this bloc settlement policy was fully realized, the second was implemented only in part. Economically, the religious kibbutzim found themselves in partnership with non-religious kibbutizm because of the advantages of belonging to larger regional organizations. At the same time, the religious kibbutzim made their participation conditional on religious observances such as closing down factories on the Sabbath, which was not the case before their involvement. That the secular kibbutzim gave in to these demands illustrates the power enjoyed by the religious kibbutzim as a bloc. Thus, on one hand, the policy of settlement clustering served the needs of the religious settlers in the spheres of education, culture, mutual aid, and the furtherance of common interest, and on the other, it contributed to the dissemination of religious values in the wider community.     

Community involvement in land regularization for informal settlements in Tanzania: A strategy for enhancing security of tenure in residential neighborhoods

This paper documents and analyzes how landholders managed to uplift status of their neighborhood from hazard land as designated by the 1978 master plan to a regularized residential settlement through land regularization in Dar es Salaam city. Specifically, explores policy framework governing land regularization and how the local community explored the opportunities it offers. Documents the local community planning and land regularization processes undertaken focusing on land use planning, drainage construction, and cadastral survey and discuses how financial resources were raised, trust was built as well as factors which sustained community involvement towards meeting their interests of securing tenure. The paper also, draws challenges facing land regularization policy and recommends areas for further interventions commensurate with the human dimension challenges in securing tenure.Underlying community involvement, those aspects of community, which have been connected to the idea of social capital namely existence of committed leadership in land development matters, embracing mechanism for participatory decision making process and educational background to local leaders were particularly important in determining success for the case. Others include economic ability to contribute, high proportion of landholder settlers, land conflict task force formulation, local consensus to solve commonly felt problems, existence of strong community organization, and unwritten norms put in place to regulate individual behavior in building construction. Weak legal recognition of informal settlement, lengthy and bureaucratic procedures in planning and approval of regularization plans, weak knowledge on land management matters, short-term title deeds with low financial betterments, political popularity are identified critical challenges.Some of recommendations put forward include formalization of the grass-roots role in decision-making, decentralizing some of land development control functions to sub-ward leaders and training the same in basic land management matters. Others include definition of norms; by-laws and government facilitation of informal land parceling. Besides community support should be sought so as to create partnership in the promotion of security of tenure in informal areas. The study concludes that, unless land development activities ongoing in informal settlements are closely monitored and regulated as the settlement grow, it will be too costly socially and economically to retrofit once the settlement have identified.     

Deforestation and cattle production in the Ozark mountains of Arkansas: The case of Searcy County

The Ozark mountains of north central Arkansas have historically been a marginal economic area for standard capitalist means of production. The region has experienced short-term economic booms based on cotton (1880–1900) and lumbering (1900–1920). However, both booms were unsustainable because they were based on environmentally destructive practices. Although still one of the poorest regions in the U.S., the area is experiencing increased income levels from low wage manufacturing, tourism associated with the Buffalo National River, and increased cattle production. Increased cattle production, however, follows past patterns in terms of its lack of long term viability and environmentally destructive practices. Small and medium-scale farmers/ranchers are converting forest lands to pasture lands at an increasing rate. A previous study of the area found that much of the land conversion is taking place on the most environmentally sensitive lands, those with slopes exceeding seven degrees. This current study examines the economic forces that underlie the conversion of forest to pasture lands. The study area is Searcy County, Arkansas. Data from the U.S. Department of Commerce, and interviews with ranchers, farmers, bankers, agricultural extension agents, and agriculture related businesses are utilized. The study seeks to understand the responses of local ranchers and farmers to changing macro-economic conditions and the reasons why they have chosen to increase cattle production with resulting conversion of significant amounts of forested lands to pasture. Current practices may be unsustainable in the long run from both an economic and environmental perspective.     

The political and socioeconomic context of legal and illegal Mexican migration to the United States (1942-1984)

The US manpower shortage in industry and agriculture during World War II, combined with Mexico's burden of an excess number of unemployed laborers, provided the basis for serious labor negotiations between the US and Mexico. The result was the Bracero Agreement of 1942, a bilateral agreement involving annual quotas for the temporary hiring of Mexican braceros. On the surface the program worked well. However, there were points of contention between the 2 countries: 1) in opposition to Mexico's policy of placing recruitment centers in the interior of the country, US policy called for placing the centers near the border, to reduce transportation costs; 2) Texas, which received no braceros because of racial discrimination, relied upon illegal aliens for manual labor; 3) Texas flagrantly violated a 1948 agreement when the Border Patrol welcomed aliens across the river despite Mexican officials' threats to close the border; 4) legal braceros were confronted with competition from illegals who were willing to work for a lower wage; 5) in 1954, the Border patrol physically helped aliens across the border, while Mexican policy were physically restraining them; 6) with the conclusion of a new Bracero agreement in March 1954, illegal aliens were no longer needed, so more than 1 million were apprehended and deported to Mexico's interior. The termination of the Bracero Program in 1964 gave new impetus to illegal trafficking and the number of illegals apprehended began to increase steadily in 1965. The migration flow after 1964 was influenced by the following socioeconomic conditions in Mexico: 1) unemployment, 2) very large disparities in income distribution, 3) a discrimination of the rural sector in favor of the urban in the allocation of government funds, and 4) a dependency on foreign capital and technology. Also, it was cheap labor for the US. Neither the US nor Mexico has adopted policies related to either economic development or immigration that would systematically curtail or regulate the flow of Mexican migrants to the US. However, conflicting pressures limit the policy-making process. President Carter was limited in his policy options by the needs of large-scale commercial agriculture. President Reagan's idea of a guest-worker program did not develop into legislation. Mexico's Lopez Portillo administration counted on migration to the US as a substitute for redistributive land reform in its handling of rural political pressures; the migratory flow functioned as an "escape valve" helping to dilute the effects of rapid demographic increase and preserving the status quo.     

Illegal migrant laborers in Japan

"The purpose of this article is to describe the problem of illegal labor migration into Japan. It begins with a view of the current situation of illegal laborers in Japan--their numbers, their legal status, and their working and living conditions. The principal issues affecting the development of Japanese policy toward illegal foreign laborers are then discussed, and finally some alternatives are considered." Data are from a variety of published sources and concern the period 1984-1989.     

Immigration in two federations: Canada and Australia

The need for increasingly widespread application of a policy or program, settlement, and multiculturalism is urgent in both Canada and Australia. For both countries there is a clear pattern of coalescence and divergence and the distinct growth of immigration as a federal function. While Australia has strengthened federal functions in a area of increasingly geo-political need, Canada is moving towards a looser model of federalism. By 1918 both countries were strengthening their federal functions in immigration as discussions within the British Empire on the recommendations of the 1917 Dominions Royal Commission took root. Both countries were interested in agricultural immigration and land settlement. The Great Depression caused a major reduction in population growth rates. From 1933-1948 Canada had a poor record of providing sanctuary for Jews. In Australia, however, Jewish voluntary agencies were aiding the reception of refugees by 1937. The 1st permanent embodiment of commonwealth jurisdiction over immigration was the establishment of an Immigration Branch within the Department of Interior around 1938. Australia needed extra population for defense. The major structural link between government and the immigrant communities was through the Good Neighbor Movement, which began on a nationwide basis in 1950. Both Canada and Australia are major receiving countries for refugees. In 1973 Australia reached the position of effective, practical nondiscrimination achieved by Canada in 1967. Prime Minister Trudeau's policy was multiculturalism within a framework of bilingualism. By 1978 Australia had a new federalism policy, which in all areas concerned with immigrants, refugees and ethnicity, rationalized resources allocation and imposed a political philosophy. The foci of multiculturalism in Australia are 1) community languages; 2) creation of a tolerant, non-discriminatory society; and 3) equity and participation. In 1978 Australia specified population replacement and increase as the major aim of immigration policy. In 1984 Australia showed a significant movement forward in understanding by many, but it confirmed a resistance to change on regional, gender, race, and age criteria with others. The fundamental problem for both countries will be to combine the core federal function in immigration, needed both for international and domestic politics, with an increasingly flexible response to regional factors.     

Federal control of Indian Lands v. State control of Gaming — Cabazon Bingo and the Indian Gaming regulatory act

In September, 1988, the 100th Congress passed the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, concluding five years of debate over the Indian Gaming issue — brought to a head by a Supreme Court decision in February, 1987, that barred states from regulating Indian Gaming. That case (State of California v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians) forced the legislature to take a serious look at issues of gaming on Indian lands. The result was the creation of a three-tiered system whereby tribes will control ceremonial games, the federal government will control bingo, and the states and tribes will negotiate agreements to cover casino games, parimutuel racing, and jai alai, if such games are legal in that particular state. In light of the case of the Cabazon Indians and the passage of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, this paper will address the following competing issues: tribal sovereignty, state interests, federal interests, and states like Nevada, which have a regulated gaming industry.     

Overseas Foreign Workers in Israel: Policy Aims and Labor Market Outcomes1

The declared aim of the Israeli government, since 1996, was to reduce radically the presence in Israel of foreign overseas workers within five years. This aim has not been achieved due to a counteracting policy: yielding to strong political pressure, the government introduced regulations that virtually indentured legal overseas foreign workers indefinitely to their employers. This depressed their wages and transformed their employment into a source of easy gains, greatly increasing the demand for them and encouraging legal workers to turn illegal. As a result, their numbers have not declined significantly, even though the Israeli economy has been on a downtrend, most of the time, since 1997.     

Why the principle of informed self-determination does not help local farmers facing land loss: a case study from oil palm development in East Kalimantan,Indonesia

ABSTRACT

The principle of informed self-determination has been celebrated as a means to prevent involuntary land transfer and the resulting dispossession of affected communities in agricultural investments of developing countries. Based on qualitative field research conducted in East Kalimantan, Indonesia, this paper argues that such optimistic recognition needs reexamination. Drawing on a case study of indigenous Dayak communities that have faced advancement of large-scale oil palm estates since 2007, the paper examines what informs communities’ decisions to release land to estates. The underdevelopment created by government neglect and the lack of future prospects for autonomous development are shown to have contributed to communities’ decisions to release land. After a decade, encroaching palm oil has produced land shortages and depleted forest resources. This study highlights the need for meaningful state interventions to alleviate poverty and create conditions that allows local communities to make meaningful choices during the consultations over land release.     

Gambling on sport: Policy issues

The most significant public policy issue associated with sports betting is legalization. Supporters of legalization rest the bulk of their case on the economic benefits the state can experience. They also assert that legalization will have a major negative impact on the extent of illegal gambling. Those who are against further legalization, particularly amateur and professional sports leagues, the horse race industry, and legal bookmakers, point out that sports wagering is not very profitable and is very risky for the operator. Furthermore, legal wagering will be unable to compete effectively with the price of illegal operations. It is highly likely that the recently introduced federal legislation, S.474, Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, prohibiting further legalization of sports betting will be enacted.     

Environmental consequences of exurban expansion in an agricultural area: the case of the Argentinian Pampas ecoregion

Exurban land use growth has been documented for at least thirty years in various regions around the world. Land use planners and land use/land cover change researchers have been concerned about the low-density residential developments scattered on a natural or agricultural matrix, due to their ecological and environmental impacts. In this paper, exurban sprawl in the Pampas ecoregion (Buenos Aires province, Argentina), is characterized and assessments are taken of the magnitude of two important consequences: agricultural land conversion, and excess CO₂ emission resulting from commute. The exurban developments concentrate between 50 and 70 km from Buenos Aires city, mainly at walking distances from compact towns, from 1 to 6 km of main roads, and no further than 25 km from them. Most of the exurban developments are located on the higher elevations in the study area (25 to 30 m above sea level). Even though exurban land use covers a very small proportion of land, the results show a tendency for conversion of land in the highest soil productivity capacity classes. While the best agricultural lands accounted for 29% of the land in the study area, it accounted for 54% of the exurban development. Preference of exurban land use conversion for good quality agricultural soils is observed even in those counties with a scarcity of good soils. However, there are great differences among counties in the relative proportion of land converted to exurban land use in each soil productivity capacity class. At the county level, from 0 to 100% of the highest production capacity lands have been converted to exurban uses, regardless of the proportion of land in each soil productivity capacity class for individual counties. Excess CO₂ equivalents emission was calculated for both the actual and the potencial number of households in the exurban developments. According to the automobile marque, range and fuel type, the actual emission ranges from 81,065 to 190,446 tons/year, and the potential from 296,643 to 696,908 tons/year. The excess emission per household is higher than that produced by domestic energy consumption within the Buenos Aires city during the same time period. The amount of CO₂ emitted in a year by personal vehicle transportation, in the study area, is equivalent to that captured by 16,000 ha of temperate forests or 27,600 ha of temperate grasslands during the same time period.

Inducing Development: Social Remittances and the Expansion of Oil Palm

This paper investigates the relationship between social remittances and land‐use change in the context of South–South migration. Focusing on the cyclical movement of Filipino oil palm workers between the Philippine province of Palawan and the Malaysian State of Sabah, we show how migrants transmit social remittances, such as ideas of prosperity associated with oil palm development and knowledge of production practices and land impacts of oil palm plantations. These social remittances affect farmers’ decisions to engage in oil palm development within the migrants’ home province, possibly transforming subsistence agricultural systems into large‐scale, monocrop plantations. We argue that such land development outcomes are an understudied aspect of how migration affects developing countries, especially in the context of South–South migration. Research findings also suggest how migrants’ social remittances are transmitted, diffused, and utilized at broader social and political units, beyond return migrants’ households and immediate communities in Palawan. Decision outcomes, however, are variable, with households and communities either engaging in or opposing oil palm development, depending on how social remittances are interpreted.