Mutual effects of land distribution and economic development : evidence from Asia, Africa, and Latin America

Land plays an important role in the economies of developing countries, and many theories connecting land inequality with different dimensions of economic development already exist. Even though efficacious land distribution allows societies to transition from poverty to a human capital-based developed economy, ongoing issues related to property rights, inequality, and the political economy of land distribution are unavoidable. The general objective of this paper is to explore the nexus between land distribution and economic development. The specific objectives are to: (i) identify which land distribution programs/activities contribute to economic development; (ii) investigate the role of stakeholders in land distribution programs that affect the growth of productivity; and (iii) assess the deficiencies of current land distribution policies in Asia, Africa, and Latin America to explore how economic development theories contribute to decreasing income inequality. This paper provides an overview of land distribution history and the main economic development theories. It also highlights the links between land distribution and the main elements of economic development. Finally, it provides a comparative review of the most recent empirical works regarding the characteristics, limitations, and potential (mutual) effects of land distribution and economic development settings on developing countries worldwide

Pollute first, clean up later?

There is a growing concern with regard to sustainability in emerging economies like China. The Chinese growth is characterized by a strategy which is known as "pollute first, clean up later". Here we show that based on this strategy, the pollution alarm can often be postponed by a tremendous economic growth that can potentially improve welfare and educational systems. The welfare and educated societies will be aware and rich enough not only to clean up but also to prevent the environmental pollutions. It underlines that a certain threshold of development should first be reached before a society is capable of understanding the adverse effects of large scale pollution. For this purpose, we need to encourage the use of fossil fuels in the first place. The challenge however remains to make sure whether such a strategy can develop in a sustainable way. (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier B.V

Impact of agricultural land conversion on climate change

Climate change and land use conversion are two major global environmental issues. A claim is made that climate change has brought new challenges for global land use, while land use conversion is hardly realized as a major driver for climate change. Using mapping techniques, this study aims to investigate the relationship between climate change and agricultural land conversion (ALC), by which land is converted from agricultural to other uses (e.g., urban areas, national and natural parks, roads, industrial areas, and afforestation projects). CO2 emission is considered as the main impact of climate change, and agricultural land conversion is regarded as the most important global land use. In this study, data are obtained from two databases: the World Bank and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for the period of 1962-2011. Considering the FAO (2015) classification, the countries are categorized into five different groups (high-income non-OECD, high-income OECD, upper-middle-, lower-middle-, and low-income countries). Economies were divided into several income groups according to 2014 gross national income per capita. The results show that agricultural areas in high-income countries have decreased, while in low- to middle-income countries, they have increased. The highest CO2 emissions can be observed, especially in high-income countries, whereas the lowest CO2 emissions happen in the low- and lower-middle-income countries. The results further show that there is a positive relationship between CO2 emissions and ALC across the world. It can be observed that CO2 emission is increasing where agricultural area is declining. On the contrary, CO2 emission is declining where agricultural area is increasing

Organic agriculture in Iran: farmers' barriers to and factors influencing adoption

Organic agriculture is being promoted in Iran to address environmental problems resulting from the use of chemical materials in agriculture. Despite many advantages of organic agriculture, the results of several case studies show that its adoption rate is still very low among farmers. The purpose of this paper is to review previous studies that investigated the main factors influencing and challenging the adoption of organic agriculture. The review included journal articles and conference papers from 2007 to 2012. The results show that Iranian farmers have strong motives for the adoption, yet face challenges in certifying, marketing, and accessing reliable technical information and credits. Given the review of factors that govern farmers' adoption of organic agriculture, key mechanisms for promoting farmers' adoption are discussed. Further research is needed to learn how to bring these mechanisms into play in Iran

Sustainable forest management in Iran: a factor analysis

Since 1996, several Forest Resources Management Plans (FRMPs) have been launched by the Iranian government in order to approach sustainable forest management in the Zagros area in west and south-west Iran. This survey study aimed to provide some policy recommendations in order to launch more successful FRMPs. Using a proportional cluster random sampling method, data were collected from 208 forest-dwellers (beneficiaries) and 90 practitioners. The results showed that the FRMPs are far from satisfactory. There are several reasons for this failure. First, the financial resources allocated to these plans are being used for other purposes. Second, the inputs and supplies needed for effective forest management interventions were not in place in a timely manner. Third, the forest management in the area is far from being decentralized. Both the beneficiaries and practitioners believe that forest-dwellers play a weak role in forest management interventions. Factor analysis revealed that three main factors influencing the Zagros management effectiveness are "the management capabilities of forest-dwellers", "the professional capabilities of practitioners in forest management", and "public support for forest-dwellers". The correlation analysis revealed that all the three factors are also positively and significantly associated with the success of the government's forestry programs. Accordingly, the main recommendation of this study was to reformulate forest management policies in the Zagros area by highlighting participatory approaches, not only as a tool, but also as a goal of FRMPs

Financial inclusion in Ethiopia : is it on the right track?

It is important to evaluate the impact of Ethiopia's financial inclusion strategy since it has been launched in 2014. Accordingly, this paper assesses the extent to which the target has been met. The main aim of this study is to measure the success or failure of Ethiopia's financial inclusion in comparison with other countries in East Africa. Using secondary data, this study revealed that Ethiopia's financial inclusion is not as successful as other East African countries. This study also found that Ethiopians prefer informal saving clubs rather than formal financial organs. This preference, combined with unemployment and low income, is the barrier to the financial inclusion strategy. Based on the findings, identifying and addressing root causes should be done by removing distance, cost, credit, and documentation barriers. Moreover, the findings showed that access to public transit can also expand the reach of formal financial institutions by encouraging more people to physically access financial institutions. This study recommended access to formal financial organs as a core to financial institutions. Access to formal financial organs should be boosted through increasing financial institutions. Educating individuals about their financial circumstances were also recommended so that people can increase their formal saving uptake. This paper also recommended that the government develop regulatory guidelines for the functioning of financial institutions. The main outcome, therefore, is that financial institutions could be more transparent and predictable, reduce costs, and simplify the rules for entering the market