Congreso Reformas Agrarias y gestión de los recursos naturales en África y América Latina.
25, 26 y 27 de noviembre de 2010
Introduction
LAND REFORMS AND MANAGEMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES IN AFRICA AND LATIN AMERICA CONFERENCE
Lleida, SPAIN 25-26-27 November 2010
In recent years, after an eclipse that seemed irreversible, the term “land reform” is once again at the foreground of development policies. More than a term merely coming back into fashion, this phenomenon deserves the attention of a wide range of researchers, promoting a new understanding of the transformations of development and its future.
Nowadays, demands for land reform are connected with the most innovative development strategies (empowerment, participative policies, shared capital, sustainability…) that are intended to ensure that those closely involved in development are responsible for managing resources.
The points of coincidence with policies applied during the first stage of “developmentalism”, especially during the sixties and the early seventies, are conspicuous, and everything points to their significance. The reappearance of “land reform” would be the tip of the iceberg allowing a diachronic comparison that might help to predict current trajectories concerning land ownership and resource management. This approach would facilitate the evaluation of new development mechanisms and the fight against poverty.
The congress is committed to establishing this comparison between Latin America and Africa. The use of the land reform banner, so typical in Latin America, has extended into areas where it was practically absent until now, in particular, in sub-Saharan Africa. This extension is surprising given the historical, social and cultural differences between the two continents. A comparison of these differences can illuminate the analysis of institutional and community strategies. The congress is therefore intended to contribute to bridging the current gap between the elaboration of development models and research into their deployment in specific natural resources management scenarios.
