Issue

Land and Property Rights

Across the globe, rising demand for food, energy and natural resources such as timber, water, and minerals, has created enormous pressures on land— and access to it. Vast tracts of land are being snatched up by both public and private investors; most frequently in low-income and middle-income countries. The impact of these often secretive land deals on local communities is huge.

In frontier markets, where property rights are weak, unclear, or poorly governed, there is an increased likelihood of corruption, human rights abuses, conflict over resources, and environmental degradation. And it is often the most vulnerable groups, including minorities, indigenous people, the poor, and women, who bear the brunt of the problems created by poor land governance.

To investigate this growing crisis, Pulitzer Center-funded journalists are following stories that will increase transparency about land deals, expose weak land governance systems, and highlight the risks to stakeholders who invest in bad land deals. Their reporting illuminates fresh, new approaches to securing land rights that might promote, rather than erode, local development priorities.

The Pulitzer Center’s reporting on land rights issues is made possible through the support of the Omidyar Network's Property Rights Initiative, American Jewish World Service, the Kendeda Fund, and other Pulitzer Center donors.

 

 

 

 

Land and Property Rights

Nomads in Iran

This project focuses on the nomadic communities of southern Iran whose pastoral lifestyle—and access to rangeland that such a lifestyle depends on—is threatened.

Myanmar’s Looming Land Conflict Epidemic

Myanmar's reintegtation into the international community has spurred ethnic strife and a mass migration of people from the country.

Land and Power in South Africa

Calls for expropriation of white-owned land are growing louder in South Africa, setting off a furious reaction from Afrikaner groups, and laying bare a widening rift in the post-Apartheid nation.

Ohio Property Records

Ohio is one of the largest states in the nation. But a strong tradition of local rule makes finding records difficult across county lines. This data project delves into that problem and looks at patterns of ownership throughout the state.

In These Hills, Our Gods and Our Futures

In Odisha in eastern India, Arko Datto and Raghu Karnad cover the resistance of Dongria Kondh women to industrial interests that want to exploit their sacred hills for bauxite reserves.

A Journey Through Contested Lands: Tanzania

A moving photo essay about the Maasai in northeast Tanzania, who are struggling to make a living on ancestral lands that the government keeps trying to take away.

Meet the Journalist: Chris Arsenault

What happens when investors look for land deals in Africa? Journalist Chris Arsenault looks at what is happening to the Libyan government's 100,00 hectare land grab in Mali.

This Week: Pakistan and India are Becoming Nuclear Rivals

This week: Why Pakistan and India are equipping their submarines with nuclear-tipped missiles, what life is like for ethnic minority Vietnamese living in Cambodia, and how armed groups have filled a power vacuum in the Central African Republic.