The Hukou and Land Tenure Systems as Two Middle Income Traps--The Case of Modern China

China＇s prevailing hukou （household registration） system and land tenure system seem to be very different in their applications. In fact, they both function to deny the exit right of rural residents from a rural community. Under these systems, rural residents are not allowed to freely exit from collectives if they do not want to lose their entitlements, such as their rights to using collectively owned land and their land-based properties. Farmers are neither allowed to sell their houses to outsiders, nor allowed to sell to outsiders their rights to contracting a piece of land from the collective where their households are registered. For migrant workers from rural areas, it is extremely difficult for them to obtain an urban hukou with all its associated entitlements at an urban locality where they currently work and live. The combined effect of the two systems leads to serious distortions in labor and land markets, resulting in discrimination against migrant workers, sprawling yet exclusive urbanization, housing bubbles, and depressed domestic demand. These distortions further entrench the existing and much widened urban/rural divide. Unless these two systems are thoroughly reformed, the rural residents in Chinese mainland will be trapped in their comparatively much lower income and remain unable to share the gains from the agglomeration effects of urbanization.

On the Restricting Factors & System Arrangements of Chinese Land Tenure Marketization

As a general rule of Economics of Development,economic growth and development require rational institution guarantee.Land Tenure.As a main institution factor in agricultural development,closely relates to the reform of Chinese agriculture.Based on the relevant theories of Economics of Institution and Economics of Development,and combined with the marketization process of Chinese Land Tenure of Property Rights,the article studied the effects of institutional factors and put forward some choices in the development of agriculture,which is of both significant and practical importance.

Land tenure security,place satisfaction and loyalty in the peri-urban area of Ibadan City,Nigeria

Land tenure security is pertinent to achieving the sustainable development agenda in cities where land is needed and useful for development purposes.Sufficient empirical research has been done to prove the importance of tenure security for investment,resilience,conservation,food security,as well as health and well-being,but it has not been clarified if and how land tenure security could adequately influence place loyalty and satisfaction with the residential environment,as it is clear that place loyalty and satisfaction are pertinent to inclusive development.Using the case of Ibadan City,the study examined how different dimensions of tenure security could determine residents’place loyalty and satisfaction.The study employed a survey cross-sectional research design to distribute 514 structured questionnaires to household heads across 4 sampled peri-urban local government areas while 452 were retrieved for analysis.Hierarchical regression analysis model was employed to understand the association between tenure security dimensions and satisfaction(as model I)and loyalty(as model II).For model I,F=8.640,P=0.000,R=0.555,and R^(2)=0.308 were obtained;while for model II,F=9.157,P=0.001,R=0.415,and R^(2)=0.173 were acquired.This thus means that residents’place loyalty and satisfaction can partly be explained by tenure security.In particular,respondents with no eviction experience,recognized property rights,and invulnerable to eviction have higher odds of being satisfied and loyal.Therefore,we recommend protection,improvement,and upgrading of land tenure security as one of the means to promote place loyalty and satisfaction,which is essential to achieving inclusive and sustainable development.

Land Tenure and Land Consolidation Issues in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia

Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia are post-war and post-socialist countries having partly common history and problems regarding land tenure and land consolidation, but, due to the different recent development, they are tackling detected problems in different manner. Internal problems regarding land ownership, privatization and corruption, together with negative consequences of globalization and economic crisis resulted in the downfall of land usage for food production having visible impact on prosperity of the nations. The expansion of farming area represents therefore one of the priorities for both countries. Without well kept and well managed land registers, and without the development of efficient land tenure mechanisms, the mentioned problems can hardly be solved, hence, both countries are paying great attention to solving these problems. Bosnia and Herzegovina fighting with the reducing size of uncultivated land, initiated the land consolidation activities on pilot locations in Oragje, Ravno and Trebinje after twenty years. Croatia has focused its activities on dealing with the issues related to the registration of state-owned agricultural land and on developing the efficient system for land tenure. For this purpose, different kinds of projects related to land registration, land consolidation, and finally the State agricultural land IT system establishment project have been executed. In this paper, an overview of the executed activities, the achieved results and detected problems is given indicating also further activities.

User and Systems Requirement Framework for Electronic Land Registration Systems Decentralisation in Ghana

Although land registration systems are constantly changing based on entrenched institutional frameworks,they cannot fulfill their technical objectives.Technical designs based on loopholes in the existing land registration system are the common steps in advanced countries.However,the missing link between the implementation of technical designs and their uses and users,affect the prospects of land registration decentralisation in developing countries.User and System requirements are used to integrate and enhance land registration services delivery across land information systems.This study assesses and develops framework for decentralised electronic land registration systems in Ghana.Semi-structured interviews were used to collect user and system requirement data from clients and technical staff of the Lands Commission in Accra.The framework pointed out five main policy outline strategies.These include land registration process modeling(process reduction and turnaround time monitoring),technical function(file tracking),the effect of changes in the registration loupe and absorption of land registration report,land registration workflow improvement,and the use of aerial images.The study recommends a systemic monitoring and evaluation of staff job roles.

Farmland Capitalization an Urgen issue in Institutional Reform

Developing modern agriculture is an important aspect of urban and rural integration. Chintz has adopted a new, highly compatible, multipronged approach. Judgingfrom current agricultural and rural policies, factors like capital, labor and land will continue to interact and revolve. The transformation of China＇s rural land tenure system is at a critical posifion in the overall strategy of developing tile rural economy. However, rural institutional reform will inevitably be constrained by the path and pattern China＇s industrialization, urbanization and agricultural modernization take. Creating a new pattern of urban and rural socioeconomic integration requires reform and improvement of rural grassroots governance structure. The interaction and reconsolidation of the factors have again become intertwined with the superstructure of rural society and will inevitably affect the direction and pace of rural grassroots governance structural reJbrm. Protecting the economic interests of farmers while respecting their democratic rights will always be at the heart of agricultural modernization.

Rangelands of Central Asia:challenges and opportunities

Rangelands of Central Asia (referring to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan in this study), the largest contiguous area of grazed land in the world, serve as an important source of livelihood for pastoral and agro-pastoral communities in this region. They also play an important role in absorbing CO2 as a global carbon sink. However, unsustainable management of rangelands has led to their degradation hugely by downgrading their potential agro-ecological, environmental and socio-economical roles. This paper reviewed the rangeland degradation in Central Asia, a topic which so far has received only scant coverage in the international scientific literature. It also provided examples of successful experiences and outlined possible options that land managers can adopt to enhance the sustainable management of these vast degraded rangelands. The experiences and lessons described in this paper may also be relevant for other degraded rangeland areas, especially in the developing countries. The causes of rangeland degradation within the Central Asian region are numerous, complex and inter-related. Therefore, while addressing the factors associated with improper rangeland management may shed some light on the causes of rangeland degradation, the scope of this paper would not be all-encompassing for the major causes of degradation. There is a need to develop and widely apply the viable and locally accepted and adapted packages of technical, institutional and policy options for sustainable rangeland management. Incentivizing the collective action of small-scale pastoralists who group together to facilitate access to remote pastures can reduce the degree of overgrazing within community pastures, such as those near the settlements. We also found that migratory grazing through pooling of resources among small-scale pastoralists can increase household income. After their independence, most Central Asian countries adopted various rangeland tenure arrangements. However, the building of enhanced capacities of pasture management and effective local rangeland governance structures can increase the likelihood, which will be sustainable and equitable. Finally, this paper presented several promising technical options, aiming at reversing the trend of rangeland degradation in Central Asia.

The Impact of Rural Women＇s Land Rights on Food Production in the Brong-Ahafo Region of Ghana

The poor performance of the agricultural sector as reflected in high prices of food stuffs as well as huge importation of food has been a major concern to many governments in Africa. Agriculture remains the backbone of Ghana＇s economy and women who constitute about 70% to 80% of farm labour face discrimination in terms of means of production such as land. The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of women＇s land rights on food production in the Brong-Ahafo region which is Ghana＇s food basket. Several land reforms have been instituted to ensure equitable access to land in order to enhance food production, yet the study reveals that many women have limited or no access to land and experience insecurity of tenure, which affects their farming methods, choice of crops grown, and production levels, consequently, resulting in low incomes and poverty. Relevant Primary Rate Access （RPRA） tools were used to gather data. The data were analyzed through descriptive statistics using Statistic Package for Social Science （SPSS） and Microsoft soRwares and presented into percentages, tabulation, and graphics. The research also revealed that the lack of awareness and education on land reforms and policies coupled with escalating land prices and complicated land transaction method are the major challenges to women＇s access and security over land. The study recommends the decentralization of the land title registration process, gender mainstreaming in the land title registration process, and intensification of advocacy on land rights, among others as crucial to improve women＇s access, control, and security over land for agricultural purposes

Land tenure and landscape change:a comparison of public-private lands in the southern High Plains

Introduction:Long-term drought in the southern Great Plains increases the vulnerability of coupled human-environment systems at a variety of scales.Developing better understandings of the dynamics at regional scales will become increasingly important as long-established land-use regimes break down in the face of climate change,resource depletion,and evolving governance.To demonstrate differential vulnerability during drought periods,this study hypothesized that observed increases in woody vegetation in grasslands would vary across land-tenure regimes.We argue that differences in State Trust Land governance,in part,lead to differential land management practices that contribute to landscape change.Methods:The study area encompasses adjacent counties,Cimarron County in Oklahoma and Union County in New Mexico,with similar climate variability and agricultural economies.We analyzed National Land Cover Database(NLCD)land-cover maps from 1992 and 2011 to assess changes in landscape composition and structure between 1992 and 2011.Results:During both years under consideration,each county in the study region,across various land-tenure regimes,was dominated by herbaceous vegetation.However,there were changes in both composition and structure across the whole study area,in particular losses of herbaceous vegetation and increases in woody vegetation.The greatest gains in woody vegetation occurred in State Trust Lands of Cimarron County.Overall,the data suggest a fragmentation of herbaceous vegetation and a coalescing of shrubland patches.Conclusions:Research about the influence of land tenure on land management decisions,specifically the role of State Trust Land leases in overgrazing,informs the broader context of drought management in the southern Great Plains.Recommendations include continued research to highlight the specific mechanisms of land-tenure governance that drive landscape change.