Types Of Landowners Research Articles

Analysis of Farmers’ Characteristics on Productivity of Commercial Broiler Production Units in Mukono District

Poultry meat is one of the fastest growing components of Uganda’s meat production, consumption, and trade. However, it is estimated that more than 80 % of the small holder dominated sub-sector use traditional family-based production systems which limit production efficiency. This research analyzed the farmers’ characteristics and productivity of commercial broiler production units in Mukono District. Using a cross-sectional survey, 302 broiler farmers were randomly selected from five sub-counties of Mukono District. Data were analyzed using the descriptive statistics to characterize broiler farmers, whereas, ordinary least square regression analysis was carried out to assess factors affecting productivity of commercial broiler production units. Results showed that majority were males (53.31%) and married (92.72%). Most (60.26%) had primary as their highest level of education attained. The average age was 45 years with average household size of 7 members. Similarly; majority (91.04%) had land under poultry farming ranging from 0.25 to 3 acres. Feeds cost (P≤0.05), veterinary cost (P≤0.001), farmer’s level of education (P≤0.05), extension services (P≤0.001), age of a household head (P≤0.001), land ownership (P≤0.05), and labour type (P≤0.05), showed a positive and significant influence on productivity, whereas, poultry farming experience (P≤0.001), land under poultry farming (P≤0.001), distance to the nearest market (P≤0.05), and record keeping (P≤0.05), negatively and significantly influenced productivity. In conclusion, education level, land under poultry farming, and membership to a group were distinct among farmers who were productive and those that were not. Productivity of commercial broiler farming was majorly influenced by several farmers’ socio-economic characteristics.

Assessment of the effect of landowner type on deforestation in the Brazilian Legal Amazon using remote sensing data

SummaryThe Brazilian Legal Amazon contains important reservoirs of forest that are threatened by stakeholders’ behaviour. The Cadastro Ambiental Rural (CAR; Rural Environmental Registry) database was used to define the limits and classes of landowner according to private property size. For each class, we identified the annual forest-cover/cover-loss profile at 2-year intervals from 2000 to 2020 based on Brazilian Annual Land Use and Land Cover Mapping Project (MapBiomas) and Program for Deforestation Monitoring (PRODES) data. The analysis revealed that very large landowners dominate the CAR-registered area and that deforestation is influenced by landowner type. The cumulative contributions to deforestation were 2 916 245.96, 1 234 216.79, 2 871 400.36, 2 805 058.62 and 2 637 485.60 ha for very large landowners, large landowners, medium landowners, small landowners and very small landowners, respectively. Very large landowners (1.7% of the total number of properties) had more forest on their properties but caused the greatest amount of deforestation in total, often associated with agribusiness. Small and very small landowners were more numerous (21.0% and 68.3% of the total number of properties, respectively), but they owned a small total area and contributed less to total deforestation. Property size and landownership asymmetry should be considered in deforestation control policies and commitments to the Sustainable Development Goals agenda.

Can adoption of chemical pesticide-free farming practices benefit to farmers? An empirical study in shallot production in Central Java, Indonesia

This study aims to provide empirical evidence in the shallot production in Indonesia, what drives farmers to adopt chemical pesticide-free production as sustainable agricultural practices and its impacts on farmers’ income. By using national agricultural survey in 2014, this study employed logit regression and regression analysis to estimate the determinants and impacts of adoption of chemical pesticide-free farming practices among shallot farmers in Central Java. The results of a logit regression model showed that level of education, type of land ownership, participation in farmers group, source of fund, certified seed cost, and cost production were significantly associated with decisions to adopt chemical pesticide-free farming practices. The results of a regression model showed that farmers who adopted chemical pesticide-free farming practices had higher income. Aside the chemical pesticide-free adoption factor, the results showed that farmers’ income from shallot farming were influenced by level of education, harvested area, type of land ownership, cooperative membership, access to credit, access to extension services, and cost of certified seed. Future research may consider the different level of usage of non-chemical inputs among shallot farmers as the adoption is a process and dynamic, taking into account both other potential determinants of adoption and other potential factors affecting farm profitability, and focusing on shallot traders, wholesalers, retailers, and consumers. Keywords: agricultural production, famers income, pesticide-free, shallot, sustainable agricultural practice

THE LAND OWNERSHIP AT TYPES OF SOYURGHAL AND TANHA IN THE BUKHARA UZBEK KHANATE

Özbek Hanlığı Muhammed Şeybanî Han tarafından 1500 yılında kurulmuştur. Devletin başkenti Buhara şehri olup kurucu hanedanın soyu Altın Orda hükümdarlarından Şiban Han ve Özbek Han’a dayanmaktadır. Yaklaşık yüz yıl hâkimiyet süren Şeybanî Hanedanlığı 1598 yılında Abdülmümin Han’ın ölümüyle son bulmuştur. İktidarın yeni sahipleri, soyu Cengiz Han’a dayanan ve Şeybanîler ile akraba olan Astrahanîler (Canîler)’dir. Her iki hanedanlık, hükümet sistemlerini sahip oldukları kültürel mirasa ve yaşadıkları bölgenin şartlarına uygun olarak biçimlendirmişlerdir. Özbek Hanlığı’nın toprak mülkiyeti meselesi de bu anlayışla düzenlenmiştir. 
 Buhara Özbek Hanlığı’nda toprak mülkiyeti ikta, soyurgal, tanha ve vakıf toprakları şeklinde tasnif edilebilir. Bu çalışmada toprak mülkiyeti tiplerinden özellikle soyurgal ve tanha tipi ele alınacaktır. Her iki uygulamanın birbirinin ardılı olduğu ve siyasi şartlara binaen süreç içerisinde değişim gösterdiği tezi örnekler ışığında tartışılacaktır.
 Türk, Moğol, İran ve İslam devletlerinde fetihler sayesinde genişleyen ülke topraklarından küçük ya da büyük çaplı bölgelerin ya da bir bölgeden elde edilen gelirin, hükümdar tarafından belirli bir zümre gözetilmeksizin bağışlanmasına soyurgal denilir. Şeybanî hanedanlığı döneminde iktâ ve soyurgal uygulamasına tesadüf edilirken Astrahanîler döneminde soyurgalın kapsamının daraldığı göze çarpmaktadır. Yeni dönemde soyurgal sadece din adamlarına ve âlimlere verilen bağışa dönüşmüştür. Tanha ise hanedan mensuplarına, yüksek rütbeli askerlere ve beylere belirli bir süre zarfında ve babadan oğula intikal etmeyecek şekilde yapılan toprak bağışlarını ifade etmektedir.
 Muhammed Şeybanî Han mali ve idari alanlarda pek çok hak kazandıran soyurgal uygulamasıyla Ebu’l-Hayrlı Sultanlar arasındaki güç paylaşımını ve merkezi otoriteyi sınırlama modelini güçlendirmiştir. Ayrıca orduyu yeni fetihlere teşvik etmek ve başarılı olanları ödüllendirmek amacıyla ele geçirilen toprakları yüksek rütbeli askerlere ve beylere pay etmiştir. Timurlu mirasını devralan Şeybanî Hanlığı bu sistemi uygulayarak kuzey, batı ve güney batı istikametinde önemli ilerlemeler kaydetmiş, ülke sınırlarını olabildiğince genişletmiştir. Özbek hanları ülke topraklarını bayındır hale getirmek niyetiyle soyurgalın kapsamını genişletmiş ve fetihlere katılmayan sultanları da hisse sahibi ilan etmiştir. Böylece Muhammed Şeybanî Han’dan itibaren takip edilen toprak politikasıyla esasında kalıcı hibeler desteklenmiştir. 
 Ne yazık ki bu politika bireylerin kazanımlarını devlet çıkarlarından daha önemli hale getirmiştir. Zamanla yerel yönetimler elde ettikleri gücü merkezi otorite aleyhine kullanmaya kalkışmışlardır. Dolayısıyla hükümetler, soyurgal sisteminin her geçen gün merkezi otoriteyi zayıflatmasının önüne geçememişlerdir. Astrahanîler devrinde uygulanan tanha uygulaması tıpkı soyurgal gibi sultan ve boy beylerinin, adlarına tahsis edilen bölge arazisinden geniş ölçüde istifade etmelerine imkân sağlamıştır. Başlangıçta hükümdarlar imtiyaz sahiplerine bazı kısıtlamalar getirerek soyurgal ve tanha sistemindeki olumsuzlukları engellemeye çalışmışlardır. Ancak zamanla boy beylerinin sahip oldukları yetkileri genişleterek ülke topraklarını özel mülkiyetlere dönüştürmüşlerdir. Nitekim soyurgal ve tanha uygulamaları merkezi otoriteyi önemseyen Özbek hanlarının güçlü devlet düşüncesine hizmet etmemiştir. Amaçlananın ötesinde yerelleşmeye ve feodal düzene zemin hazırlamıştır.

Landowner decisions regarding utility-scale solar energy on working lands: a qualitative case study in California

Mitigating the predicted impacts of climate change requires rapid expansion of renewable energy production, including Utility-Scale Solar Energy (USSE) on an unprecedented scale. In the US, a significant share of planned USSE targets working lands—particularly farms and ranches—yet the decision factors informing private landowners’ decisions to host USSE on their lands are little understood. Our research addresses this gap through a qualitative case study of working lands in California’s San Joaquin Valley and San Francisco Bay Area, based on 60 interviews with farmers and ranchers, solar developers, and community and government organizations. Applying land system science and agricultural decision-making theory, we find that landowner decisions to host USSE are based on profit-maximization, water availability, visual and ecological landscape values, and agricultural land preservation ethic. Solar interest varies across landowner types, with farmers typically maximizing operational income while maintaining agricultural production, and ranchers often prioritizing lifestyle-related landscape benefits. The current feasibility of integrating solar with agriculture appears to be low beyond sheep grazing, with benefits and drawbacks discussed in detail. Optimal areas for future USSE development include farmlands with declining water availability, lands without permanent crops or high amenity value, and regions with energy-intensive agricultural operations. Study findings can inform state land use planning and community engagement by solar developers.

Socio-psychological factors influencing intent to adopt conservation practices in the Minnesota River Basin

In the upper Midwestern United States, one of the central goals of agri-environmental policy is to reduce environmental and water quality degradation resulting from agriculture without sacrificing production. The primary tool available to policymakers is offering farmers incentives to voluntarily adopt more conservation practices, often known as Best Management Practices (BMPs). Using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and Diffusion of Innovation (DoI) frameworks, we surveyed 2000 agricultural landowners in the Minnesota River Basin to explore the socio-psychological drivers of the adoption decisions for specific BMPs such as wetlands, cover crops, and nutrient management. We found that attitude (both favorable and unfavorable), awareness of environmental problems, and appreciation of ecosystem services significantly affected landowners’ adoption intentions for the three BMPs. We applied landowner segmentation analysis and compared both the socio-psychological and socio-demographic features among different landowner segments (i.e. environmentally-conscious landowners, engaging-absentee landowners, and adoption-averse landowners). Our study can inform the development of targeted conservation policies for various landowner types to motivate BMPs adoption.

Farmers’ Perception and Access to Mechanization in Maize Production in Kamwenge District, Western Uganda

Farm mechanization has been an important aspect in bringing out a significant improvement in agricultural productivity. In Uganda, mechanization acts as a backbone of the present agricultural systems across the country. Despite its recognized role towards agriculture, farmers still perceive its use and need differently mainly in terms of hire costs, traditional culture, size and topography of land, availability and social status. The study was examining farmers’ perceptions towards mechanization in maize production in Kanara sub-county in Kamwenge district. The objectives were to: determine farmers’ perceptions on the usefulness of mechanization on maize production, determine the relationship between socio-economic characteristics and farmers’ perception of mechanization, identify the factors limiting the use of agricultural mechanization among maize farmers, and to establish how best agricultural mechanization could be promoted for sustainable production.
 The study employed a cross-sectional survey design engaging both qualitative and quantitative approaches for data collection and analysis. Information was gathered from 362 respondents using questionnaire and interviews. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 20 to generate both descriptive and inferential statistics. Farmers’ perceived mechanization to perform more work than humans, reliable, time saving, and accessible and high work accomplishment rate. Farmer perceptions were influenced by socio-economic characteristics for example; age, land size, gender, income level/status, employment status, type of land owned and availability of labor.
 The study identified the challenges associated with the use of agricultural mechanization such as; less access to mechanization information significant at 5%, land ownership type at 0.03 (5%), household size 0.03 (5%), access to credit 0.04 (5%), years in maize farming at 0.05 (5%), availability and access to implements at 0.09, high costs of hire at 0.02 (1%), slope of the land at 0.07, and fuel costs at 0.00 (1%). These would be solved by extending credit services to the farmers, community capacity building, awareness creation, group formation, promoting mechanization as part of production, establishing contract farming schemes, increasing investment in agricultural mechanization, training and education and forming public–private partnerships. The study concluded that farmers had varying perceptions about agricultural mechanization which depended mainly on socio-economic factors. It recommended the need to promote rural-urban migration as this could create more land and encourage farmers to adopt mechanization since it may create more land reserve.

Do land ownership types matter in manufacturing firms’ location choice? Using Beijing as a case study

AbstractIn rapidly expanding Chinese cities, state‐owned land and collectively owned land are unequally treated in the permitted types of land use, use right transfer, and land management. This paper investigates the location choice of manufacturing firms as a response to this unique institutional arrangement. Firm‐level data were employed, and a zero‐inflated negative binomial regression model was developed to test whether land ownership affects the location choice of manufacturing firms. The study area of Beijing municipality was divided into refined grids for the choice of firms. The results confirmed the significant role of land ownership on the location of manufacturing firms. High‐tech companies have a strong preference for state‐owned land, while land ownership is insignificant for low‐tech companies in deciding the location. Meanwhile, development zones at different administrative levels are also found to be critical factors in affecting the location of manufacturing enterprises.

If all planning is local, how are we going to save tomorrow? Ten pragmatic lessons from the field.

This monograph presents practical lessons learned from more than 40 years of professional and academic experience in ecological and community land use planning within the New York’s Adirondack-Champlain-Catskills Regions, the Northern Forest of Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire and New York, and the Northern Appalachian/Acadian Ecoregion. The intention is to share catalytic, synergistic, and interdisciplinary field lessons from the author’s firsthand experiences for the benefit of renaissance communities, researchers, and practitioners seeking new beginnings and stimulation of new thinking beyond their sightlines. Lessons are presented in ten areas [1] integrating legal, ethical, and natural considerations; [2] recognizing diverse types of land ownership; [3] discovering shared ethics and values; [4] modernizing planning practice; [5] using Participatory Action Research (PAR); [6] working with limited access to science, technology, and planning resources; [7] using science to inform and enlighten the planning process; [8] riding the coattails of popular movements; [9] recognizing human relationships with natural environments; and [10] educating and informing citizens as a force for nature. These ten lessons, contextualized within Critical Theory and Participatory Action Research (PAR), lead the author to an “inflective” PAR paradigm for land use planning that links planning, participation, and science. Perhaps, just perhaps, through a shared context of place—tomorrow can be saved.

Using the Theory of Planned Behavior to Understand Family Forest Owners’ Intended Responses to Invasive Forest Insects

Private landowner participation in management initiatives can be encouraged by interventions, which must resonate with the underlying subjective motivations of the landowners. In this study, we use the Theory of Planned Behavior to gauge the relative influences of (1) attitudes; (2) subjective norms; and (3) perceived behavioral control on landowner intentions to harvest trees threatened by invasive insects. We use a survey (n = 696) to estimate the effects of these latent factors among family forest owners in New England. Our results suggest that, overall, normative pressures are the dominant influence on landowners’ harvest intentions. However, for certain subgroups, such as those with especially high levels of knowledge and experience with forest insects, or those with forestry experience, attitudes are dominant. Perceived behavioral control was not revealed to be dominant among any of our subgroups. These findings can be used to inform landowner interventions that are differentiated by landowner type.

Footprints from the Dust Bowl: Using Historical Geographic Information Systems to Explore Land and Resource Access, Use, and Survivability in “No Man’s Land,” Cimarron County, Oklahoma

Despite the importance of land legacy effects on land use/land cover change (LULCC), historical data remain underutilized in analyses of social–environmental systems (SES). Drought, a slow-onset disaster, serves as an ideal case study to examine how multitemporal LULCC provides context for contemporary land use patterns. We use historical geographic information systems (HGIS) to analyze land ownership change, resource access, and land use in Cimarron County, Oklahoma, the epicenter of the Dust Bowl. We digitize archival county plats covering 1931 through 2014 into an HGIS. Through analysis of ownership information, we trace changes in familial and corporate landholdings during this period, exploring how different landowner types have changed over time. Aerial photography analysis helps to quantify the adoption of irrigation in relation to family survivability. Results show that families with larger landholdings in the 1930s were significantly more likely to persist through the Dust Bowl and continue owning land in the present. Access to the Ogallala Aquifer also increased the duration of land ownership. Corporate operators were most aggressive in adopting irrigation. Results raise questions of sustainability and uneven access to resources. We argue that land legacy has profound impacts nearly a century later. Further, SES studies can benefit from incorporating HGIS into their repertoire.

Factors Influencing Soil Erosion Management Practices in Ejersa Lafo District, West Showa Zone, Oromia, Regional State, Ethiopia

Soil erosion by water is the major Agricultural problem, which results in reduction of agricultural productivity. This study focused on farmer perception of soil erosion and factors influence soil erosion management practices. A cross sectional data was used to assess information about soil erosion perception and factors influence soil erosion management practices. The Ejersa Lafo district was purposively selected from the districts of West Shoa Zones. A total of 142 sample respondents were randomly selected. Interview questionnaire, focus group discussion and survey of field observation were used as data collection tools. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and econometric model. Result from descriptive statistics show that majority of the respondents perceived soil erosion problem and its consequence on farmland. Both biological and physical soil erosion management practices in the area. Binary logit model estimation result shows that education level, landholding size, slopes of the land and land ownership type were mostsignificant to soil erosion management practices in the area. Therefore, taking these factors into account in setting appropriate soil erosion management measures may help policy makers and farmers to couple with erosion problem. The study recommended a need for the government to enforce effective policies to control and prevent soil erosion problem.
 Keywords: Binary logit model: Management practices: Soil Erosion

Особливості джерельної бази для створення історичної карти землеволодінь Таврійської губернії (1861–1917)

Introduction. The article considers the features of sources for the creation of a historicalgeoinformation map of land holdings in the Tavricheskaya oblast. The territory of the Tavricheskayagubernia is a region that has been inhabited and developed during different historical epochs undervery different geographical conditions, which led to the formation of various forms of land tenure andland use on its territory. Reconstruction and comprehensive analysis of sources on the history of landtenure and land use in the second half of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. allows to clarifythe essence of socio-historical processes that took place in the south of Ukraine during the formation ofcapitalist relations.The purpose of the study is to classify and analyze the sources for the creation of a historicalgeoinformation map of land holdings in the Tavricheskaya gubernia (1861-1917).Results. In the course of the research, heuristics and classification of sources for the creation of a historicalgeoinformation map of land tenure and land use in the Tavricheskaya gubernia were carried out. Analysis ofthe representativeness of the sources identified by us allows us to identify several groups: legislative sources(decrees, statutes, etc.); office materials of institutions (banking, border, etc.); zemstvo statistics (yard censuses,current zemstvo statistics); periodicals (Provincial Information); cartographic materials.Conclusions. The most important information for creating a geographic information map of landholdings of the Tavricheskaya gubernia, which contains these sources, is as follows: full name, socialstatus of the landowner, type of land ownership, location of land ownership, features of its acquisitionor sale, availability of documents for the land plot. Thanks to the capabilities of geographic informationsystems, all the obtained data can be reproduced in chronological and territorial dynamics, which is aprospect for further research.

Peasants, Lords, and State: Comparing Peasant Conditions in Scandinavia and the Eastern Alpine Region, 1000‐1750, ed. Tore Iversen, John Ragnar Myking, and Stefan Sonderegger. The Northern World, 89. Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2020, xii, 375 pp.

Following two previous volumes on peasants’ relationship to land control, governmental structures, and self-determination resulting from an international project funded by the Norwegian Research Council (2004‐2007), this collection of essays poses a challenge to once prevalent historiographical interpretations of a supposed Scandinavian – and particularly Norwegian – condition, in which agricultural laborers in the northern periphery purportedly enjoyed greater degrees of land ownership, control of resources, and political capital within the local milieu than their contemporaries to the South. To that end, the editors have developed a geographical, more narrowly a topographical and environmental, framework for a comparison between Norway and the West Norse areas of settlement (with a smaller role played by Denmark and Sweden when possible), on the one hand, and the Eastern Alpine region (primarily Tyrol and Switzerland with additional counterexamples in Lower Austria, southern Germany, and elsewhere in Central Europe), on the other. After an introductory chapter outlining the historiographical background and scope of the project, the first part spans three chapters on comparative local examinations of slavery and degrees of freedom, types of land ownership and control, and forms of local political participation, followed by a conclusion; the second offers four chapters on the national historiographical traditions challenged by the comparative studies in the first part and subsequently revised on a local basis here, namely in Norway, Tyrol, various regions of Germany, and Switzerland. (On an organizational note, the table of contents lists four ‘parts,’ the first of which contains only the introduction, while the fourth comprises what are strangely labelled appendices.)

Silsilat as-salatin as a historical source

Manuscripts play a significant role to disclose unknown pages of history. Hajji Mir Muhammad Salim's work “Silsilat as-salatin” is one of those providing huge and valuable information on some aspects of Central Asian history in the XVI - early XVIII centuries. Mainly, the work provides historical data on the types of land ownership, properties, measuring the length and distances, routes of communication and trade. Besides, the work contains information about waqf property and the chain of main religious personnel.

The concept of minimization of transaction costs of functioning of the dual market of agricultural lands

This article provides the concept of minimizing transaction expenses for farmland market functioning, based on principles for minimizing transaction expenses on the property rights market developed by R. Coase, O. Williamson, D. North, J. Hodgson, E. Furubotn, original provisions on the dual structure of Russian agricultural land market with full and limited property rights transactions. The comparative institutional analysis of the dual market, transactors of various property types and transaction expense types demonstrates that three stages of full and limited property rights market transaction are characterized by high permanent transaction expenses related to providing data on property rights transaction, negotiations, preparing and signing contracts, as well as formal regulations. Due to high rates of transaction formalization, the full property rights market demonstrates higher expenses than the limited rights market, where expenses for long-term contractual relations are caused mainly by subjective factors and informal restrictions. The amount of expenses is unevenly distributed between transactors depending on land ownership type and form: expenses for state and municipal lands transaction, as well as for shared land ownership, are higher compared to transaction of private property rights. Some high transaction expenses are permanent and establish property rights specification and value, possible to be minimized only with time by amending legal standards and regulations in order to improve market transaction terms. Other expenses are established independently by transactors during the market exchange and can be minimized through indirect regulators changing behavioral aspects of market participants and direct regulators aimed at developing institutional and infrastructural market elements to enhance more effective usage of land resources and improve adaptive efficiency and flexibility of farmland market.

Land Tenure and Its Influence on Agriculture in Artisanal Gold-Mining Zones of Sikasso Region, Mali

Land tenure is a major determinant of the types of land use in a region or area and, by extension, affects its conservation. Most of the land that falls under public or communal land-tenure systems in developing countries such as Mali faces numerous challenges among them being natural resource overexploitation. This is mainly because the land is openly accessible to all people around it, and thus the tendency to overexploit the land resources leading to degradation, and food and environmental insecurity. In Mali, land ownership falls under three categories: Public or Government, Communal and Private. This study was undertaken to assess the land ownership types in Yanfolia District, Mali, a gold-mining area that lies some 170 km southern east of capital district of Bamako and upstream of Selingué dam on Sankarini River. A social survey of 200 households was done using a structured questionnaire. Additional research instruments were focus group discussion, key informant interviews and observation check-lists. The data was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The study findings indicated that most of the land under gold-mining was owned by the government followed by community and finally private. There were significant associations between size of land under gold-mining and land tenure types: communal land (χ2 = 30.52; p = 0.000); private land (χ2 = 65.09; p = 0.000) and public or government land (χ2 = 177; p = 0.000). Gold-mining takes place mostly on lands classified under public/government and communal compared to that which takes place on lands classified as private. It is recommended that the relevant Malian governmental regulatory and enforcement agencies implement and enforce existing environmental laws with respect to land and environment. These agencies should adopt participatory and sustainable approaches to land and natural resources management for improved food and environmental security.

The origin of the state system of land surveying in the times of Kievan and Moscow Rus in the X–XV century

As early as during the reign of Yaroslav the Wise (1019-1054), the main legislative source Russkaya Pravda (1054) was compiled, indicating the types of land ownership, borders and areas of land plots for taxation. This was the first step towards creating the simplest system of accounting and evaluation of land and other natural resources in the state on a legislative basis. Methods of land division depended on the structure of ancient Slavic settlements. The first artificial borders appeared for economic needs. Appearance of the first industries-hunting, fishing, cattle breeding, poultry farming and others, was the reason for the appearance of the first signs indicating places of private use. Drawings of land were made based on the results of inspections, inventories and simple measurements, the length of lines was measured with a measuring rope, and the area of agricultural land and forests was determined.By the beginning of the 15th century, there was a need for state land surveying (determining the location, describing borders, calculating areas, issuing legal documents for ownership, resolving disputes over land), as well as collecting information about state borders and natural resources. In X–XV centuries, not only the first important concepts of surveying were developed, but also the beginnings of the cadastre system of land accounting and division of 16–17 centuries were formed.

Urban land use planning in Ghana: Navigating complex coalescence of land ownership and administration

Global literature reporting on land governance indicates considerable differences between land ownership and land administration. Yet, in many Sub-Saharan African countries, particularly Ghana, this relationship is blurred in complex land governance regimes. An understanding of this relationship in Ghana’s customary land sector – the dominant land ownership type – is critical in advancing urban land use planning and promoting effective urban management in this era of rapid urbanisation across Africa. Unfortunately, little is known about this relationship in the context of land use planning. Using Kumasi, a rapidly growing city in Ghana as a case study, the purpose of this paper is threefold: (i) to discuss the relationship between customary land ownership and administration in the context of land use planning, (ii) to explore institutional perspectives on sustainable land use planning; and (iii) to examine the implications of customary land ownership and administration on sustainable land use planning. Using a review of relevant land use planning documents on Ghana, and interviews with four urban planning agencies and four customary land owners (chiefs/traditional leaders) in Kumasi, findings indicate a demonstration of an unclear nature of legislative planning framework and a lack of focus on customary land ownership and administration system in urban land use planning. Despite planning laws (e.g., zoning guidelines) emphasising separation of ownership from administration, findings indicate no distinction between customary land ownership and land administration as the traditional leaders (the owners) administer the land via determination of land uses, arbitration of land disputes, and location determination of important community infrastructure and services. Evidence of repetitive and cumbersome nature of land administration by traditional owners and government planning agencies, weak agency framework and coordination challenges has contributed to limited progress of sustainable land use planning in the city.

Potential for Leasing Institutional Lands in Windham County, Connecticut: Toward A New England Food Vision

The social and environmental impacts of the modern industrial food system are ample reason to explore alternative scenarios. A New England Food Vision calls for building a resilient food system at the regional scale, with the goal of providing 50% of New England’s food from within the region by the year 2060. Land access is a substantial challenge for aspiring farmers, particularly those from socially marginalized groups. Leasing farmland is less expensive than purchasing it outright, although not without its challenges. Institutionally owned land—properties owned by government entities, nonprofit organizations, educational organizations, religious organizations, or healthcare organiza­tions—may be especially suitable for leasing to aspiring farmers due to their secure tenure and reduced development pressure. This site suitability analysis identifies institutionally owned lands in Windham County, Connecticut, excludes areas containing ecological or practical constraints, and assesses the new farmland acreage and food pro­duction that might be generated if these lands were converted to agricultural cultivation. Leasing the resulting lands to farmers would increase the agri­cultural acreage within the county by almost 19%. The majority of the land identified was owned either by state or municipal government entities, so farmer advocate organizations seeking to promote leasing arrangements should tailor their resources to this type of land ownership and audience.