Rural poverty remains widespread and persistent in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. A group of leading experts critically examines the impact of land tenure reforms on poverty reduction and natural resource management in countries in Africa and Asia with highly diverse historical contexts.

Poverty reduction is deemed to be a centrepiece of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) currently being negotiated under the auspices of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Yet there is considerable debate about the poverty impacts of such an agreement. Some are convinced it will increase poverty,...