RURAL DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE - Consulting Services



	Capacity Statement & Expertise Curricula Vitae Experience

China: Women and Land in Dongfang County, Hainan Province
China (Hainan) Institute for Research and Development (CIRD). This project included field research and preparation of a report on gender and land in rural China. The report discusses women’s rights to land, based on field research conducted in January 2000. RDI attorneys established a working definition of land rights, distinguishing complete from incomplete rights. The report traces women’s land rights through five periods of recent Chinese history, beginning with the period preceding establishment of the People’s Republic of China, and ending with the period following the adoption of the 1998 Land Management Law. Current legislation relating to women’s rights to land and property in China is also addressed in the report.

The authors analyze their findings in light of current legislation and recommend ways to incorporate these findings into legislation and policy. Findings are broken down into several categories, including: women’s participation in household management and agricultural labor; women’s knowledge of land rights; allocation of women’s land rights; security of women’s land rights both within the household and upon divorce or the husband’s death; and women’s rights to inherit land. January to March 2000. View report #110

China: Rural Land System Reform
China (Hainan) Institute for Reform and Development (CIRD). RDI attorneys prepared a report on international comparison on land systems; conducting field research in Hainan, China; and presented the results at an international symposium in China. This project was funded in part by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). November 1997 to January 1999.

Reforming China’s Rural Land System
Development Research Centre of State Council and PRC Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing. RDI conducted field research, farm household surveys, and offered legal and policy advice on rural land system issues. This work was supported by private foundations, including the William H. Gates Foundation, LeBrun Foundation, and Compton Foundation. August 1987 to present.

China: Research on Rural Land Tenure Reform
Development Research Centre of State Council and the World Bank. RDI is conducting fieldwork and surveys to monitor implementation of laws and policies governing rural land tenure. RDI attorneys are assisting policymakers and legislative drafters in the resolution of issues related to implementation of existing laws and policies. RDI attorneys also provide consulting services related to drafting and adoption of new rural land policies and laws. May 2000 to present.

China: Rural Land System Legislative Reform.
China (Hainan) Institute for Reform and Development (CIRD) and UNDP. RDI attorneys prepared a report recommending specific amendments and additions to China’s legal framework governing rural land. RDI also provided consulting services to legislative drafters within the Ministry of Agriculture and the State Council. Recommendations were presented at an international symposium in China. January 1999 to January 2000.

China: Land Management Law Implementation Monitoring Project
Renmin University of China, Beijing. RDI provided the design, conduct, and results analysis of a 2,000 household sample survey monitoring implementation of the 1998 Land Management Law in China’s 20 largest agricultural provinces. The work was supported by private foundations, including the William H. Gates Foundation and the LeBrun Foundation. December 1998 to May 2000.

China: Sustainable Development for Small Townships Project
UNDP China and Small Township Development Institute, Beijing. RDI provided consultant services providing legal and policy advice concerning the development and adoption of land use plans and the facilitation of land market development in China. January 1998 to July 1999.

Indonesia: Land Law Reform
Checchi Consulting Corporation and USAID. RDI supplemented its prior fieldwork experience in Indonesia with fieldwork specifically examining issues arising out of the land law reform laws the Indonesians were in the process of drafting. RDI consulted and collaborated with the Indonesian land law reform drafting teams and produced a report that included specific recommendations for amendments to the law. In this work, RDI took particular note of the issues affecting markets, investor confidence and security, potential for social conflict arising out of land problems, and land issues or problems created or exacerbated by decentralization.

The primary focus of the research was in areas of customary law as they relate to land. Other areas of research and investigation included: the formalization of customary rights to land; possible structures for the resolution of existing and future land disputes; effective registration of existing land rights; possible guidelines for takings of land that ensure adequate notice and fair compensation; issues pertaining to zoning laws, and viability of land markets.

RDI also produced a report on the land law drafting process itself, noting areas of contention, institutional challenges, and further needed technical assistance work. RDI provided an overview of other land law reform efforts in Indonesia and technical assistance concerned with them. July to December 2000.

Indonesia: Legal Drafting and Capacity Building for Sustainable, Equitable Development of Indonesia’s Rural Sector
USAID and Partnership for Economic Growth. This three-year program focuses primarily on providing legal technical assistance to the National Land Agency on revising the Basic Agrarian Law (land law) and drafting five other new or revised laws or regulations: Law on Land Ownership; Law on Acquisition of Land for a Public Purpose; Law on Land Redistribution; Law on Land Registration; and Law on Land Use Planning. RDI also provides training on legislative drafting techniques to government officials. July 2001 through July 2004.

Mongolia: National Land Reform Program Development
World Bank. RDI provided fieldwork, legislative and legal analysis, report, and recommendations for Government of Mongolia Land Reform Commission on comprehensive land reform program. Specific topics covered include: managing and allocating rights to pasture land; introducing private land ownership for arable, urban, and settlement land; land registration and cadastre; land market development; and policy and legal environment for specially protected areas. June 1999 to May 2000.