This document presents an overview of the regional progress made towards the targets and commitments derived from implementation plans and programmes for the main agreements of the Johannesburg Summit and Agenda 21 regarding human settlements thematic cluster in Latin America and the Caribbean.

While external forces can take many forms, such as the shock of a natural disaster which destroys productive assets, or the long-term ‘trend’ of consistently declining market prices which limits net incomes, the focus of this research is on the policy and institutional environment both within and

This issue of Land Reform, Land Settlement and Cooperatives offers the reader a series of articles and information related to the discussions that will take place in March 2006 in Porto Alegre, Brazil, at the International Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (7–10 March).

Common forests in developing countries are valuable sources of raw material supplies, employment and income generation, particularly for low income households. This paper looks at the effect on income and employment when common forest resources have external policies that constrain their use.