Landesa Announces New CEO

Landesa's Board of Directors announced that Chris Jochnick will become Landesa's new CEO. Jochnick is a Harvard Law School graduate with two decades of experience in international development, with an emphasis in social and economic justice issues.

Tim Hanstad, who has served as Landesa's President and CEO for the last decade and has been with the organization for nearly 29 years, will remain in a leadership role focused on Landesa's program work.

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Landesa in Myanmar

Photo by Susan Fan for Landesa

Landesa founder, Roy Prosterman, and senior land tenure specialist, Mark West, are in Myanmar this week holding workshops on land issues for parliamentarians.

Land rights are a critical issue in Myanmar. Two-thirds of its 54 million people live in rural areas and at least one-third of those are completely landless. The country is experiencing unprecedented foreign investment, which has the potential to displace millions and deepen poverty if fundamental land tenure issues are not addressed. Landesa began fieldwork in Myanmar in early 2013.

Examining the Cost of Hidden Tenancy

Landesa convened economists, policymakers, and other stakeholders in the Indian state of Odisha on April 28 for a workshop to reduce barriers to land for landless farmers.

The workshop aimed to unite land rights advocates and bring the issue of land tenancy to the forefront of policy in the state.

Tenancy is currently illegal in Odisha. However, the ban on tenancy is largely ignored, and an estimated 35 to 40 percent of land in Odisha is farmed by sharecroppers. These sharecroppers are vulnerable to exploitation because their agreements with landowners are outside the law. This allows landowners to violate their agreements with sharecroppers with impunity.

Learn more about our goals and progress in Odisha >>

Land Rights Training in Odisha

More than 150 women self-help group leaders have participated in a land rights training program offered by Landesa in partnership with CARE India's Pathways Initiative.

The training sessions in the state of Odisha help women understand their rights to land, how to assert those rights, how to document those rights, and how to access support services and farm inputs.

The self-help group leaders are now sharing the knowledge they've received with thousands more rural women in their communities.

Learn more about Landesa's work in Odisha >>

May 2015

Landesa in the News

Foreign Affairs published an editorial by Landesa CEO Tim Hanstad about how fighting poverty without protecting land rights can be self-defeating.

The Pioneer featured an article about Landesa's meeting designed to highlight the need to protect tenant farmers in Odisha.

The Kashmir Times wrote an article about how landless women in India are learning about their land rights and how to realize those rights thanks in part to a campaign launched by Landesa.

The Hans India featured a story of a farmer in Uttar Pradesh who has used her land rights to overcome barriers many women face in India.

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