Myanmar: Conflicts over Land in a Time of Transition

Secure and just land tenure, and sound management of land and natural resources are crucial to easing conflicts between farmers, the State, and extractive industries. This paper underlines that Myanmar cannot hope to achieve inclusive social and economic development without a just and comprehensive framework that protects the land rights of small farmers, ethnic minorities, and the poor. A lack of participation and transparency in land management, coupled with legal and institutional weaknesses that work in favour of big capital rather than small farmers and the rural poor, poses a major challenge to the country's social and economic reform programme.