January 18, 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Rena Singer
tel: (206) 257-6136
The Rural Development Institute Releases its 2010 Impact Report and Announces a New Name: Landesa
SEATTLE – The Rural Development Institute (RDI), which partners with governments and local organizations to expand secure land rights for the rural poor, today released its 2010 Impact Report, which showed that 2.3 million farming families in China and 125,000 poor and landless families in India received ownerships or long-term rights to land, providing them with a foundation to escape poverty.
The nonprofit organization, which also announced it is changing its name to Landesa (lan DESS a), a name which links the ideals of “land” and “destiny,” said 2010 saw a dramatic increase in donor support, which allowed it to more than double its capacity and staff.
“Land rights are increasingly being recognized as a fundamental building block for alleviating extreme poverty,” said Tim Hanstad, Landesa’s president and CEO. “As our work and impact expands around the world, we knew this was the right time to adopt a name that better reflects our work.”
Founded in 1967 by University of Washington law professor Roy Prosterman, Landesa has been providing legal expertise, technical assistance, and evaluation capabilities to governments struggling to equip their poorest families with legal rights to their land for more than four decades. Landesa recognizes that a majority of the world’s poor share two traits: they depend on agriculture to survive, but lack secure rights to the land they till.
To date, more than 100 million families have gained legal rights to land through Landesa’s work.
Landesa now has more than 50 staff based in the organization’s Seattle headquarters, another 40 employees based in five offices in India, and an additional seven staff in Beijing.
In addition to its work in China and India, Landesa has also begun working on land rights programs in Uganda, Liberia and re-engaged in Rwanda. And in Russia last year, Landesa’s legal aid center helped more than 1,000 people with land tenure issues.
“We know from more than 40 years of field work that when a family has legal rights to the land they till, lives are transformed,” said Roy Prosterman, Landesa’s founder. “Ownership and property rights are fundamental to creating capital and growing economies. While our name is changing, our commitment and approach to helping to secure land rights for the world’s poorest remains constant.”
Landesa’s support from major donors has increased as more have recognized the power of land rights to break the poverty cycle. Nearly $20 million has been secured over the past two years alone from major foundations including Omidyar Network, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Nike.
Most recently, Google.org donated $750,000 to Landesa to help scale its global work.
The organization secured almost twice as much revenue in 2010 as it did in 2008.
“Like Landesa, we believe that improving land rights is critical to making inroads against extreme poverty,” said Matt Bannick, managing partner with Omidyar Network. “Many governments around the world agree. We’re proud to partner with Landesa as they help spur economic and social well-being.”
A key component of Landesa’s approach includes a concentrated focus on women to ensure legal rights to land are shared equally within their families. In 2009, RDI launched with Global Center for Women’s Land Rights, a first of its kind initiative to promote land ownership for women worldwide. This division is now called the Landesa Center for Women’s Land Rights.
To learn more about recent impact from Landesa’s work, read the 2010 Impact Report or visit Landesa.org. The Web site will feature blogs by Landesa’s land tenure experts on such timely topics as land grabbing in the developing world, and stabilizing Pakistan through broadening land ownership.
Please also note Landesa’s new Seattle office address:
1424 4th Avenue
Suite 300
Seattle WA 98101
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This press release is reprinted by Alanna Shaikh out of an obscure sense of guilt. It does not represent the opinions of Alanna Shaikh or any of her employers.
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