Everyone has a relationship to land. It is an asset that, with its associated resources, allows its owner access to loans, to build their houses and to set up small businesses in cities. In rural areas, land is essential for livelihoods, subsistence and food security. However, land is a scarce resource governed by a wide range of rights and responsibilities. And not everyone's right to land is secure. Mounting pressure and competition mean that improving land governance - the rules, processes and organizations through which decisions are made about land - is more urgent than ever. This book shows how the Global Land Tool Network is addressing these problems by setting an international agenda on land. It features the land tools that the Network has developed .

The Global Land Tool Network is a partnership of a wide range of organizations involved in land issues. Established in 2006, it has just completed its first phase of operations. This book celebrates the work of the Network so far and illustrates how all land stakeholders play a role in handling the critical social change needed towards achieving equitable access to land for all.

Developing new land policies can be a long and difficult process. It is even more so if the policies are to be pro-poor – if they are to help correct the disadvantages that poor people typically suffer in many areas of land policy.

This guide suggests a way forward. Based on experience in various countries in Asia and Africa, it is not a recipe-book, but outlines a process that can be adapted as appropriate to the situation in each country and the specific aspect of land policy that needs to be addressed. This process is participatory: it involves a wide range of stakeholders from all aspects of land policy, including civil society and the poor themselves. Including all these groups is vital if the resulting policies are to be politically acceptable, technically feasible, pro-poor and capable of being enforced.

This guide is intended for Ministers and senior policymakers responsible for land issues, donors, professionals, consultants, and NGOs involved in developing land policies.