OpenLandContracts.org is an initiative of the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (CCSI), a joint center of the Earth Institute and Columbia Law School at Columbia University. It is a sister site to ResourceContracts.org, an online repository of oil, gas, and mining contracts created by the Natural Resource Governance Institute, the World Bank, and CCSI. The project is supported by UKaid from the Department for International Development.
- CFS, Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems (2014)
- FAO-CFS, Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (2012)
- OECD-FAO, Guidance for Responsible Agricultural Supply Chains (2015)
- French Agency for Development (AFD), Guide to Due Diligence of Agribusiness Projects that Affect Land and Property Rights (2014)
- Land Policy Initiative (AUC-AfDB-UNECA), Guiding Principles on Large Scale Land Based Investments in Africa (2014)
- New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, Analytical Framework: Due Diligence and Risk Management for Land-Based Investments in Agriculture (2015)
- USAID, Operational Guidelines for Responsible Land-Based Investment (2015)
- United Nations Principles for Responsible Contracts (2011)
- United Nations Large-Scale Land Acquisitions and Leases: A Set of Minimum Principles and Measures to Address the Human Rights Challenge (2009)
OpenLandContracts.org informs the growing campaign for disclosure of information around land-based investment in agriculture and forestry projects, and demonstrates that contract disclosure in relation to land-based investments is both feasible and valuable.
In addition, the OpenLandContracts.org platform is available as a tool for governments interested in land contract disclosure. OpenLandContracts.org can provide technical support to build country-specific websites that include contracts, annotations of key terms, and other relevant documents or tools.
*Occasionally projects are undertaken by a government acting as investor; in these cases, the contract would be between the host government and the investing government. Such contracts are also included on this site.
- Host governments seeking to negotiate with investors and monitor contract implementation
- Communities and civil society organizations pushing for greater accountability around land transactions
- Companies undertaking due diligence regarding potential concessions, or seeking to align with international best practices that urge contract transparency
- Media covering major investments and natural resource issues
- Development practitioners advocating for more transparency in large-scale investments