1. Guides
Guide to Land Contracts: Agricultural Projects
This Guide was prepared by International Senior Lawyers Project (ISLP) staff and volunteers in collaboration with the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (CCSI). It was developed to assist non-lawyers in better understanding agricultural investment contracts, such as those available on OpenLandContracts.org. Agricultural investment contracts can be complex, and some provisions may be difficult to understand. The Guide provides explanations for a range of common provisions, and includes a Glossary of legal and technical terms. Guide to Land Contracts: Forestry Projects
This Guide, also prepared by ISLP staff and volunteers in collaboration with CCSI, aims to assist OpenLandContracts.org users in unpacking the technical provisions and language typically found in forestry contracts in order to better understand the contracts and the potential implications of specific provisions across a range of stakeholder interests. *Note: A revised version of this Guide was published in January 2017.*
Briefing for Civil Society Organizations: Bridging the Information Gap
This short Guide explains how local organizations can use land contracts to support communities to protect their rights. With the contracts, organizations can help communities to:- Understand company and government obligations related to a company project.
- Monitor whether those obligations are being fulfilled.
- Hold companies and the government to account for bad contracts or for failing to deliver on commitments important to communities.
2. Self-Study Training Modules
This set of self-study training modules was prepared by CCSI. The modules are designed for users of OpenLandContracts.org to independently engage with and learn more about the repository and land contracts more generally. Prior to commencing the self-study training, please read the accompanying Guidance Note. This self-study training includes four modules, each provided as a separate set of PDF slides:
- Training Module One: OpenLandContracts.org: Introduction and Key Features
- Training Module Two: Analyzing Land Contracts using OpenLandContracts.org
- Training Module Three: Understanding Land Contracts and Land Investments
- Training Module Four: Land Contract Transparency: Benefits and Limits
It is designed to be used in combination with the tutorial video and contract analysis exercise, both of which are found below.
Contracts Exercise
This exercise guides users through applying the key features of OpenLandContracts.org, and is intended to provide some practical experience with contract analysis. By working through the exercise, users can learn how to apply the repository's key features to better understand information contained in land contracts. 3. Tutorial Videos
Searching For and Viewing Contracts
This short tutorial video guides users through searching for and viewing contracts on OpenLandContracts.org.
Using the Clips Tool
This tutorial video showcases and explains how to use the Clips tool, a feature designed to help users compare annotations from one or more contracts.
4. Supplementary Materials
Transparency in Land-Based Investment: Key Questions and Next Steps
Large-scale investments in agriculture and forestry are often shrouded in secrecy. In many cases, they are negotiated without the involvement of affected communities, approved through opaque decision-making procedures, and governed by legal agreements that are difficult both to access and to understand. This systemic lack of transparency impedes accountability and exacerbates ongoing disagreements about the real costs and benefits for investors, host countries, and their citizens. Jointly authored by CCSI and the Open Contracting Partnership, this briefing note examines why contract disclosure and a contracting process that is open, accessible, and inclusive are important; what such transparency entails; and how various stakeholders can work towards achieving it.
Recommending Transparency in Land-Based Investment: A Summary of Relevant Guidelines and Principles
An emerging consensus on the need for greater transparency in land-based investment is increasingly evident across various forums. This document consolidates recommendations regarding transparency featured in guidelines and principles published by international organizations, government agencies, and multilateral or multi-stakeholder groups. Viewed together, these recommendations offer insight on the evolving narrative on transparency in land-based investment, assist stakeholders in addressing the issue of transparency, and provide an informed starting point for further analysis. Business and Human Rights Resource Center Briefing: Sugar Contracts and Their Impact on Land and Workers' Rights (October 2018)
With support from an OpenLandContracts.org Mini Grant, the Business and Human Rights Resource Center (BHRRC) analyzed sugar contracts available on OpenLandContracts.org to assess the strength of each company’s obligations regarding land rights, labor rights, and access to remedy. This briefing paper summarizes the results of the BHRRC's analysis, compares company obligations with global brands' policies and practices, and provides recommendations for policymakers, businesses and civil society.