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 Forestry Contracts
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.
2. Training Module
*Introductory Guidance Module
This presentation introduces users to OpenLandContracts.org, provides an overview of the repository's key features, and briefly examines the need for OpenLandContracts.org and greater transparency in land-based investment. 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 Video
Suggestions for additional tutorial videos are welcome, and should be emailed to info@openlandcontracts.org.
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.