Welcome, and thank you.

Each of these stories of hope and resilience are rooted in land rights. We saw similar scenarios play out in India and China, in Liberia and Tanzania. Wherever you are in the world, land offers stability and certainty – a safe harbor to weather the storm. The age of COVID-19 has found so many of us doing just that, as we shelter at home and practice social distancing. Dining tables have become home offices and business is being conducted virtually. In rural places around the world, land has always joined the home with a place of work. A plot of land offers a place to farm and earn a livelihood, and a place to construct a sturdy dwelling. But such opportunities depend on whether the rights to that land are secure.

The past year has been a shock to the system for all of us. In rural areas, those with land rights have been better positioned to withstand that shock. It’s a principle on which Landesa’s work is founded: Land rights help build the confidence and the incentive to make investments that boost productivity and improve lives and livelihoods. By the sweat of their labor and with the support of Landesa, millions of smallholder farmers in more than 50 countries around the world have put themselves on a pathway out of poverty. Thanks to your support, such transformations will continue, now and long after the coronavirus pandemic.