Landesa has hired Wan Yang as its China Program Director. Wan Yang oversees Landesa’s operations in China, including research and recommendations on national land policy that strengthens the land rights of millions of rural families.

Wan Yang has 18 years of professional experience in project management, international development, policy research and nonprofit management.  For the past 10 years, he focused on climate change, sustainable development and energy efficiency. Prior to joining Landesa, he was China Country Director at the Institute for Industrial Productivity (IIP). Between 2007 and 2014, Wan Yang worked at the Institute for Sustainable Communities (ISC) as Program Manager and Country Director consecutively. He started his career at the Bureau of International Cooperation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing.

“China’s land reforms represent the largest and most successful poverty alleviation program in history, having lifted hundreds of millions out of extreme poverty,” Wan Yang said. “Secure land rights for farmers are critical for many of China’s social and economic challenges and can be a bulwark against climate change for our warming planet.”

Since beginning its work in China in 1987, Landesa has acted as an advisor to top national policy makers, providing data-driven solutions to strengthen land rights for tens of million farming families.

ABOUT LANDESA

Founded as the Rural Development Institute, Landesa has partnered with governments on reforms that have provided secure land rights to more than 120 million families. When women and men have secure rights to land, they can invest in their land to sustainably increase their harvests and reap the benefits – improved nutrition, health, and education– for generations.