The role of land reforms in sustainable food security

Abstract

After the collapse of Soviet system, immediately after declaration of independence, former soviet republics, as well as former socialist countries in Eastern Europe decided to initiate land reforms within the framework of agrarian reform. The defined general objectives of land reforms were: to establish a fairer system of property and use rights, to create conditions for increasing of intensity and productivity of land use, to strengthen the rights of lessors and tenants, to grant land to those who wish to cultivate or otherwise use the land. However, the legislation and administrative systems of separate countries were different, so the objectives and tasks of land reform, as well as the measures and methods for implementing the land reform, were different. The aim of the article is to evaluate positive role of land reform which has led to more targeted and intensive use of land in agriculture and other sectors. The research summarises the studies published previously by the authors of the article and other researchers on the progress and results of land reform in Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. The issue of land use can be considered in several aspects, but in food security sphere more important, evaluating results of land reforms is aspect of assessing the land as natural resource.