Development potential of new lands settlement in the tropics and subtropics : a global state-of-the-art evaluation with specific emphasis on policy implications : executive summary

Focusing on policy implications and development potential, this report analyzes new lands settlement experiences in the tropics and subtropics. An initial section classifies and defines new lands settlements based on the type of settler (spontaneous, voluntary, compulsory) and the nature of the sponsor (government, another agency); the magnitude of contemporary new lands settlement and the potential for greater government involvement are assessed. Comparative and longitudinal analyses of new lands settlements indicate that successful past projects have involved regional planning and integrated area development; more settlements would have been successful if attention had been paid to their scale and spatial layout, farming systems diversification, settler family income, employment generation, and national development policy. The bulk of the paper outlines four basic settlement stages - (1) planning, initial infrastructural development, and settler recruitment; (2) transition; (3) economic and social development; and (4) handing over and incorporation - and reviews basic issues to be addressed in each stage by planners, administrators, and settlers. A final section describes the basic features of an ideal settlement process.