Myanmar is in a process of defining its federal system, after 70 years of military rule. Yet solutions to land rights and tenure have largely been left out of the peace process. Exploring lessons learned in other jurisdictions that have a similar set of issues can be useful to all parties that are seeking a democratic and federal system of government in Myanmar, which respects its ethnic nationalities. The question of land is fundamental to finding lasting peace, as it is the basis for the economic and cultural future of Myanmar’s ethnic people. These lessons can inform and shape how the reconciliation of ethnic people’s aboriginal right to their land and natural resources can be pursued.

Viet Nam is the world’s second largest exporter of coffee after Brazil and the largest exporter of Robusta coffee in Asia, contributing USD$ 3 billion to the Vietnamese economy. Increasingly, however, this production comes at a dangerous cost to Viet Nam’s forests and soils, and its smallholder farmers. The Central Highlands lost almost 600,000 ha of natural forest between 2005-2015, and most forests outside of protected areas are highly degraded. Farmers reap very low prices for Robusta coffee, and the livelihoods of 600,000 smallholder farmers depend on environmental conditions that are increasingly at risk due to poor management practices in the past, and future climate impacts. What can be done to avert this urgent agricultural crisis?