Forced relocation of peasants onto marginal lands

Peasants have been forced off their lands by government development projects, such as major dams, by colonization, by government collectivization or compulsory acquisition of land for various purposes, by the privatization of public land, by commercial landholders who change land use practices to make them incompatible for subsistence activities (e.g. clearance of forests), or for a variety of other reasons. Usually the only unallocated land onto which they can move is marginal for primary production (steep slopes, semi-arid lands etc.) and can be rapidly degraded.

1. Relocation may be the only means of providing villagers with agricultural land appropriate to their needs.

1. Involuntary mass resettlement
2. Expropriation of land from indigenous populations

1. Insufficient pastureland
2. Discontented rural workers
3. Degradation of fragile ecosystems
4. Cultivation of marginal agricultural land
5. Conflicts arising from depletion of renewable resources

1. Forced evictions

1. Internal exile

1. Forcing migration
2. Developing presently unusable farming land
3. Addressing problems of forced relocation of peasants onto marginal lands

1. Marginalization
2. Forced