Editing Land reform (section)

== Overview ==
Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed [[property redistribution]], generally of agricultural land. Land reform can, therefore, refer to transfer of ownership from the more powerful to the less powerful, such as from a relatively small number of wealthy or noble owners with extensive land holdings (e.g., plantations, large ranches, or [[agribusiness]] plots) to individual ownership by those who work the land.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Borras |first1=Saturnino M. |title=The Philippine Land Reform in Comparative Perspective: Some Conceptual and Methodological Implications |journal=Journal of Agrarian Change |date=January 2006 |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=69–101 |doi=10.1111/j.1471-0366.2006.00115.x |url=https://pure.eur.nl/en/publications/93f2ba07-1f3e-42e9-b185-2be0306d32c5 }}</ref> Such transfers of ownership may be with or without compensation; compensation may vary from token amounts to the full value of the land.<ref>Adams, Martin and J. Howell. "Redistributive Land Reform in Southern Africa". Overseas Development Institute. DFID. Natural Resources Perspectives No. 64. January 2001. [http://www.odi.org.uk/resources/download/2078.pdf] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091205024136/http://www.odi.org.uk/resources/download/2078.pdf|date=2009-12-05}}</ref>

Land reform may also entail the transfer of land from individual ownership—even [[peasant]] ownership in [[smallholding]]s—to government-owned collective farms; it has also, in other times and places, referred to the exact opposite: division of government-owned collective farms into smallholdings.<ref>Adams, Martin and J. Howell. [http://www.odi.org.uk/resources/download/2078.pdf "Redistributive Land Reform in Southern Africa"]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091205024136/http://www.odi.org.uk/resources/download/2078.pdf|date=2009-12-05}} Overseas Development Institute. DFID. ''Natural Resources Perspectives'' No. 64. January 2001.</ref> The common characteristic of all land reforms is modification or replacement of existing institutional arrangements governing possession and use of land. Thus, while land reform may be radical in nature, such as through large-scale transfers of land from one group to another, it can also be less dramatic, such as regulatory reforms aimed at improving land administration.<ref>[http://www.ghanalap.gov.gh/index1.php?linkid=47&sublinkid=94 Ghana's Land Administration Project] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721030833/http://www.ghanalap.gov.gh/index1.php?linkid=47&sublinkid=94|date=2011-07-21}}</ref>