In defense of land rights: A monitoring report on land conflicts in six Asian countries 18 This section examines the different country contexts – historical and policyrelated causes – which drive land conflicts to occur. Bangladesh Land and people. Bangladesh is a low-lying, mainly riverine country, with almost 80 percent of the country consisting of fertile alluvial lowland. Historically, highly complex and elaborate land tenure and tenancy systems developed in the rich alluvial plains of the Bengali Region. Some 60 percent of the land is under agriculture, and 64 percent of the population are in rural areas. With one of the world’s most dense populations (1,265 people/km2) and given the scarcity of land, Bangladesh has been marked by land conflicts. Moreover, the country is highly vulnerable to natural hazards (floods, tropical cyclones, storm surges, erosion, and drought) and to the effects of climate change – which sometimes lead to destruction of housing and property, loss of livelihoods, displacement, and migration.3 Land ownership structure. Rural poor sectors – landless poor and marginalized peasants, indigenous peoples, fisherfolk, and female-headed households – comprise majority of the rural population yet they are often constrained in accessing land and resources. Land ownership is highly skewed – 60 percent of all Bangladeshi households are functionally landless, owning only 4.2 percent of lands, while about 6.2 percent are rich landowners that own 40 to 45 percent of lands (Barkat and Suhrawardy, 2018). Landlessness has been on an increasing trend in recent decades. ANGOC Land reforms. The country has a rich history of land rights movements. During the period of Indian partition, the East Bengal State Acquisition and Tenancy Act of 1950 (EBSATA) abolished the zamindari (intermediary rent-collectors) system earlier established under British Rule4, and gave the control of land back to their tillers. Subsequent land reform laws also provided for tenure security of sharecroppers, established a minimum daily wage for agricultural labor, and stipulated sharecropping arrangements between landowner and tenants. There were brief periods of land reform in 1972 and 1991, but the implementation of reforms was protracted under a succession of civilian governments, military coups, and military regimes. Government lacked 3 In Bangladesh, the annual monsoons often cause massive erosion and accretion in the rivers, creating sandbars as small islands or attached to riverbanks, known as “chars” (small islands). These highly-disputed char lands comprise as much as 1,723 square kilometers or 1.2 percent of the country’s land area. 4 Bangladesh was then known as East Pakistan; it gained independence from Pakistan in 1971.