"RDI, Rural Development Institute, Development Program."

Information About the RDI
Rural Development Institute

(RDI) means The Rural Development Institute. IT is an international nonprofit organization working to end global poverty by helping to secure land rights for the world’s poorest. For more than 40 years, RDI has worked in more than 40 countries to help secure land rights for more than 400,000,000 people. Nominated for the Nobel Prize and other prestigious awards, RDI partners with governments, world leaders, NGOs, foundations, donor agencies such as the World Bank, USAID, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and others to design and implement land laws, policies and programs that provide opportunity, further economic growth and promote social justice.

History of the RDI: - RDI was founded by Professor Roy Prosterman, a Harvard Law School graduate who left his Wall Street career at Sullivan & Cromwell to teach at the University of Washington School of Law where he established the Law in Sustainable Development Program. Troubled by the escalating conflict in Vietnam, Prosterman recognized that secure land rights could provide the rural poor a place to grow food to feed their family and a foundation to raise themselves out of poverty without being forced to join the Viet Cong. His “land to the tiller” program led to a 30% increase in rice production, and an 80% decrease in Viet Cong recruitment.

Imprtant Information About the RDI’s Work :-

RDI has worked in over 40 countries. Today, RDI works in China, India and post-conflict areas of Africa with a focus on women’s land rights. Women comprise over 50% of the world’s population, are responsible for 60-80% of the world’s food production and yet own less than 5% of the world’s titled land.

RDI’s “micro-land ownership” program in India and Pakistan provides landless families with a micro-plot as small as 1/10th of an acre on which they can build shelter, grow food to supplement the family diet and income, and raise livestock or start a micro-enterprise. Like the idea that started the “micro-credit” movement, “micro-land ownership” has the potential to provide opportunity for millions of the world’s poorest.