ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the meaning of some basic concepts behind policy choice and examines the linkages between them. It outlines the expected contribution of land policy and rural development efforts to the alleviation of food insecurity, and rural poverty through improved income distribution and sustained agricultural growth. It is true that markets and profit-making incentives can work in North African countries. It is also true that empirical evidence suggests that the Western conception of a free exchange of land property and means of production does not even exist in many rural areas. In North Africa, state intervention to adjust landed property rights, and to limit the economic freedom of agricultural producers, creditors and traders has two dimensions: political and Islamic-based morality. Because food is a biological necessity for human survival, the adequacy of access to food is closely associated with changes in poverty level.
