Why are governments not protecting water & land rights

Whether they are democracies or dictatorships, governments respond to power, money and influence. So if you are the minister of water and development or agriculture, or trade, and have 10,000 peasants practicing subsistence farming on 50,000 acres of prime, fertile, rain-fed land in your country (zero tax dollars) why on earth wouldn't you lease that same land to a visiting Kuwaiti emir for $5-10m in forex revenue. "Land grab"? No, Stella, I suspect the more accurate term would be 'rain and land gift'.

Here in Massachusetts, the state won't set Safe Yield limits that are protective of the environment because influential water suppliers prefer to raise revenues by selling more water rather than raising water rates, which is politically more challenging. Hence, conservation gets short shrift. As in the video clip about Ethiopia, it's all about money. Consequently, our vital water resources are threatened by the so-called Tragedy of the Commons, even as technology makes it more cost-effective than ever to conserve without compromising quality of life.