This involves up to eight years' confinement in a special facility perhaps a prison farm, says Mr Pretelt.

ECONOMIST: Colombia

Closer to Sablayan is the Sablayan Prison Farm where, among other quirky eco-experiences, you can go bird watching with prison guides.

BBC: The undiscovered jewel of the Philippines

Among the names regularly touted, General Olusegun Obasanjo, a former military ruler turned opposition activist, has said repeatedly since he was released from prison last month that he wants to return to his farm though he clearly remains politically engaged.

ECONOMIST: Nigeria

Mr. Morsi spoke in an ornate palace that Mr. Mubarak inaugurated three decades ago, a world away from the Nile Delta farm where the new president grew up, or the prison cells where he had been confined by Mr. Mubarak for his role in the Brotherhood.

MSN: US must respect Arab values, says Egypt��s Morsi

When they are done with school, many young black males end up at Angola Prison, a correctional facility located on a former plantation where inmates still perform manual farm labor, and where 90 percent of them eventually die.

NPR: 'The Great Deluge': A Katrina Post-Mortem