Program Advisor LAND-at-scale at RVO, the Netherlands Enterprise Agency.
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LAND-at-scale Chad- Land reform based on rapid evolution and present crisis
General
Chad is at the verge of an emerging land tenure crisis. As observed in many countries in Africa, formal and customary tenure systems overlap. Customary tenure systems, that generally prevail in rural areas, differ from region to region, with each its own needs and practices. Land conflicts are abundant, caused by degradation and transformation of land surfaces caused by climate change, as well as land investments by domestic investors with disputed legitimacy. Women, particularly, struggle in practice to obtain the same rights to land as men, even though country’s constitution enshrines gender equality. These land challenges play against a backdrop of a country in conflict. A land tenure crisis could lead to more disputes over land, weakened land productivity, uncontrolled urban development, and result in further social unrest of the country if not adequately addressed. Project objective The project aims to contribute to a more transparent and inclusive land administration system in Chad, especially for tenure insecure groups (women and youth), which creates security for communities to invest in sustainable income generating activities. Project strategies - Finalization of the Land Code: a review and rewrite of the content, combined with a multi-stakeholder validation workshop - Support to socio-economic land reform, with special attention for inclusion of women and youth, strengthening civil society organizations, capacity building on agricultural practices and dispute resolution mechanisms. - Improving the land registration system in N’Djamena by developing a blueprint of the current situation and roadmap towards the preferred future situation, together with the relevant government authorities in Chad.
LAND-at-scale Colombia- Land formalization through a Fit for Purpose approach in Indigenous and Afro-Colombian
General
In Colombia’s post-conflict context, access to land and tenure security are still a cause of many conflicts and inequalities. Especially Indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities are amongst the most vulnerable groups in Colombia. Their land tenure insecurity has a negative effect on the possibilities for livelihood improvements, and on the protection of natural resources within their territories. Project objective The project aims to contribute to filling the Multipurpose cadastre with information about land titles and natural resources of indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities, which is obtained in a fair, efficient and effective manner, and to create security for the communities to invest in sustainable income generating activities in those areas. Combining improved tenure security with income generating activities and protecting natural resources results in an integrated approach, tackling multiple issues at the same time. Project strategies - Improved tenure security through mapping 3 different communities using the Fit for Purpose method - Mapping possible income generating activities together with the communities and looking for external financing - Mapping natural resources together with the communities: how to protect or use them sustainably - Share this integrated approach with government, donors, financial institutions throughout the project in order to guarantee upscaling and to improve the Multi-purpose Cadastre
LAND-at-scale Uganda- Scaling up community-based land registration and land use planning in order to contribut
General
Uganda wants to transform from a predominantly low-income agricultural economy to a modern and prosperous country in 2040. Land is widely recognized as a pivotal element of Uganda’s economic and social transformation, as evidenced by the government ambition to improve tenure security and systematically title all land by 2040. For this purpose, a modern legal framework for land governance has been created. Until now, implementation of the existing law and policy to improve tenure security of customary land in a way that both accessible (low cost), context sensitive and flexible is limited, however. Project objective The project aims to contribute to the development of a structured and scalable approach towards improved tenure security and sustainable land use for men, women and youth on customary land, which is obtained using fit-for-purpose and participatory tools and approaches. The project aims to put inclusive, climate smart and sustainable land use planning into practice, combined with improving tenure security. Project strategies - Capacity building for customary leaders and communities, to apply a fit-for-purpose and participatory approach - Scaling up: prepare and implement a registration of customary land in the four project regions - Harnessing land: climate smart land use planning at subcounty level, including wetland use management - Learning and communicating: developing Standard Operational Procedures to be used for scaling up this approach in other regions
Looking back at the LAND-at-scale Exchange 2022: The importance of collective learning and reflections for land governance support programs
On 27-28 June 2022, RVO organized the first annual LAND-at-scale exchange, bringing together over fifty LAND-at-scale project partners, knowledge management partners, Committee members as well as representatives from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs for an in-depth introduction of all LAND-at-scale stakeholders and facilitate a learning exchange.
Seeking inclusive, economical, and technical solutions for a sustainable land administration system in Mozambique
Mozambique has a progressive land law that came into place through a historically inclusive process. However, there are many obstacles to the proper implementation of the law, including the communities’ lack of formalized land tenure. Terra Firma, one of the LAND-at-scale partners in Mozambique, has worked on achieving tenure security for communities in Mozambique for a long time. To learn more from their experiences and strategies on how to do this in a sustainable way, LAND-at-scale interviewed Maria Muianga from Terra Firma.
Learning from and scaling up tenure security approaches in Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso has a long history of land interventions aiming to achieve tenure security at the local level. The “Observatoire National du Foncier au Burkina-Faso” (ONF-BF) is one of the key players in the country working on mapping land rights within communities at commune-level. How does ONF-BF address the challenge of not only attaining tenure security through mapping, but ensuring these tenure rights last over time?
Challenges to sustain tenure in Colombia: harmonizing indigenous traditions with ‘modernistic’ principles of economic growth
The LAND-at-sale project in Colombia was the first LAND-at-scale project to kick off. With its mid-term review just concluded, the project provides interesting insights into the challenges of not only achieving tenure security but sustaining it over time within a complex context. LAND-at-scale interviewed Piet Spijkers at Kadaster International, to learn more about their approach to achieve and sustain tenure security in Colombia through the LAND-at-scale project.
Achieving and sustaining tenure: experiences from Uganda
The Global Land Tool Network (GLTN) has a lot of experience across the world in implementing tenure security projects. Like no other, they understand the threat insecurity of tenure has on people’s livelihoods and food security and have made it their mission to secure tenure rights for all. LAND-at-scale is working with GLTN in Uganda to design a scalable approach towards improved tenure security and sustainable land use for men, women and youth on customary land.
LAND-at-scale Somalia: Saameynta – Scaling-up Solutions to Displacement in Somalia
General
Somalia has over 2.9 million Internally Displaced People (IDPs) following decades of civil war and violent conflict. In addition, a significant increase of droughts and floods due to climate change have forced people away from their rural homes. Most IDPs have relocated in Somalia’s cities which has resulted in rapid urbanization, unplanned city development, and a speculation in land markets. This situation has spurred continuous displacements and forced evictions of IDPs, preventing them from building a sustainable livelihood. This LAND-at-scale project, funded jointly with the Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC), aims to contribute to a sustainable integration of IDPs in three Somali cities. Local governments, IDPs as well as host communities will be supported to contribute to a process of inclusive urban development and to apply land value capture for infrastructure development and basic services. Specifically for land governance strengthening, project strategies include:? Strengthening (technical and institutional) capacities of local authorities to address urban displacement and capacities of IDPs to participate in processes of inclusive urban development? Improving tenure security for IDPs to reduce risks of displacements and forced evictions? Enhancing the institutional framework within the three target cities to apply a land value capture approach.
LAND-at-scale Burundi: Amahoro at Scale – An integrated approach towards improved tenure security and land gov
General
Burundi has the world’s highest hunger score and around 45 percent of the population is affected by food insecurity. The country copes with increasing scarcity of land as a result of increasing population size, returnees and IDPs and climate change. With the majority of Burundians depending on agriculture for their food and livelihoods, land scarcity makes this reliance on agriculture precarious. This pressure on land causes elevated levels of land disputes with over 55% of all court cases being related to conflicts over land. The results of these disputes are often highly uncertain, as land is commonly not registered and no good documentation of ownership or use rights exists. ZOA has successfully implemented Land Tenure Registration projects in the Makamba-province, but the sustainability of the local land offices (SFCs) remains an issue, as well as guaranteeing gender equality in land governance.The objective of this LAND-at-scale project is to improve tenure security of women and men, conflict resolution and to create the basis for improved agricultural production, access to justice and sustainable, climate smart agri-businesses. This will be done through the following project strategies: 1) Implementing the land tenure registration approach in Nyanza Lac through the operationalization of the SFCs. 2) Ensuring local land conflict resolution mechanisms can effectively resolve land conflicts in Nyanza Lac. 3) Developing a business case that will result in the rollout of (financially) sustainable SFCs at national level, which is validated through multistakeholder engagements.