Resource information
This report synthesizes and discusses the findings of a series of self-assessments of the land governance1 situation in Brazil conducted entirely by knowledgeable Brazilians using a standardized indicator-based diagnostic assessment instrument. The findings, therefore, represent the perception of local experts based on their collective experience and available data. The primary audience of this report comprises federal and state officials directly involved in land governance within the assessed states and in the other states. Apart from the utility of the actual findings, the standardized, indicatorbased instrument that was used, the Land Governance Assessment Framework (LGAF), is a useful tool that government and development partners can use to prepare projects or programs for which success is contingent on the proper functioning of land-related institutions.
The overall development objective of this assessment is to reliably measure land governance capabilities and performance across a cross-section of the country’s territory. The output can inform public policy on the areas of land governance that should be strengthened to support key socio-economic agendas of the government. This information could reasonably serve as a guiding framework for designing and dimensioning a strategic program of investments, capacity building and incentivecompliant regulatory reforms to enhance land governance performance.
This assessment is both highly relevant and timely, given that land and natural resource assets tied to land, are at the heart of much of Brazil’s current competitiveness and its strategically valuable positioning in the changing global economy. Addressing claims to land are also central to the achievement of the country’s socio-political goals in both urban and rural areas, in particular, to reducing inequality. These goals which include regularization of land occupation in urban and rural areas have been strongly emphasized in the recent policy positions and priorities of the current federal government and many state governments through ambitious flagship programs such as Minha Casa Minha Vida (PMCMV) and Terra Legal. Additionally, with increasing global attention on climate change and sustainable production patterns, the government as recently as 2012 gave a strong signal of its commitment to the land agenda by mandating registration of production in the Rural Environmental Cadaster (CAR) through the new Forest Code
