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We envision a world in which land governance systems, both formal and informal, are effective, accessible, and responsive for all. This is possible when land tenure and property rights are recognized as critical development issues and when the United States Government and its development partners demonstrate consistent attention and a firm commitment to supporting coordinated policies and programs that clarify and strengthen the land tenure and property rights of all members of society, enabling broad-based economic growth, gender equality, reduced incidence of conflicts, enhanced food security, improved resilience to climate change, and effective natural resource management.
Mission Statement
The USAID Land Tenure and Resource Management (LTRM) Office will lead the United States Government to realize international efforts—in accordance with the U.S. Government’s Land Governance Policy—to clarify and strengthen the land tenure and property rights of all members of society—individuals, groups and legal entities, including those individuals and groups that are often marginalized, and the LTRM Office will help ensure that land governance systems are effective, accessible, and responsive. We will achieve this by testing innovative models for securing land tenure and property rights and disseminating best practice as it relates to securing land rights and improving resource governance within the USG and our development partners.
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Displaying 421 - 425 of 440Land and Rural Development Project: Colombia
General
The Land and Rural Development Program began in July 2013 and is a five-year task order under the Strengthening Tenure and Resource Rights Indefinite Quantity Contract. The program helps the Government of Colombia improve its ability to resolve the many complicated land issues that have plagued the country for years and that must be resolved to achieve a lasting peace. Objectives Improved capacity of the GOC at the regional and national levels to restitute lands to victims of conflict (Restitution Component); Improved capacity of regional and national GOC institutions to formalize rural property rights and to allocate public lands (baldíos) (Formalization Component); Improved capacity of regional and national government entities to mobilize and execute public resources for rural public goods (Rural Development Component); and Improved information available and efficiently used to deliver land rights services (Information Sharing and Management Component). After four years of intense negotiations in Havana, Cuba, between the GOC and the FARC, both parties signed a peace accord in the final months of 2016 with the intent of ending more than 50 years of civil war. Although several controversies swirled around the final terms of the agreement, they did not center on the agreement’s commitments to strengthen land tenure security and rural livelihoods, giving the program significant latitude to continue collaborating with the GOC to facilitate land restitution, strengthen smallholder land rights, and mobilize the provision of public goods and services in historically neglected rural areas—and thereby create the conditions for sustaining peace. Expected Outcomes Adapting to an ever-changing sociopolitical environment to effectively engage new government institutions and new local government authorities. Defining and promoting the adoption of international best practices for implementing quick, efficient, scalable land formalization activities to ensure that citizens have secure land tenure on paper and in practice. Developing methods for protecting land from being irregularly acquired and for identifying abandoned, illegally adjudicated, or stolen land, so as to create a reserve of land that can be provided to victims of conflict. Accelerating the processing of restitution claims, ensuring that the interests of good-faith secondary occupants are protected, and ensuring that local governments are equipped to comply with restitution rulings. Identifying and tackling constraints to efficiently move national-level government funding into rural areas to increase access of rural communities to public goods, services, and markets. Identifying and proposing solutions to specific land tenure access problems faced by women and ethnic minorities. Partnering across government institutions in the design, establishment, and maintenance of land-related knowledge management systems that will allow all public agencies to share information in real time, reducing the time associated with land-related transactions. Strengthening coordination among USAID implementing partners in the regions where we work to maximize efficiencies and reduce the duplication of efforts. The program works at the national level and in 57 municipalities from five focus regions: Cauca, Cesar, Meta, Montes de María, and Tolima. For more information about the Land and Rural Development Program, visit http://ColombiaLRDP.org
Capacity Building for Responsible Minerals Trade: Democratic Republic of Congo
General
The Great Lakes Region (GLR) and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are characterized by an abundance of natural resources, including significant deposits of gold, cobalt, copper, diamonds, tantalum, and tin. However, the potential of these resources to contribute to economic growth and sustainable development has remained untapped. The goal of the Capacity Building for Responsible Minerals Trade (CBRMT) project is to strengthen the capacity of the Democratic Republic of Congo and regional institutions to transparently regulate a critical mass of the trade in strategic minerals in eastern DRC in order to transform the region’s mineral wealth into economic growth and development. The project supports programming in responsible mineral access, trade, and chain of custody related tin, tantalum, tungsten, (3Ts) and gold. The project is implemented in three locations with a headquarters in Kinshasa, an Eastern Congo field office in Goma supervising the conflict free minerals trade, and an office in Bujumbura, Burundi, the headquarters of the International Council on the Great Lakes (ICGLR). Partners include Pact and RESOLVE, as well as a number of Congolese organizations dedicated to the responsible minerals trade. Objectives Improve the Legal and policy framework for mining sector in the GDRC Strengthen the capacity of key actors in conflict-free minerals supply chain in the GDRC at national, regional and private sector levels Assess the efficacy of conflict-free mineral certification and traceability systems, and scale up systems for the 3Ts and Gold Improve credibility and capacity of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region and in particular it independent mineral chain auditing capabilities Expected Outcomes Improved legal and policy framework for the GDRC mining sector with respect to artisanal and small-scale mining an public private partnerships that can support it Capacity of key actors in conflict free minerals supply chain developed to enable transparent monitoring of operations, increased incomes for artisanal miners and exporters, and increased revenue for GDRC Conflict free mineral certification and traceability systems scaled up to mitigate the impact of smuggling and insecurity in at least 250-400 more mine sites International Conference on the Great Lakes Region credibility and capacity improved to participate and audit membership compliance with conflict free mineral certification and traceability systems
Land-Potential Knowledge System
General
Achieving long-term food security while protecting biodiversity and other ecosystem services will require: sustainable intensification of production on existing lands, restoration of degraded lands, and converting to agriculture only those lands where potential production is high, while degradation risk is low. To meet these requirements, knowledge and information about how land potential varies at field to regional scales is needed. However, existing knowledge and information about land potential is poorly integrated and unavailable at the scale of small farms where it is most urgently needed. The Land-Potential Knowledge System (LandPKS) aims to increase access to global and local land potential knowledge. The program is developing innovative mobile data collection, analysis methods, and tools to be used by farmers, pastoralists, governments, and development workers to sustainably increase agricultural production, biodiversity conservation, and improve climate change adaptation efforts and other ecosystem services. LandPKS uses mobile phone and cloud computing technologies to: Globalize access to local and scientific knowledge and information about land potential, Identify and deliver the knowledge and information relevant to each type of land/soil to anyone with a mobile phone, and Connect people with similar types of lands and challenges with each other to share learning and experiences. Through an interagency agreement issued from USAID, USDA’s Agricultural Research Service is developing LandPKS as a platform to allow others to use as the foundation for developing apps to address more specific information needs. The suite of mobile phone applications is currently being tested as a pilot in Kenya and Namibia, and the first application will be released to the global public in April or May 2015. Objective Support long-term, sustainable increases in productivity and biodiversity conservation through improved land-use planning and better land management Expected Outcomes Local and scientific knowledge about the potential productivity, biodiversity, and resilience of specific types of land for local, regional, and global application will be collected, shared, and integrated Governments, farmers, and pastoralists will have greater access to local and scientific knowledge from all over the world that is relevant to specific types of land Innovation will be promoted through peer-to-peer learning Gender equality will be increased by providing women farmers improved access to knowledge and information For more information about LandPKS, visit: http://landpotential.org
Enhancing Customary Justice Systems in the Mau Forest: Kenya
General
The Enhancing Customary Justice Systems in the Mau Forest (Justice) Project piloted an approach for improving women’s access to customary justice, particularly related to women’s land rights, by enhancing the customary justice system in one target area. The work also resulted in a clearer understanding of the relationships between customary and statutory institutions and laws, and the development of a model to promote the integration of informal and formal justice systems. The pilot activity complemented other USAID programs in Kenya focused on addressing land/resource tenure, access to justice, and governance challenges, in the upper Mara River catchment area within the Mau Forest Complex, Kenya (“Mau”). By design, this project has relied extensively on assessments and other information, for and under the ProMara project, gathered since February 2010. The pilot project lasted from 2010 – 2012 and a follow-on project began in 2013. The follow-on project seeks to share the Kenya Justice Project approach as well as results and lessons learned from the Project evaluation to explore opportunities and support for broader sustainable application throughout Kenya, particularly focused on formalizing and institutionalizing linkages and processes between the formal and informal justice sectors, consistent with Article 159 of Kenya’s Constitution. Objectives Develop basic justice modules to train traditional leaders on provisions of the Kenyan Constitution and National Land Policy. Build capacity within the customary justice system to more effectively perform duties. Build women’s capacity to govern and to know, understand, and exercise their rights. Support justice learning related to the Kenyan Constitution and the National Land Policy within schools and families. Raise community’s legal awareness. Outcomes Chiefs publicly issued a new Katiba (local constitution) to guide their decision making and legal responsibilities to the community. Significant increases in women’s access to land and control over household level decision-making around land and other family assets. In addition, several women in the community now have their names on land titles, including widows. Two of the Ol Pusimoru sub-locations elected 14 women elders out of 50 total in 2012. This election of women as elders is the first within the Maasai and Kalenjin communities. The number of women elders grew to 22 in 2013 and 33 out of 50 elders total in 2014. Chiefs and elders now require spousal consent (with witnesses) for all land transactions, including leases. In the Ol Mariko sub-location, women who received training made the request that elders no longer hear rape cases. The elder council agreed with the request and is now referring all such cases to formal legal systems. Trained 34 women in environmental and forest management and alternative dispute resolution. These women then conducted over 20 peer sessions, reaching more than 268 women.
Sudan Rural Land and Governance Project
General
The Sudan Rural Land and Governance (SRLG) project is a follow-on project to the Sudan Property Rights Program (SPRP), which assisted the Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS) to develop a draft land policy based on extensive public consultation and research, as well as provided support to build the capacity of the South Sudan Land Commission (SSLC). The Sudan Rural Land and Governance project helps to harmonize the land policy with the 2009 Land Act, supports two selected States and two Counties governments for more effective land administration and planning. The goal of this project is to define and establish rural land governance institutions and processes so as to promote property rights, encourage sound land use management, mitigate conflict, reduce the potential for rural landowners to be divested of their land, and to encourage broad based participation in future land allocation, management, and investment decisions.