During the Fifth Replenishment Phase of
the Global Environment Facility (GEF-5), portfolio
monitoring and learning review were introduced as key
components of knowledge management in the GEF Secretariat.
These strategies were intended to address the need to
generate knowledge on innovative practices, experiences, and
lessons from projects financed by the GEF. In that regard,
the Land Degradation focal area strategy for GEF-5

This report is a synthesis of information gleaned from four case studies of World Bank-financed land programs in Azerbaijan, Bolivia, Ghana, and the Lao People's Democratic Republic. The case studies were designed to both broaden and deepen our understanding of how land policies affect women and men, with an aim to applying this knowledge in very practical ways to World Ban-supported land projects.

Although a large literature discusses
the productivity effects of land fragmentation, measurement
and potential endogeneity issues are often overlooked. This
paper uses several measures of fragmentation and controls
for endogeneity and crop choice by looking at inherited
paddy and wheat plots to show that these issues matter
empirically. While crop choice can mitigate effects,
fragmentation as measured by the Simpson index increases

This report is about implementing
low-cost rural land certification. Prior to 1975,
Ethiopia's land tenure system was complex and
semi-feudal. Tenure was highly insecure, arbitrary evictions
were common, and many lands underutilized. High inequality
of land ownership reduced productivity and investment,
leading to political grievances and eventually the overthrow
of the imperial regime in 1975. The Marxist government that

This report is about integrated land
policy reform in context of rapid urbanization in China.
Over the past thirty years, China has undergone a profound
economic and social transformation as it moves towards a
market-oriented economy. Land issues are implicated in this
ongoing transformation in numerous ways. The allocation and
security of land rights are key factors in China's
quest for economic growth and social stability. Land use

Government entities in India hold large
amounts of public land. Their landholdings include some of
the most valuable property in the country. Parts of this
patrimony lie vacant or underutilized. Public sector bodies
also own large blocs of land that sometimes stand in the way
of efficient completion of urban infrastructure networks. At
the same time, urban India is deficient in basic
infrastructure -- both network infrastructure needed to

The report is addressed to two
audiences: the World Bank team and the decision makers and
technical experts at the city administration who define the
future of land and asset management in Warsaw. The report
starts (section two) from reviewing municipal property
holdings and associated institutional arrangements. This
section focuses primarily on land and financial aspects of
asset management, due to the overall orientation of the

Although increased global demand for
land has led to renewed interest in African land tenure, few
models to address these issues quickly and at the required
scale have been identified or evaluated. The case of
Rwanda's nation-wide and relatively low-cost land
tenure regularization program is thus of great interest.
This paper evaluates the short-term impact (some 2.5 years
after completion) of the pilots undertaken to fine-tune the

This report evaluates the legal
framework for rural land rights, the regulations of rural
housing sites, the effects of land requisition on farmers
who lose land, and some selected issues affecting urban land
rights. The focus of this report is how to enhance property
rights in a number of different contexts. The report makes a
series of specific policy recommendations for rural
agricultural land, rural housing land, to protect rights in

The aim of this discussion paper is to
ascertain the government of Lao's (GoL) current
practices in negotiating, awarding, and managing land
concessions; enhance GoL understanding and commitments to
develop national capacities targeting improved land
management, that will generate revenues for GoL, and ensure
sustainable development as an urgent priority; and provide a
basis for dialogue within the government to enable its

Land policy, administration and
management are areas of strong client demand for technical
advice and operational support. This review sought to help
the Bank better position itself to present coherent advice
on policy, institutional arrangements and practice. The
potential implications are a lowering of reputational risk
to the Bank; greater efficiency in the process including
joint data gathering; and building of greater momentum and

The main objective of the Egypt Public
Land Management Strategy is to provide the Government of
Egypt (GOE) with practical and politically feasible policy
recommendations to reform existing public land management
policies and practices in the aim of improving the business
climate in Egypt. This study is presented in two volumes:
Volume one with the main policy note, supported by Volume
two with background notes on access to public land by