Following a November 2012 public roundtable conducted in Kabul through USAID’s Land Reform in Afghanistan (LARA) project, one man was moved to grant portions of his family’s land over to each of his sisters, who had previously been denied the opportunity to inherit any of the property. In Afghanistan, women often lack secure rights to inherit and own land, which makes them more vulnerable to poverty, domestic violence, hunger and homelessness. The LARA project works to secure property rights for Afghan citizens through improved institutional, policy, and legal systems.

As attention to the central role land governance plays in economic growth, food security, and sustainable development continues to increase, recognition of the Voluntary Guidelines (VGs) for the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries, and Forests in the Context of National Food Security’s importance as a framework to guide effective laws and policies continues to rise. Workshops on the VGs have recently been held in Rwanda and Cameroon, with representatives from governments, civil society, and the private sector from around 20 countries attending each event.

On March 14, the Haiti Property Law Working Group released Haiti Land Transaction Manual, Vol. 1: A how-to guide for the legal sale of property in Haiti. This manual is an important step in the reconstruction efforts in Haiti following the devastating 2010 earthquake, which have been greatly impeded by weak land administration systems and the resulting disputes over land and property. The new manual will help Haitians, international donors, and civil society navigate the country’s complex bureaucratic legal system.

Last week, the World Bank's 14th Annual Conference on Land and Poverty – which was sponsored by USAID along with several other organizations – brought together more than 800 participants from 90 countries, representing government, private sector, civil society, academia, and development partners. The large attendance from a diverse set of participants reinforces the increasing recognition that good land and resource governance is central to a variety of development objectives. The theme of this year’s conference was “Moving towards transparent land governance: Evidence-based next steps”.

As the World Bank’s Annual Conference on Land and Poverty convened this week, the World Bank Group released a statement recognizing the importance of secure land rights for a variety of development objectives and reiterating the World Bank’s commitment to improving land governance and promote environmentally and socially sustainable agriculture investments. According Dr. Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank Group, “securing access to land is critical for millions of poor people.

By Dr. Gregory Myers, USAID Division Chief, Land Tenure and Property Rights

Last month, USAID’s Rwanda Land Project launched a new website that serves as a comprehensive source of information on land issues, specific to Rwanda. The new website aspires to be a one-stop shop for researchers, civil society organizations, policy makers, and citizens to gain access to:
land policies, laws and regulations;
land-related research and publications;
land news and events;
profiles of organizations that extensively engage in advocacy, communications, policy-making and research around land in Rwanda.

The purpose of this Act is to improve and develop agricultural infrastructure, living environments of rural communities, rural tourism and resort resources, marginal farmland, etc. in an integrated and systematic manner, to raise the competitiveness of the agricultural and fisheries industries and facilitate the improvement of living environments of rural communities in order to contribute to the construction of modernized rural communities and balanced national development.

The purpose of this Act is to raise funds for the maintenance and management of agricultural production infrastructure, and thus contribute to the development of agricultural and fishing villages by developing and using agricultural infrastructure and its adjacent areas in a systematic and environment-friendly manner.

ASM-PACE, a partnership between the World Wildlife Fund and Estelle Levin Limited to address the environmental impacts of artisanal and small scale mining (ASM) in some of the world's most important ecosystems, recently featured an excellent blog by Terah de Jong, Chief or Party of USAID’s Property Rights and Artisanal Diamond Development (PRADD) project in the Central African Republic.

As we noted in a commentary earlier this week, land tenure insecurity poses significant financial risks to investors. It also negatively impacts food security, economic growth, and natural resource management. Governments, multi-lateral organizations, donor agencies, and civil society are focusing greater attention on improving land tenure security. The private sector has also become increasingly cognizant of the financial risks of tenure insecurity and the importance of incorporating land tenure in strategic risk analysis.

This newly-revised research paper from USAID discusses the key issues, opportunities, and recommendations for strengthening the land and resource rights of Indigenous Peoples (IP). Despite occupying 20 percent of the world’s territory, IP often have weak claims on land and resource rights – which are frequently challenged by rising demand for land, increasing population pressure, and global climate change - and are among the most vulnerable groups in the world. IP comprise one-third of the world’s poor and live an average of 20 years less than the nonindigenous population.