National Land Use Policy.

The National Land Use Policy aims at enhancing people’s food security, water resource development, improvement of transportation, economic and business development, and protection of environment and cultural heritage. The Policy objectives are: promoting sustainable land use management and protection of cultural heritage areas, environment, and natural resources for the interest of all people in the country; strengthening land tenure security for the livelihoods improvement and food security of all people in both urban and rural areas of the country; recognizing and protecting customary land tenure rights and procedures of the ethnic nationalities; developing fair, affordable and independent dispute resolution mechanisms in accordance with rule of law; promoting people centered development, participatory decision making, responsible investment in land resources and accountable land use administration in order to support the equitable economic development of the country; developing a National Land Law in order to implement these objectives (Part I). The Policy will conduct research on land use change in order to understand impacts on land tenure rights and livelihoods, national food security, national economic development, social wellbeing and environment benefits in the country (Part XII).The guiding principles of the national land use policy are: enhancing sustainable land use in the development and implementation of policies and legal frameworks related to land and natural resource management; ensuring transparency and accountability in land and natural resource governance; promoting people’s participation and collaboration particularly ethnic nationalities, women and smallholder farmers in decision making related to land and natural resource management; recognizing and protecting private and communal property rights as included in the constitution; making efforts to promote appropriate international good practices in land and natural resource governance (Chap. II). Its basic principles are: recognizing legitimate land tenure rights of people, as recognized by the local community, with particular attention to vulnerable groups (smallholder farmers, poor, ethnic groups and women); prioritizing the interest of public citizens over private companies in land use decision making; ensuring equal opportunities for men and women over land resources, tenure rights and participatory decision making; adopting international best practices, as guidelines on the responsible governance of land, fisheries and forests tenure in the context of national food security and human rights standards.The overall goal for the national land use policy is to achieve sustainable and equitable socio-economic development through optimal land management and utilization, promoting effective land information management; promoting inclusive public participation and consultation in decision making processes related to land use and land resource management; promoting effective market based solutions, such as formal recognition of land tenure rights or use of new tax mechanisms, to address land management issues such as discouraging land speculation; reviewing the National Land Use Policy to meet changing socioeconomic needs of the country as necessary; implementing fair procedures relating to land acquisition, compensation, relocation, rehabilitation, restitution, and reclaiming land tenure and housing rights of internal displaced persons and returning refugees caused by civil war, land confiscation, natural disasters and other causes.This national land use policy aims: to adopt improved agricultural and other land use systems that will provide benefits; to promote land use activities that ensure sustainable utilization and management of environmental, natural and cultural resources for national socio-economic development; to ensure planned, environmentally friendly, affordable and well-distributed human settlements for both rural and urban areas; to update and harmonize all land use related policies and laws, and strengthen institutional capacity at all levels of Government.Environmental basic principles are: permitting freedom of crop selection and adoption of cultivation technologies in a way that will not negatively affect the environment; developing law and procedures for addressing the issues of landlessness and affordable housing; decentralizing decision making related to land; strictly and transparently enforcing contracts related to land in compliance to the law; addressing the impacts of climate change and natural disasters; reversing and alleviating adverse environmental effects at local, national, regional and global levels (Part II). Technical, financial and infrastructure support shall be made available to improve the land tenure security and agricultural practices of ethnic nationalities, in order to protect the environment, increase climate change resilience, and improve their food security (71).