Land governance for development in Central and Eastern Europe: Land fragmentation and land consolidation as part of Sustainable Development Goals

Most transition countries in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) face enormous challenges in developing a viable land structure, requiring a set of measures which is unprecedented in its scale and intensity to speed up this process. Analysis of policy initiatives in CEE countries illustrates that options for solving fragmentation and small scale of farms have concentrated on particular instruments like land consolidation and land banking. From discussions in the expert network LANDNET it can be concluded that land governance in CEE countries has scope for better coherence and more balanced and focused use of various instruments. Land governance should be developed as a comprehensive framework of mutually supportive instruments for development.

Framing of land fragmentation as part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is believed to be a useful way to come to more specific policies in CEE countries and other regions of the world.