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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 416 - 420 of 440Feed the Future Tanzania Land Tenure Assistance Activity
General
The objectives of the Feed the Future Tanzania Land Tenure Assistance activity (LTA), are to reduce land tenure-related risks and lay the groundwork for sustainable agricultural investment for both small holders and commercial investors throughout the Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT) and in the value chains of focus for Tanzania’s Feed the Future program. Awarded in December 2015, initial LTA efforts will support approximately 41 communities and local government authorities in the Iringa and Mbeya Districts of Tanzania to clarify, document and certify land ownership. Efforts will also increase local understanding of land use and land rights. Activities will increase individual property rights and land tenure security and will help to lay the groundwork for sustainable investment for both small holders and commercial investors in the region while better protecting the interests of both the private sector and local communities. Objectives Assist villages and district administrations in completing the land-use planning process and delivering Certificates of Customary Rights of Occupancy (CCROs) in selected villages within two districts (Iringa and Mbeya) Build capacity of village land governance institutions (Iringa and Mbeya) Build capacity for district-level land governance (Iringa and Mbeya) Build capacity to use USAID’s Mobile Application to Secure Tenure (MAST) throughout SAGCOT and nationally. LTA will build upon the progress achieved through USAID’s MAST pilot to develop a low-cost, participatory land registration process, with a strong focus on strengthening women’s land rights.
Land 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
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
AgroInvest: Ukraine
General
The AgroInvest project aims to accelerate and broaden economic recovery in Ukraine and contribute to global food security efforts by creating a more inclusive and competitive agricultural industry. In particular, AgroInvest is expected to increase awareness among rural landholders and producers of their land rights, facilitate the adoption of legislation needed for agricultural land reform, increase agricultural lending to small and medium producers, establish wholesale and regional markets, and strengthen the capacity of producer organizations and industry associations.
Economic Prosperity Initiative: Georgia
General
USAID’s Economic Prosperity Initiative (EPI) supported a working group to develop the Land Registration Strategy and Action Plan. The draft strategy addresses the need to establish policies that deal effectively with all types of owners who received land as part of the original land privatization process. The action plan defines the program governance structure, sets the implementation timeline and phases, identifies necessary human and technical resources and outlines the overall budget (about $34 million) to complete the land reform/registration. The leadership of the Ministry of Agriculture has already reviewed the drafts. As a next step, the Minister of Agriculture plans to make a presentation of the action plan to the Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development and Minister of Justice in late September, and then to the Prime Minister for final approval. During the upcoming quarter, EPI will conduct additional outreach with the donor community, where EPI already identified preliminary resources by the World Bank and the EU to contribute toward the land reform initiative. EPI will also support the Ministry of Agriculture to conduct outreach with NGOs.