Are there gender differences in the impact of land security? : Evidence from Urban Lesotho Rie Muraoka Mywish K. Maredia Songqing Jin (Michigan State University) 1 “2014 WORLD BANK CONFERENCE ON LAND AND POVERTY” The World Bank - Washington DC, March, 2014

Land Administration Reform Project (LARP) in Lesotho The project covers the urban and peri-urban areas of the capital city Maseru. Funded under the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA)-Lesotho compact The main objectives of the project is to strengthen land rights of the legitimate occupiers by formalizing those rights. To register 55,000 parcels and give their owners title deeds of their property (referred as “Lease”) To record the ownership in reformed land information system. MCA has also supported training and public awareness to promote understanding and acceptance of gender equality and to ensure equal access to economic resources and opportunities. 2

Roles of Secure Land Rights 1.Increase number of land parcels used as collateral for mortgage (Feder 1988, Lopez 1997, Mushinski 1999, Carter & Olinto 2003) 2.Increase investment in the property, frequency of transfers, subletting, rentals, and other economic activities (Besley, 1995, Feder 1988, Jacoby et al. 2002, Do & Iyer 2007, Deininger & Jin 2006) 3.Reduce in land related conflicts (Deininger & Castagnini 2000) 4.Develop factor markets (Field 2002, Yang 1997, Murphy 2000) 3

Women Empowerment and Land Rights Women who own lands have more decision making powers within households - positive effects on food expenditure and children’s education (Fafchamps and Quisumbing 2000, Schultz 1999, Allendolf 2007) Effect of land regulation program on land investment is greater for female headed households (Ali et al. forthcoming) 4

Objectives Aims to answer the following research questions based on the cross sectional data collected in urban Lesotho in Is there relationship between secure land rights and land investment? 2.If there is any relationship between secure land rights and land investment, is there difference between men and women? 3.Does the perception of increased land security in the form of getting the Lease increase the likelihood of a household to participate in land markets and facilitate investment? 4.Are these perceived outcomes of increased land security different for men and women? 5.What are the determinants of correct legal knowledge about land rights? 5

Data A cross-sectional data based on a household survey conducted during March- June 2013 and covered four northern municipal councils of greater Maseru, the capital city of Lesotho households and 2242 land parcels. Data were collected by interviewing one of the household members about information on household characteristics, parcel characteristics including detailed information on land investment, potential outcome indicators of the area-wide land registration intervention, and the perception, knowledge and opinions of the respondent on land issues. A separate module targeted towards women was also administered separately with the women member of the family (when the main respondent was a male) to capture her perception, knowledge and opinions on land rights and perceived effects on economic behavior. 6

Household characteristics 7 Total Male headed Female headed Testing Number of households1,8101, Age of the HH head (years)514953*** % of HH whose head knows how to read and write 93%90%97%*** % of HH whose head has completed Form 1-5 school 39% 38% Total number of members in HH ** Total value of assets (maloti)61,77580,23335,839*** Value of total food consumption per capita per day (maloti) Total expenditures per capita (maloti) 2,0352,0102,072

Respondent characteristics 8 Total Male- respondent Female- respondent Testing (a) Number of respondents N/A Age (years) HH head57%75%48%*** HH head's spouse25%3%36%*** HH head's child13%16%12% Single23%28%20%*** Monogamous marriage50%56%46%*** Widow22%10%29%*** Know how to read and write97%96%97% Completed Form school 1-540% 39% Engaged in salaried employment32%38%28%*** Engaged in self employment19%22%17%*

Parcel characteristics 9 Total Leased plot Non-Leased plot Male- headed Female- headed Testing (a) Number of parcels Women are mainly responsible for parcel 42%33%43%8%93%***** Owned & currently used by HH86%79%87%85%87%** Owned by HH & rented-out to other6%10%5% 6%** Owned by HH & currently not used nor occupied 9%11%8%10%7% Residential parcel85%78%86%84%86%** Commercial parcel7%11%6%7% * Parcel size (m²)1,2551,2471,2561,2741,214 Total value the parcel could be sold for (Maloti) 38,80834,51039,73338,51938,763 Monthly value the whole parcel could be rented out (Maloti) 5,9778,4825,4575,3796,676*** Owner experienced any conflict in the acquisition of this parcel or anytime thereafter 3%4%3% 4% Owner is concerned about being in conflict 5%3% 6% ***

Property characteristics 10 Total Leased plot Non- Leased plot Male- headed Female- headed Testing Private tap water76%85%74%75%77%*** Electricity77%81%77%78%76% Private flush toilet20%46%15%20% *** Private indoor bath89%94%88%89% *** Main source of heating used is electricity or gas 24%55%19%24%22% Main source of cooking used is electricity or gas 90%95%89%90%89%

Respondents' opinion about the effect of the Lease on willingness to pay, sell, rent out, & investment 11 Total Male respondent Female respondent Testing (a) Number of respondents1, ,176 Know what is the Lease62%65%60% Prepared to pay more for land with the Lease 77%78%77% More willing to sell property with the Lease 73%72%73% More willing to rent out a land parcel with the Lease 59%55%60% Likely to construct and make improvements on that property with the Lease 91%89%92%*

Knowledge about land rights 12 Total Male respondent Female respondent Testing (a) Basotho have a right to hold land title in Lesotho, provided they meet legal requirements under Land Act %92%95%* Basotho have the right to transfer or acquire land rights from others 92%90%93% Basotho women have the right to inherit land on an equal basis as their brothers 94%91%96%** Basotho women have the right to maintain a piece of their ex-husband’s land in the case of divorce 89%87%90% Basotho women have the right to inherit from the deceased spouse 98%96%99%*** Basotho women have the right to apply for the formal land title (the Lease) on her own 96%93%97%** % of respondents who knows all rights mentioned above 77%73%80%**

Empirical Model 13

14 Empirical Model

Relationship between the Lease and property characteristics (Linear probability models for all parcels) 15

Perceived impact of the Lease on market participation & investment (Linear probability models for all respondents) 16

Perceived impact of the Lease on market participation & investment (FE for HH that have both male & female respondents) 17

18 Determinants of knowledge of land rights (Linear probability models for all respondents)

Determinants of knowledge of land rights (FE for HH that have both male & female respondents) 19

Summary of Main Results The Lease and some property characteristics are positively correlated. There are no distinct differences among men and women in relationship between secure land rights and property characteristics. Perceived impacts of the Lease on market participation and investment are consistently significant for both male and female. Women have greater perceived impact of the Lease on land rental and investment. Regardless of gender, Basotho are well aware of their land rights. 20

Conclusions Data is not good enough to indicate direction of causal relationship between secure land rights and investment. Impact evaluation of LARP after follow-up survey could provide evidence on it. There are no considerable differences in gender in relationship between secure land rights and property investment and perceived impact of the secure land rights on investment. This could come from same educational level between man and women in Lesotho. Though people are highly aware of land rights, the acquisition rate of the Lease is not high. This indicates existence of high transaction costs of obtaining the Lease. Thus, LARP is expected to mitigate these costs and assist to achieve high registration rate of the Lease in Lesotho. 21