C. Doss, C. Kieran, S. Kim, A. Quisumbing & K. Sproule Examining Gender Inequalities in Land Rights Indicators in Asia March 24, 2015 World Bank Washington, DC

Motivation A broad consensus has emerged that strengthening women’s property rights plays important role in achieving equitable growth. A review of land ownership in Africa (Doss et al. forthcoming) and the data gaps that it revealed led to an interest in reviewing existing evidence from recent large-scale and nationally representative studies in Asia. No comparative study on women’s landownership in Asia exists to date. The lack of data for both cross-country analysis and within country analysis presents a barrier to developing effective policies and programs to redress gender inequalities in landownership.

Objectives Building on conceptual framework of Doss et al. (forthcoming), we review available data on indicators of men’s and women’s landownership in Asia to identify where data and gender gaps lie. Using nationally representative datasets from Bangladesh, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam, we calculate 5 indicators assessing gendered land outcomes to identify gender gaps in land ownership. We highlight the policy implications of this work.

What are the indicators of women’s land ownership? Average size/value of women’s (men’s) land

Which countries have data? Legend >3 Legend >3

Summary of findings from review Studies employ different definitions of landownership and gather different indicators; regardless, women are disadvantaged compared with men in terms of landownership, plot size, and value in almost all cases. There is a wide range in the magnitude of the gender gap, depending on country, region, type of land, indicator, definition of landholding, and inclusion of joint ownership, even within the same country (e.g. India and Vietnam) Joint ownership is not often reported. This may be because it is uncommon or it may be due to a lack of data. No studies present management rights over land. Few studies include sex-disaggregated information on area or value of landholdings; however, when reported, women have less land and it is worth less as compared with men.

Definitions of land rights SurveyDefinition of land rights DHS Landowner: person who owns land alone or jointly. FAO Landholder: “…person who makes major decisions regarding resource use and exercises management control over the agricultural holding operation. The holder has technical and economic responsibility for the holding and may undertake all responsibilities directly, or delegate responsibilities related to day-to-day work management to a hired manager.” (FAO, 2007) BIHS (Bangladesh) Official landowner: person who owns the plot officially. Landowner: person who owns the plot officially or unofficially. LSMS (Tajikistan) Landowner: person whose name is on the legal title. Land manager: person who makes decisions about a plot of land. LSMS (Timor- Leste) Land manager: person who makes decisions about a plot of land. LSMS (Vietnam) Landowner: person(s) whose name is on the land use right certificate (LUC) Land manager: person(s) not listed on the LUC in charge of managing and using the plot.

Demographic and Health Surveys – sole and joint ownership (2010 – 2011)

FAO Gender and land database, Asia

Living Standards Measurement Study (LSMS) and Bangladesh Integrated Household Survey (BIHS) DatasetSurvey dateSample sizeRepresentativeness Bangladesh Integrated Household Survey (BIHS) ,500 households Nationally representative of rural population Tajikistan Living Standards Survey (TLSS) ,860 households Nationally representative Timor-Leste Survey of Living Standards (TLSLS) ,477 households Nationally representative Vietnam Household Living Standards Survey (VHLSS) 20049,189 households Nationally representative

(2) LANDOWNERSHIP INDICATORS: CROSS-COUNTRY ANALYSIS OF BANGLADESH, TAJIKISTAN, TIMOR- LESTE, AND VIETNAM

Bangladesh: Official landownership (weighted)

Tajikistan: Landownership (weighted)

Timor-Leste: Land management (weighted)

Vietnam: Land use certificates (weighted)

Conclusions and further research The data confirms large gender gaps in landownership exists. So what did we learn? Gender gaps vary widely across indicators. Definitions matter. Context matters. Focusing only on women misses part of the story. Joint ownership can be important in some contexts.

Acknowledgements Funding for this work was provided by the Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research (CGIAR), Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets. We are grateful to IFPRI colleagues Kamiljon Akramov, Karen Brooks, Chiara Kovarik, Wahid Quabili, and Mara van den Bold, as well as Amber Peterman, a former colleague now at the University of North Carolina, for their guidance in helping us contextualize and analyze the data. We would also like to acknowledge Nynne Warring from the Social Protection Division of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) for helpful comments regarding the Gender and Land Rights Database. Comments and questions welcome: Caitlin Kieran

Works cited Doss, C. R., C. Kovarik, A. Peterman, A. Quisumbing, and M. van den Bold. Forthcoming. “Gender Inequalities in Ownership and Control of Land in Africa.” Journal of Agricultural Economics. Ahmed, A Bangladesh Integrated Household Survey (BIHS) 2011–2012 (datasets). Washington, D.C.: International Food Policy Research Institute. DHS (Demographic and Health Surveys). Datasets-for-Analysis.cfm FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) A System of Integrated Agricultural Censuses and Surveys. Vol. 1, World Programme for the Census of Agriculture Rome. World Bank Vietnam 2004 Household Living Standards Survey. ———. 2007a. Tajikistan 2007 Living Standards Measurement Survey. ———. 2007b. Timor-Leste 2007 Survey of Living Standards.

Thank you