Presented by Akrofi, E. O.: Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Akrofi, E. O., & Arko-Adjei, A.: Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana, Clarissa Augustnus, Danilo Antonio, Samuel Mabikke, Cyprian Selebalo : UN-Habitat, Nairobi, Kenya. LAND TOOLS FOR CUSTOMARY TENURE IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

GLTN BRIEFING AND PROGRAMME  Introduction  Objective of study  Methodology  Results  Key success factors  Best practice tools CONTENT Land Tools for Customary Tenure in Sub-Saharan Africa KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

GLTN BRIEFING AND PROGRAMME Introduction ● Paradigm shift: From: o Impediment to economic growth o Major cause of rural poverty in sub Saharan Africa o Insecure land rights To: o Customary tenure could be secure and has the potential to alleviate poverty in sub Saharan Africa. o Majority of sub Saharan dwellers depend on customary tenure Land Tools for Customary Tenure in Sub-Saharan Africa KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

GLTN BRIEFING AND PROGRAMME Internal factorsExternal factors Population growth Land conflicts Gender inequality in accessing land Urbanization Rural urban poverty Low agricultural productivity Food security Climate change Most tools aim at securing rights for marginalized groups in urban and rural areas Factors Land Tools for Customary Tenure in Sub-Saharan Africa KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

GLTN BRIEFING AND PROGRAMME Tools Development ● Several approaches have been used to deal with the challenges ● Top-down attempts to eliminate or ‘streamline’ customary tenure and make it ‘productive’ … o Formal Mapping and Registration o Compulsory Acquisition; achieved very little success ● Search for new and innovative tools continue spearheaded by Customary communities, UN-Habitat, IFAD, FAO and other development agencies. Land Tools for Customary Tenure in Sub-Saharan Africa KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

GLTN BRIEFING AND PROGRAMME Objective of study ● Identifying, reviewing and analysing customary tenure security tools o developed and/or delivered through customary governance systems, o either as part of a statutory system, at the community level o as partnership between community and government structures/outside partners o or a combination of the above Land Tools for Customary Tenure in Sub-Saharan Africa KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

GLTN BRIEFING AND PROGRAMME Methodology ● Data Collection o Review of literature o Analysis of various project reports on customary tenure reform o Develop a comprehensive analytical framework for understanding the interrelationship between customary tenure and GLTN core values Land Tools for Customary Tenure in Sub-Saharan Africa KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

GLTN BRIEFING AND PROGRAMME Results ● Local recording of land rights and transactions: o Documenting land transactions using informal processes managed by families or communities. ● Local capacity development: o Using simple, pro-poor, accountable and equitable tools to develop the skills of customary groups to improve the security of tenure. ● Grassroots participation: o Strengthening the participation and influence of grassroots communities that the tools are meant to serve. Land Tools for Customary Tenure in Sub-Saharan Africa KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

GLTN BRIEFING AND PROGRAMME ● Registration and certification: o Recognizing and documenting of land rights and providing security of tenure for groups and individuals. ● Informal settlement upgrading: o Measures aimed at improving access to land and housing for urban poor staying in informal areas. ● Equity and gender responsiveness: o Strengthening gender equality, particularly recognition of women’s rights and women’s access to land. Land Tools for Customary Tenure in Sub-Saharan Africa Results cont’d KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

GLTN BRIEFING AND PROGRAMME ● Governance: o Developing transparent and accountable systems that give legal patterning of land rights within customary societies and the way in which rights are regulated. ● Dispute resolution: o Providing and alternative and pro-poor dispute resolution mechanism ● Economic empowerment and natural resource management: o Using business models for improving income levels and livelihood of small farmers and vulnerable groups and also ensuring sustainable use of natural resources. Land Tools for Customary Tenure in Sub-Saharan Africa Results cont’d KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

GLTN BRIEFING AND PROGRAMME ToolStrengthWeakness Participatory spatial and development planning (Mali and Tanzania) Decentralised tool Promotes participation and good governance Ensures sustainability Lack Capacity Unequal power play Lack of interest by community Empowering Grassroots Women (Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda) Awareness creation Capacity building Empowerment Entrenched customary practices Illiteracy and lack of resources Participatory enumeration and mapping (Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda) Transparent and accessible land information Design, implementation and maintenance costs are prohibitive for local communities Lack of local capacity Tools for Grassroots Participation and Empowerment Land Tools for Customary Tenure in Sub-Saharan Africa KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

GLTN BRIEFING AND PROGRAMME ToolStrengthWeakness Informal recording of land transaction and land information Petits papiers’ (Benin, Ivory Coast, Mali, Ghana) Use of local resources Easily updated and maintained Availability at the grassroots Poor record keeping Records may not be accessible to the general public Lack technical competence Land rights of women and young may not be captured Land allocation committees (Ghana) and informal land offices (Kenya) Use local resources in keeping land records Easily maintained Nepotism on the part of committee members May be based on outdated customs and therefore gender biased Allocation note (Ghana) Use of local resourcesNot supported by legislation PFRs (rural land plans) (Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Mali, Benin and Guinea) Legislative support Community participation and partnerships Perceived increased transparency and fairness in the process Requires external financial support or subsidy May lack transparency Unequal power play Tools for Local Recording of Land Transactions Land Tools for Customary Tenure in Sub-Saharan Africa KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

GLTN BRIEFING AND PROGRAMME ToolStrengthWeakness Village and community titling initiatives (Tanzania, Mozambique) Partnerships between local authorities, community leaders and local communities help to strengthen land administration, improve land use and reduce land conflicts Bureaucracy in processes Lack of resources at the local level High cost of establishing village registries Changing legal framework Land regularisation (Rwanda) Ensures Gender equity in land distribution and management Facilitates access to finance (use as collateral) Dependent on subsidy and technical expertise High development and maintenance cost Flexible land tenure (Namibia), Built on local practices Use of paraprofessionals Partnership between community and local government Upgradeable tenure rights High initial cost High registration cost Perpetuation of inferior rights Tools for Registration and Certification Land Tools for Customary Tenure in Sub-Saharan Africa KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

GLTN BRIEFING AND PROGRAMME ToolStrengthWeakness Urban land registry (Benin, Nigeria) Improves taxation Uses systematic procedures Lack of community ownership Needs technical experts to design databases Rural land certification and registration (Ethiopia) Flexibility of implementation and therefore scalable Pro-poor tool ensuring equity in land distribution Use of local resources Local capacity building for maintenance and sustainability STDM (Piloted in informal settlements in Uganda and Kenya) Its flexibility ensures social legitimacy Can be adapted to community needs Technologically based Need to build local capacity Land Tools for Customary Tenure in Sub-Saharan Africa Tools for Registration and Certification cont’d KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

GLTN BRIEFING AND PROGRAMME ToolStrengthWeakness Residential license (Tanzania) Partnership approaches between community local authority and civil society used to establish and maintain tool Inadequate human and financial resources at local level Slow and cumbersome registration process Loss of land rights of the poor after registration due to informal distress sales Communal Land Trust and Associations (Kenya, Zambia) Partnerships between community and government in development of the tool Equity with respect to gender in access to land rights and decision making Preservation of group tenure rights Development and maintenance cost prohibitive to informal settlers Inadequate manpower to manage and maintain tool Unaffordable cost of lease Slum upgrading (South Africa) Supported by legislation instruments and international conventions Ensure secure tenure for the urban poor Limited human and financial resources Land Tools for Customary Tenure in Sub-Saharan Africa Tools for Registration and Certification cont’d KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

GLTN BRIEFING AND PROGRAMME ToolStrengthWeakness 1. Gender evaluation criteria Facilitate gender equity an land rights and government Flexible and can be adapted in different environments Lack of enforcement in areas where there are no explicit legislation due to deep-rooted customary practices. 2. Spousal consent (Ethiopia, Madagascar, Mozambique, Uganda) Protects land rights of women and other vulnerable groups Lack of enforcement in areas where there are no explicit legislation due to deep-rooted customary practices. 3. Awareness creation (Tanzania, Uganda, Mozambique) Bring to the fore the plight of women in accessing land and contributing to decisions affecting land use and its management. Lack of financial support and political will Inability to break entrenched masculine cultural practices Tools for Gender and Equity Land Tools for Customary Tenure in Sub-Saharan Africa KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

GLTN BRIEFING AND PROGRAMME ToolStrengthWeakness 4. Community dialogue (community conversation) Freedom of expression by all sectors of society Encourages active participation of women and other vulnerable groups Expensive venture Skewed power relations may negatively affect dialogue 5. Community self- analysis (Rwanda) Freedom of expression Identification of gender inequalities in community Costly to develop and implement Tools for Gender and Equity cont’d Land Tools for Customary Tenure in Sub-Saharan Africa KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

GLTN BRIEFING AND PROGRAMME ToolStrengthWeakness Compensation approaches (Ghana) Vulnerable customary land rights are given a portion of land proceeds/compensation when land is taken away for other uses In some cases vulnerable groups have no negotiating power, they only receive ‘whatever’ they are assigned Outlawing outmoded Inheritance laws (Mozambique, Ethiopia, Rwanda) Legislation give equal inheritance rights to male and females Laws are not fully enforced in some customary areas because of entrenched customary practices Statutory recognition of occupancy rights, slums and informal settlements (Kenya, Namibia, Botswana) Improves security of tenure Encourages provision of infrastructure May encourage distress sales by poor groups as property values rise as a result of the preserved tenure security Tools for Governance Land Tools for Customary Tenure in Sub-Saharan Africa KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

GLTN BRIEFING AND PROGRAMME ToolStrengthWeakness Anti-eviction (Uganda, South Africa) Improves security of tenure Encourages provision of infrastructure May encourage distress sales by poor groups as property values rise as a result of the perceived tenure security Tools for Governance cont’d Land Tools for Customary Tenure in Sub-Saharan Africa ToolStrengthWeakness Informal dispute resolution (Alternative Dispute Resolution) mechanisms - Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda, Benin, Kenya. Win-win conflict resolution mechanism affordable and familiar to customary communities May be based on community practices and therefore biased to vulnerable Tools for Dispute Resolution KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

GLTN BRIEFING AND PROGRAMME ToolStrengthWeakness Joint venture cash crop plantations (rubber plantation in Ghana Making resources available to the poor and improving access to markets thereby reducing poverty Likely power play in the pricing of crops to the disadvantage of farmers Community-based natural resource management schemes (Irrigation, Water, Fishing, Livestock associations)-Zambia, Mozambique, Swaziland, Uganda, Kenya) Community based management and public participation encouraged in natural resource management Community takes active interest to ensure sustainability Effective participation and ownership of schemes ensures sustainability Conditions for such cooperative schemes make them more affordable to majority of the members Sometimes landholders are not directly involved in negotiation of the conditions for such cooperation Economic empowerment and natural resource management Land Tools for Customary Tenure in Sub-Saharan Africa KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

GLTN BRIEFING AND PROGRAMME ToolStrengthWeakness GNSS, Remote sensing, GIS Improves security of tenure Reduce boundary disputes Improves documentation High investment cost, Technical experts, Participatory Mapping Requires relatively minimal training and investment cost Active involvement of community Elite capture Tools for Mapping Land Tools for Customary Tenure in Sub-Saharan Africa ToolStrengthWeakness Group right secured through community associations Local knowledge and inputs Community participation in planning and management ensures sustainability Conflict with adjoining communities Tools for recognizing and documenting group rights KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

GLTN BRIEFING AND PROGRAMME Key success factors ● Level of implementation o Subsidiarity is an important success factor ● Level of community participation o Community involvement and consensus building are crucial for success ● Build on existing structures or new structures o Building on existing customary governance structure and norms is faster and cheaper than creating new institutions Land Tools for Customary Tenure in Sub-Saharan Africa KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

GLTN BRIEFING AND PROGRAMME Key success factors cont’d ● Empowerment – devolution of powers ● Technical Autonomy ● Cost – Donor dependence or self-sustaining? ● Legitimacy- Statutory or social/local legitimacy Land Tools for Customary Tenure in Sub-Saharan Africa KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

GLTN BRIEFING AND PROGRAMME Best Practice tools ● Tools for grassroots participation Participatory spatial and development planning Empowering Grassroots Women Participatory enumeration and mapping ● Tools for local recording of land transactions: Allocation note and land committees (Ghana) Informal recording of land transactions and land information (Benin, Ivory Coast and Mali) Land Tools for Customary Tenure in Sub-Saharan Africa KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

GLTN BRIEFING AND PROGRAMME ● Tools for local capacity development: Customary Land Secretariat (Ghana) ● Tools for registration and certification: Village and community titling initiatives (Tanzania, Mozambique), Rural land certification and registration (Ethiopia) and STDM (Uganda and Kenya): ● Tools for informal settlement upgrading Participatory slum upgrading (Kenya and South Africa); Land Tools for Customary Tenure in Sub-Saharan Africa Best Practice tools cont’d KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

GLTN BRIEFING AND PROGRAMME ● Tools for gender and equity Spousal consent (Ethiopia, Madagascar, Mozambique and Uganda), gender evaluation criteria, awareness creation and community self-analysis (Rwanda); ● Tools for governance Compensation approaches (Ghana), Outlawing outmoded inheritance laws (Mozambique, Rwanda, Ethiopia) and anti-eviction (Uganda, South Africa); Land Tools for Customary Tenure in Sub-Saharan Africa Best Practice tools cont’d KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

GLTN BRIEFING AND PROGRAMME ● Tools for dispute resolution: Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanism ● Tools for economic empowerment and natural resource management Community-investor partnerships and Community-based natural resource management schemes (Irrigation/Water/ Fishing/Livestock associations) – (Zambia, Mozambique, Swaziland, Uganda, Kenya). Land Tools for Customary Tenure in Sub-Saharan Africa Best Practice tools cont’d KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

GLTN BRIEFING AND PROGRAMME THANK YOU Land Tools for Customary Tenure in Sub-Saharan Africa KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Land Tools for Customary Tenure in sub-Saharan Africa NEED TO KNOW MORE? Presented by Akrofi, E. O. :Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY