1. IVORY COAST RURAL LAND LAW IMPLEMENTATION
European Union Land Governance Programme transversal Project 6th CAPITALIZATION MEETING Addis Ababa, november 8-10, 2017
IVORY COAST RURAL LAND LAW IMPLEMENTATION

2. RuRAl lAnd lAw OF CôTe d’ivoiRe 1. Context
Côte d’Ivoire’s Rural Land Law was voted December 23, 1998.
Its objective is the recognition of customary right holders by the issue of land certificates through a state programme of identification, at the request of stakeholders (i.e. non systematic).
A land certificate (Certificat Foncier) is not a certificate of ownership, but the basis upon which application for ownership may be made. It can be individual or collective.
Application for such certificates is to be undertaken by 2023.
Once obtained, the owner of the certificate has three years within which to apply for its registration and transformation into a land title (Titre Foncier), a real property entitlement.

3. RuRAl lAnd lAw OF CôTe d’ivoiRe 1. Context
Each sub-prefect appoints the Village Land Management Committee (VLMC), who oversees the land formalisation process.
The land formalization process comprises village delimitation + an inventory of customary rights of all landholders.
The informations are published through display in the village and bordering villages during three months.
Land certificates are issued to individuals or groups.

4. RuRAl lAnd lAw OF CôTe d’ivoiRe 1. Context
Creation in 2016 of the Rural Land Platform :
located in the Prime Minister Office
inter-ministerial coordination (Min. of Agriculture, Min. of Forestry, Min. of Internal Affairs, Min. of Finance, …)
Creation in 2017 of AFOR (Agence du Foncier Rural) :
Ministry of Agriculture (Direction du Foncier Rural) is in charge of conception and implementation control of national rural land policy.
AFOR is in charge of implementation of rural land policy.

5. RuRAl lAnd lAw OF CôTe d’ivoiRe 2. Progress
Number of land certificates
3 986 land certificates = ha (out of ha) = 0,5 %

6. RuRAl lAnd lAw OF CôTe d’ivoiRe 2. Progress
Number of delimited villages

7. Villages to be delimited Villages already delimited
Côte d’Ivoire
22 millions inhabitants
km2

8. Issued land certificates
Demands for land certificates
Issued land certificates

9. Projects of village delimitation and land certificationWB EU F
AfDB

10. UE CONTRIBUTION TO LAND CERTIFICATION IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE
From 2006 to 2016
euros
Reinforcement of Rural Land Governance Platform
euros
Reinforcement of Ministry of Agriculture for rural land policy
Rural land certification through a organization (Intercoton)
National project of rural land certification
euros

11. VLMC of Affalikro
VLMC of Kodjina

12. Village of Kodjina

13. RuRAl lAnd lAw OF CôTe d’ivoiRe 3. SUCCESS FACTORS
The Rural Land Law of Côte d’Ivoire (RLLCI) recognised that the idea of Africa as empty of owners was a myth, and that customary rights deserved to be treated as real property interests.
RLLCI opens the way to give legal force to the right of communities to vest ownership in themselves as a group.
The RLLCI makes room for localised dispute resolution prior to certification and helps to limit contested inheritance matters.
From the land certificate, communities can make internal arrangements for issue of usufruct and other rights.

14. RuRAl lAnd lAw OF CôTe d’ivoiRe 4. CHALLENGES
A group holding a collective certificate has no easy route to convert that certificate into a land title. Members must subdivide the asset into private parcels.
The only option for a family to own land is for a single household member to register the land under his name, meaning the land would now belong to him alone rather than to the family.
The law must address the opportunity to adopt formally recognised common properties as a route to securing many threatened pastures and forested lands.

15. RuRAl lAnd lAw OF CôTe d’ivoiRe 5. LESSONS
How to decrease costs of registration ?
How to dispel fear of subsequent property taxes ?
How to decrease multiplicity of procedures and actors involved ?
Can all customary rights be identified and converted through registration within a mere decade ?
Do the majority of landholders want such formalization and are they prepared to pay for it ?
How to ensure women’s and youth rights are fairly taken into account ?

16. RuRAl lAnd lAw OF CôTe d’ivoiRe
Thank you for your attention !