1. Securing Customary Land Rights For Development in Namibia: Learning from new approaches, opportunities and social settings
PRISCA MANDIMIKA, JERICHO MULOFWA
Ministry of Land Reform, Namibia
Prepared for presentation at the “2018 WORLD BANK CONFERENCE ON LAND AND POVERTY”, The World Bank - Washington DC,19-23 March 2018

2. Presentation Outline Historical Background on Namibia Facts on Namibia
The National Land Reform Programme
Situational Analysis
Case for Kavango
Program for Communal Land Development
Opportunities and Challenges
Lessons Learnt
Next Step

3. Brief historical background
: Displacement and exploitation under colonial rule
: Structural apartheid regime under South African rule
1990: Namibian independence and start of a comprehensive land reform process

4. Facts on Namibia Namibia has a land mass of 825,418 km²
Population of 2.2 million (2011 Census)
Control over land in post-independent Namibia:
20% is state land (including parks, desert, mining etc.)
44% of land is freehold/commercial farms
36% of land is communal

5. Map of Namibia showing designated areas for agricultural purposes
Land Profile of Namibia
Total surface area 83 million ha
33 million ha is communal land
5 million ha of communal land is designated for agricultural purposes.
12 million ha is protected area
38 million ha is commercial agricultural land

7. Land reform since Independence
Inequality of access to and ownership of land in Namibia is widely regarded as one of the main political issues in the country;
Therefore, shortly after independence, the Government convened the National conference on Land Reform and the Land Question on 24 June – 01 July 1991 Two approaches to land reform were adopted with the aim to:
Redistribute commercial agricultural land to previously disadvantaged Namibians
Tenure reform and development of underutilised land in communal areas to ensure tenure security and equal oportunities.

8. The National Land Reform Programme
: Displacement and exploitation under colonial rule
: Structural apartheid regime under South African rule
1990: Namibian independence and start of a comprehensive land reform process
1991: National Conference on Land Reform and the Land Question
The land reform process in Namibia seeks to:
bring about equity and access to land
promote sustainable economic growth
lower income inequalities
reduce poverty
The policy and legal framework guiding land reform consists of:
The Constitution of the Republic of Namibia
Agricultural [Commercial] Land Reform Act, 1995
National Land Policy, 1998
National Resettlement Policy, 2001
Communal Land Reform Act, 2002

9. Situational Analysis
Since 1997 MLR has been designating and gazetting communal areas for agricultural purposes
According to the Communal Land Reform Act, only Leasehold rights are allowed to be registered inside designated areas for agricultural purposes.
However, there are many existing customary land rights in the designated areas which the MLR is obliged to register in accordance to the Communal Land Reform Act. In addition it has been recognised that local residents will be the primary beneficiaries in the designated areas.
Therefore, the Programme for Communal Land Development through LLPP has embarked on the process of zoning and de-gazetting parts of the designated areas where customary land rights are situated which allows for the registration of the customary land rights.
To enable this, a planning process was needed which integrates land use planning and land registration and allows for the co-existence of customary land rights and leasehold land rights in the PCLD areas.

10. Situational Analysis Continued
The Communal Land Reform Act No.5 of 2002, allows for the registration of customary land rights on communal land.
Since 2008 with support from the American people through the Millennium Challenge Account, the Government through the Ministry embarked on customary land right registration mainly in the Northern Communal Areas.
The model used was to map and allocate individual customary land parcels of up to 20ha in the beginning with approval of land board.
This model did not favour other socio-settings found in other communal regions of Namibia such as the nomadic life style of the Ova Himba, the collection and gathering lifestyle of the SAN and the clan land ownership in the two Kavangos
With experiences from the PCLD, Group right could be explored to address the concerns of customary land right registration in those areas particularly in the two Kavango Regions.

11. Why prioritising the two Kavangos for group right registration
The two Kavangos are endowed with good land for both dry farming and irrigation and has the potential to feed the whole country if the correct interventions are put in place (tenure security, farming infrastructure, advisory services, etc)
There are currently over 1200 leasehold farms of more than 2500ha each in the two Kavango Regions
The Traditional Authorities have been allocating farming areas for leaseholds mainly as a source of income as beneficiary farmers pay some annual fees to them.
The majority of the inhabitants in Kavango have no means to engage in productive farming and hence derive their livelihood from subsistence farming on their customary land.
The refusal by the Traditional Authority for registration of customary land make the majority of people vulnerable to land disposition which make them become landless and plunge them into perpetual poverty.
The advancement of group rights will ensure tenure security and empoer the rest of the people to use the land sustainably for their livelihood

12. History of the Programme for Communal Land Development (PCLD)
1991 First Land Conference passes a resolution for the development of communal land for commercial agricultural purposes
1997 Cabinet approves the establishment of SSCF in communal areas.
2000 Study to identify virgin and underutilized land in areas where TAs support the establishment of SSCFs
2003=> Farms are planned in 8 areas, totaling close to five million hectares of which some were surveyed and designated (gazetted) for agricultural purposes under the CLRA
2006 Basket Fund established with support from KfW (German Development Bank)
2012 Road map developed and approved for implementation of the basket fund
2012/13 New Local Level Participatory Planning methodology developed, piloted at 3 sites and approved, forming the basis for development of designated areas
2014 Significant additional funding from both EU and KfW secured to broaden and expand the activities of the PCLD
2014 PCLD launched
2017 Top-up of Basket Fund agreed in Principle during bilateral negotiations

13. INTRODUCTION INTO THE PROGRAMME FOR COMMUNAL LAND DEVELOPMENT (PCLD)
The overall objective of the PCLD is to Improve livelihoods of communal farmers through:
Improve tenure security through the registration of communal land rights;
Support the Integrated Regional Land Use Planning;
Plan for and provide infrastructure in communal areas designated for agricultural purposes, and;
Build capacity of the beneficiaries of the PCLD as well as the MLR internally
Stimulate the private investments in communal land and promote the sustainable and economic use of land.
The PCLD receives financial support from the Government of Namibia, the European Union, and the German Development Cooperation through the German Development Bank (KfW) and GIZ;
The PCLD is a Ministerial programme which is implemented by the Ministry of Land Reform.
Support is channeled through a multi-donor Basket-fund modality which has been in existence since

14. PCLD Infrastructure support

15. CASE STUDY OF OTJETJEKUA DESIGNATED AREA
Description of the area Process applied
Otjetjekua covers an area of ha;
Over 100 families reside in the area;
The main land use is extensive cattle and goat farming;
These families have been living and farming in the area for generations on land allocated by the Traditional Authority
However, the common grazing areas were not protected.
16 villages opted to form a group through a cooperative known as the Otjetjekua Small Scale Farmers’ Cooperative (OSSFC);
A mixed approach of zones for customary land rights and a leasehold right over the grazing areas of Otjetjekua has been developed;
In total ha is registered under a leasehold right allocated to the cooperative and ha is zoned for the registration of individual customary land rights;
By-laws and rules of affiliation are developed and in place for the management of the area;
In total there are 113 registered cooperative members / families. The cooperative is spearheaded by a 8 member Board and a 7 member Supervisory Committee that have further subcommittees dealing with the management of different infrastructures;

16. CASE STUDY OF OTJETJEKUA DESIGNATED AREA
CASE STUDY OF OTJETJEKUA DESIGNATED AREA Development plan Impact on the ground
Registration of a 25 years leasehold right over the commonage area (Finalized);
Registration of 181 customary land rights inside 16 village areas;
Development of 127 Km of fencing (Finalized);
Construction of 5 Multipurpose Kraals (Finalized);
Drilling of 4 Boreholes (Finalized);
Installation of 10 boreholes;
Provision of 3 km of water piping;
Total cost: N$17 million (EUR1.2 million).
Improved understanding
Sense of ownership
Plan and manage together
Improved organization of farmers;
Management of infrastructure;
Improved rangeland management Grazing plans
Calving rates and improved breeding
Business orientation;
Interest from outside farmer has grown.

17. CASE STUDY OF OKONGO DESIGNATED AREA
Description of the area
Okongo covers an area of 60,000 ha;
48,000ha is occupied by 24 farmers with households while 12,000ha is occupied by 3 villages consisting of 150 families
The main land use is extensive cattle and goat farming as well as Mahangu (pearl millet)
There are two Traditional Authorities having jurisdiction over the area ( The Oukwanyama having the majority of the farmers and the Ondonga) The two TAs are often in boundary dispute
Three villages in the west opted to form a group through a cooperative known as the Onghalulu Farmers’ Cooperative
Process applied
Local Level Participatory planning conducted for both commonage and individual farming areas
A mixed approach of zones for customary land rights and a leasehold right over the grazing areas has been applied for Okongo West where as in total, 4,000 ha have been registered under customary land and 8,000 as leasehold to secure the commonage
By-laws and rules of affiliation are developed and in place for the management of the area;
In total there are 112 registered cooperative members / families. The cooperative is spearheaded by a 8 member Board and a 7 member Supervisory Committee that have further subcommittees dealing with the management of different infrastructures as well as monitoring the compliance of farmers using the commonage. (overstocking, settlements, etc)
The cooperative is also engaged in de-bushing to promote sustainable range management
Both individual lease holders and the cooperative receive advisory services from GIZ-Communal Land Development Project which is a result area of PCLD

18. CASE STUDY OF OKONGO DESIGNATED AREA
Development plan
Registration of a 25 years leasehold right over the commonage area (Finalized);
Registration of 15 individual leaseholds for 99 years
Development of 114 Km of fencing (Finalized);
Construction of 6 Multipurpose Kraals (handling facilities)
Drilling of 5 Boreholes (Finalized);
Installation of 11 boreholes;
Provision of 8 km of water piping;
Total cost: N$17 million (EUR1.2 million).
Impact on the ground
Improved understanding
Sense of ownership
Plan and manage together
Improved organization of farmers;
Management of infrastructure;
Improved rangeland management Grazing plans
Calving rates and improved breeding
Business orientation;
Interest from outside farmers has grown.

19. THE LOCAL LEVEL PARTICIPATORY PLANNING PROCESS
STAGE 1: REGIONAL CONSULTATION
Ensure full participation of all relevant regional authorities in the LLPP process, and selection of the high-potential and priority site(s) for the SSCF within the designated areas
STAGE 2:LOCAL ANALYSIS, SELECTION AND PLANNING
Mapping, agreement on the selection of beneficiaries, land right validation, designing of the scenario for desired future of SSCF, including infrastructure investments on a local level, agreement on the rules of affiliation
STAGE 3: VALIDATION
Validation of the local level scenario and investment plan with relevant stakeholders, on local, regional and national level. Publication of investment plans and lease applications via the CLB
STAGE 4: INVESTMENTS
Submission of validated LLPP results with required consent letters/ supporting documents to the MLR for tender preparation

20. SUCCESS STORIES OF LLPP CHALLENGES
Of the 13 PCLD areas, LLPP has been completed in 10 of them (over 2,5 million ha) In 7 of the PCLD areas, infrastructure has been developed ( hectares)
408 leaseholds have been registered of which 4 are for group rights over large areas
5 cooperatives have been registered and 3 more are being registered
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In PCLD areas where land rights have been secured, land holders have increased their own investments in both infrastructure and livestock
The combination of improved infrastructure and advisory services (to 2,750 farmers) has further improved livestock conditions
Lengthy process
Communication is key
Inception and transparency is essential
Clarity of stakeholders and their roles
Flexibility where needed
Care full usage of maps
Validation of data and decisions taken
Socially correct decisions sometimes outweigh technical correct decisions

21. LLPP results in more sustainable development interventions
Combining tenure security with the development of areas is key to sustainable development
While development through LLPP is more sustainable, it is very costly and time consuming
Zoning leasehold areas and individual customary land right areas, through LLPP, resulted in solving the issue of having customary land rights in designated areas.
Disputes over jurisdiction and boundaries often stall progress during but also after LLPP (when construction starts)
A special set of skills is needed to be able to sucessfully execute an LLPP activity
Outside factors are important for success, especially in Namibia where events such as drought, FMD and value chain collapse have occurred in the past years
While the LLPP process has proven to be effective, its efficiency will need to be improved to be able to be implemented for all group rights
Initial impact of PCLD interventions show an improvement in farming practices and investments on the land.

22. Lessons Learnt from PCLD
Communal land right registration
The PCLD has already implemented some group right in form of cooperatives in four of the designated areas for agricultural production. They have chosen a farming lease as a form of land tenure which also protects the infrastructure supported on their land. This model could be replicated at village level in the two Kavangos where the village members could decide to protect their land with an occupational land right in the name of the village.
Local level participatory planning (LLPP)
This is a decision making modality at local level which the PCLD has deployed to come up with infrastructure investments at community level. LLPP promotes democracy, transparency and inclusiveness in the decision making process so that the decision are home grown. In the formulation of group rights , this tool can be used in the two Kavangos to make collective decisions, on how the group right will be governed, in whose name it will be registered, the extent of land and the desired tenure security.
Infrastructure development
The infrastructure development has a provision for capacity development mainly on water management. This provision could be strengthened to include management plans, record keeping, financial management and the actual infrastructure maintenance. Being so organised will attract further support for boosting rural development in the two Kavango regions.

23. Next Steps
Consideration of lessons learnt by the Ministry through the PCLD process and activities for support:
Provision of training to TAs, headmen and community members using lessons learnt from LLPP to enhance cooperation and build trust and overcome antagonism.
Get the buy in of the TAs in Kavango in the land documentation process especially in the manner in which they advocate.
Benefits of land registration should be made clearer to induce a mind-set shift among the TA’s.
Opportunity for all stakeholders to reconstitute a forum to discuss and contextualise the current exploratory work on group rights.
Exchange visits to share what could work and applicable to Namibia.
Establishment of a Working Group on Group Rights to investigate the policy and legal framework to implement group rights