LAND TENURE and RIGHTS for Improved Land Management and Sustainable Development
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
GLOBAL LAND OUTLOOK WORKING PAPER LAND TENURE AND RIGHTS for Improved Land Management and Sustainable Development Prof. Emmanuel Kasimbazi September 2017 DISCLAIMER The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) concerning the legal or development status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The mention of specific companies or products of manufacturers, whether or not these have been patented, does not imply that these have been endorsed or recommended by UNCCD in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned. The views expressed in this information product are those of the authors or contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of UNCCD. CONTENTS Acronyms 03 Executive Summary 04 1. General Introduction 06 1.1 Introduction 06 1.2 Objectives and Scope of the Paper 06 1.3 Structure of the Paper 07 2. Context and Background 07 3. Land Tenure Systems 08 3.1 Definition of the term land tenure 08 3.2 Types of Tenure 08 4. Land Policy and Regulatory Framework 11 5. Land Rights and Gender 14 6. Customary Land Rights 15 7. Land Administration and Institutions 15 7.1 Institutions at the international level 16 7.2 Institutions at the regional level 16 7.3 Institutions at National level 16 8. Land Registration and Titling Systems 18 9. Sustainable Land Management 19 10. Land Grabbing 20 11. Land Disputes and Conflicts 21 12. Land distribution / Land Reform 23 13. Conclusion and Tenure Reform Measures to Promote Sustainable Land Management 24 14. References 27 ACRONYMS ADR Alternative Dispute Resolution AfDB African Development Bank ASDP Agrarian Structural Development Planning ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations AU African Union CAADP Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme CBD Convention on Biological Diversity CBRD Community-Based Rural development CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women ESCAP Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific EU European Union FAO Food Agriculture Organization GEF Global Environment Facility GLTN Global Land Tool Network GIZ Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit IDPs Internally Displaced Persons IFAD International Fund for Agricultural Development ILC International Law Commission LIMS Land Information Management System LPI Land Policy Initiative NGOs Non-Governmental Organizations NSDIs National Satellite Distribution Institutions NSDI National Spatial Data Infrastructure RECs Regional Economic Communities REDD+ Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation SDGs Sustainable Development Goals SILEM Sahel Integrated Lowland Ecosystem Management Project SLM Sustainable Land Management UNCCD Nations Convention to Combat Desertification UNCCD United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNEP United Nations Environment Programme UNFCCC United Nations Framework Convention to Combat Climate Change UN-HABITAT United Nations Human Settlements Programme VGGT Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure UNCCD | Global Land Outlook Working Paper | LAND TENURE AND RIGHTS 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This working paper was commissioned by Access to land, security of tenure and land the United Nations Convention to Combat management all have significant implications Desertification (UNCCD), in order to explore how for livelihood, development, land degradation land tenure systems in different ecosystems reduction, and investments in Sustainable Land and bio-cultural regions around the world are Management (SLM); land tenure security is, linked to land degradation or sustainable land moreover, central to agricultural production and management. It is against this backdrop that five sustainable use of natural resources. These major issues surrounding land tenure, and rights are all crucial elements to consider in view for improved land management and sustainable of the challenges faced by humanity today, development, are addressed; these are: which include climate change, the provision of adequate and equitable housing, food security, • Problems associated with land ownership disaster risk reduction, and peace and security. (titling, tenure and customary rights); • The current trend of policy and regulatory Although many countries have completely regimes within land law; restructured their legal and regulatory • The status and challenges of land frameworks regarding land, in many cases administration and institutions; harmonizing modern statutory law with • Marginalization of some social groups, such customary law, insecure land tenure still as women, local communities and indigenous exists in many countries around the world. people; Tenure systems in many developing countries • Violation of land rights, for instance, via land have been influenced by former colonial land grabbing; policies that overlaid established patterns of • Land distribution and land reform processes; land distribution. The concept of tenure entails and varying degrees of legality, according to the • Types of land conflicts and disputes, and legislative framework. Land tenure systems are corresponding resolution mechanisms. diverse and complex because they are a product of manifold historical, cultural and political Land degradation – i.e., the significant reduction factors. of the productive capacity of land - is occurring in many countries and in very different Common trends in tenure systems can be ecological, socio-economic and climatic contexts. observed in most countries; this is due to: It has been estimated that between 20% and shared historical background; new international 30% of global land surface is already degraded. regulations, initiatives and influences regarding Degradation of land and natural resources has basic human rights ; and - although emerging both natural and anthropogenic drivers. Main from different property rights systems and drivers include population growth, climate tenure-related rules – the near-universal change, land conflicts and institutional failures; recognition of the power of the private sector they have severe impacts on the livelihoods in a liberalized and globalized world. This is of the poor who are heavily dependent on why land policy and regulatory frameworks natural resources. Although the measures and protect land rights of individuals and define techniques for the sustainable management of the responsibilities of institutions. Globally, land and natural resources and the mitigation of improving government effectiveness and degradation are well known, the implementation strengthening the rule of law both enhance of the appropriate measures and techniques the adoption of sustainable land management remains a challenge. practices. UNCCD | Global Land Outlook Working Paper | LAND TENURE AND RIGHTS 4 Improved government effectiveness works dispossessed. Poor smallholders with insecure especially well when it gives local communities land tenure, pastoralists, and indigenous the mandate to manage their natural resources. populations are particularly vulnerable. Land grabbing is often accompanied by severe Regulatory frameworks also create the legal environmental degradation, the destruction of basis for institutions that administer land, as healthy ecosystems, and the pollution of water, well as setting out the rules for systems such soil and air. Fortunately, however, there are as land titling and registration, which facilitate several mechanisms that have been developed the smooth operation of property rights to resolve disputes in this area. systems. Land registration and titling ensure that transactions in land must be recorded Land redistribution is an issue of paramount in the registration system at the time of the importance in a number of cases: when land transaction so as to be legally valid, or to have rights are highly polarized; when access to land legal priority over unregistered transactions. is very unequal; when land is underused by large owners; or when historical injustices need to be In most developing countries, land policies and addressed. regulatory frameworks have been used as an ideological tool for maintaining the unequal This paper purports to establish that there is a distribution of land and inequitable security of clear linkage between land tenure management tenure. The regulation of land use is usually and sustainable development, and that most of rationalized on the basis of the need to protect the land tenure problems that exist in developing the public interest. While there is a legitimate countries have their origin in the colonial period public interest regarding the way land and the although land laws and policy have evolved natural resource base are used, the regulation over time. Based on the paper’s findings and of different tenure systems - and thereby conclusions, the following recommendations are different land use systems - is often carried out made: in an unfair and inequitable manner. Patriarchal • Policy and legal reform should ensure land systems are, for instance, predominant. They tenure security for smallholder farmers and relegate women to minority positions, ensuring rural communities. they only have access to land and related natural • In conflict or dispute resolution, the nature resources through