93300 THE WORLD BANK Land Policy: Securing Rights to Reduce Poverty and Promote Rural Growth SYNOPSIS Modern, efficient and transparent land administration systems are important in reducing poverty, and promoting growth and sustainable development. Security of property rights is central to preserving live- lihoods, maintaining social stability, and increasing incentives for investment and for sustainable, productive land use. Making land rights transferable allows the landless to access land through sales and rental markets or through public transfers, and further increases investment incentives. Since the late 1960s, the World Bank has provided financing, technical help and training to strengthen national land administration laws, policies and investment programs. Challenge example, providing legal clarity about the bou- ndaries of indigenous lands and protected areas has Uncertainty about land ownership and occupancy to be accompanied by strengthened monitoring and rights not only complicates development planning enforcement, and changing incentives for in- for governments. It can also increase vulnerability, vestment at the local level; likewise, providing land especially of poor and marginalized groups. More- titles can improve small farmers’ and entrepreneurs’ over, it undermines incentives to take actions that incentives to invest, but credit programs also have are essential to improving incomes and conserving to be available and acessible to them. scarce resources over the longer term. Many coun- tries face a common set of challenges, for which In addition, the continued increase in food prices country-specific solutions need to be developed: (i) and cultivation of lands for bio-fuel uses has prom- incomplete or outdated legal and regulatory pted a sharp increase in commercial pressure on frameworks; (ii) dispersion of responsibilities across cropland, grasslands, forested areas and water re- different institutions; (iii) outdated technology that sources in both developed and emerging countries. makes land demarcation, regularization and titling a lengthy an expensive process; (iv) poor integration Two principles of land tenure policy stand out of relevant databases, within and between countries; in the quest for growth and poverty reduction: (v) uncertain financial sustainability of data systems;  The importance of tenure security. Security of (vi) a need to adjust ‘best practice’ solutions to property rights (whether through titling or specific local ethnic, cultural and legal traditions; customary use) and the ability to draw on local and (vii) inadequate mechanisms to ensure or national authorities to enforce those rights transparency, good governance, citizen participation are central to preserving livelihoods, main- and recourse in the various phases of land admini- taining social stability, and increasing incentives stration, from demarcation to titling and enforce- for investment and for sustainable productive ment. Also, to get the best results from moderni- land use. zing land administration systems, governments  Land access and transferability of rights. Making often need to make related investments. For land rights transferable allows the landless to May 2011 2 LAND POLICY access land through sales and rental markets or IDA Results through public transfers, and further increases Some highlights of results achieved in IDA investment incentives. supported projects mentioned above are as follows:  Armenia: 2.5 million privately-owned land parcels and buildings were surveyed and about Approach 1 million property records were stored in a central database. The International Bank for Reconstruction and  Bolivia: 2.8 million ha of land were surveyed Development (IBRD) and the International Deve- and titled. lopment Association (IDA) have invested in streng-  Indonesia: 222,628 land title certificates were thening land policies and administration systems in distributed to land owners, out of which 63,181 member countries for over four decades. The were given to women either individually or as earliest programs in the late 1960s focused on land joint owners with their spouses demarcation and titling in specific geographic areas,  Kyrgyz Republic: 2.4 million immovable property objects were registered. usually as part of broader land settlement or rural development programs. In the nine states of  Nicaragua: 1 million hectares of indigenous and ethnic community lands in the country’s northeast Brazil, IBRD supported demarcation and Atlantic coastal region was demarcated, titled titling of over half a million hectares under several and registered. rural development projects. By the mid-1980s, the  Sri Lanka: 31,200 houses in the North East focus began to shift from securing rights in region were reconstructed allowing the return particular areas to modernizing land administration of displaced populations and the regularization systems at the national level. One of the first and of land titles to targeted beneficiaries. most ambitious of such efforts was the Thailand Land Titling Program. Since the mid-1990s, the In addition to project-specific support, the World World Bank has scaled up support significantly to Bank continues to use its technical expertise to work help 19 countries of East Europe and the former with governments to strengthen their land admini- Soviet Union and several Southeast Asian countries stration institutions and assess the overall land make the transition from state ownership of policy framework. A 2011 report, Rising Global property and land under command economies to Interest in Farmland: Can it Yield Sustainable and private ownership under market-based economies. Equitable Benefits?, is a recent example of the Elsewhere, the World Bank has continued to commitment to informing debate and under- support both modernization of land administration standing of agro-investment trends and their impact systems at the national level, and targeted help to on economic growth and poverty reduction. specific problem areas, such as undocumented squatter settlements, indigenous lands, coastal ma- rine zones and other environmentally sensitive areas Results of national or global importance. The World Bank's sister organization, the International Finance Corp. The following examples illustrate the kinds of (IFC), has also had a catalytic impact in many coun- results achieved through IBRD and IDA support tries through its Doing Business surveys, which for modernization of land administration programs monitor the ease of registering a property and over the past 40 years: encourage countries to adopt reforms that make the process more transparent and efficient. Making land tenure more secure and improving access to credit. The current World Bank approach emphasizes  In Thailand, a series of three IBRD-financed policy dialogue, research, investment and opera- land titling projects during 1985-2001 helped tional support for the resolution of land tenure the government produce over 5 million title issues. The World Bank also facilitates the sharing deeds, directly benefitting an estimated 20 of best practices across countries and regions. million people (approximately one-third of the national population at the time). As one of WORLD BANK RESULTS 3 IBRD’s first such comprehensive efforts on a registered within a day in 16 of the 47 courts, national scale, the Thailand experience has been including Sarajevo. the object of considerable research and aspects of the program have served as a model for land Improving post-disaster recovery. administration programs throughout the world.  In Indonesia, under the Reconstruction of Research findings confirm the importance of Aceh Land Administration Project (FY05), IDA secure land tenure for improving access to supported post-Tsunami recovery efforts in credit and as incentives to invest. They also Aceh through rapid community mapping, and emphasize the importance of having such land registration and titling. The project also complementary credit programs be available and introduced the concept of joint titling and accessible, in order to achieve these results. gender recording. A total of 222,628 land title  In Bolivia the Land Administration Project certificates were distributed to land owners after (fiscal year 1995) helped update the 1952 land the tsunami, out of which 63,181 were given to reform law, establish a new tenure regime for women either individually or as joint owners indigenous people and modernize the land with their spouses. administration system. As a result, 2.8 million hectares (ha) of land were surveyed and titled. Protecting indigenous and environmentally  In the Kyrgyz Republic, the Land and Real sensitive lands. Estate Registration Project (FY00) supported  In Colombia under the Natural Resources the development of markets for land and real Management Program (FY94), IBRD helped 58 estate and also to improve their use. This is Afro-Colombian and indigenous community being achieved by introducing a reliable and councils gain title to 2.4 million ha of land for well-functioning system for the registration of households comprising over 100,000 people. rights and the creation of “Gosregister”, the  In Nicaragua under the Land Administration state agency which established the legal and Project (FY02), IDA helped to demarcate, title, administrative basis for registration of land and and register 1 million ha of indigenous and real estate. By 2007, over 2.4 million immovable ethnic community lands in the country’s property objects have been registered; sales, Atlantic coastal region, and prepare territorial leases and mortgages have grown, as have tax management plans with participation of the income and other economic benefits. About communities, their leaders and authorities, to 45,000 mortgages valued at US$1.1 billion guide future development efforts. equivalent were registered in 2007.  In Armenia, the Title Registration Project Supporting peace and conflict mitigation: (FY99) promoted private sector development  As one of the factors underlying 30 years of by implementing a transparent, parcel-based, civil war in Guatemala, land issues featured easily accessible and reliable registration system prominently in the 1996 Peace Accords. Lack for land and other immovable property. Almost of secure tenure rights fueled conflicts and all of the country's 2.5 million privately-owned hindered investment, especially in rural areas. land parcels and buildings were surveyed, and Through the Land Administration Project that about 1 million property records were stored in began in 1999, IBRD has helped to demarcate a central database. about 720,000 hectares of rural lands (2,980  In Bosnia and Herzegovina the Land properties titled and registered) and 67,000 Registration Project (FY07), assisted in the urban parcels (28,750 of which received development and adoption of new service registered titles, and 40% of which are female standards in order to help improve services, heads of household), covering most lands in the transparency, speed and accuracy of Department of El Petén. 79 percent of land registrations. Registration took many months conflicts were resolved through a participatory prior to commencement of the project in 2007, mediation process which was piloted under the but now 80 percent of all transactions are project. A Second Land Administration Project resolved in five days or less and mortgages are that begun in 2007 is now extending these 4 LAND POLICY activities to several other Departments in the Partners country.  Similarly, in Sri Lanka the North East Housing The World Bank has partnered with regional Reconstruction Program (FY05) assisted in the development banks, UN organizations, bilateral reconstruction of 31,200 houses in the North donors, national and local governments, and civil East region over a four-year period. This has society organizations, in an effort to advance facilitated the return of displaced populations in knowledge and support the modernization of the northeast, and the regularization of land national land policy and administration systems. It titles to targeted beneficiaries. has also encouraged considerable ‘South-South’ co- operation among developing countries themselves, Demonstrating the viability of community- often making it possible for government officials based approaches: and technical staff involved in successful land admi-  In Honduras the Access to Land Pilot Project nistration projects to share their experiences with (FY01) demonstrated the financial viability of peers in other countries. Examples of partnerships community-based land reform with private on land policy and administration in which the financing of land acquisition. By the end of the World Bank has engaged have included the Global project, 990 families acquired 2,400 ha, 97 Environment Facility, the UN-Habitat-Global Land percent of farmers were able to pay back loans, Tool Network, and the G7 Pilot Program to and farmer incomes doubled in four years. Preserve the Brazilian Amazon. It also collaborates  In Malawi the Community Based Rural Land closely with professional associations such as the Development Project (FY04) built on the new International Federation of Surveyors, private fou- land policy adopted by the country in 2002 with ndations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates IDA support. By May 2010, 15,000 poor Foundation, and several multi-donor trust funds for families had access to land. Gross margins per post-conflict and post-disaster recovery. The World hectare have risen ten-fold for hybrid maize Bank hosted the 2010 Annual Conference on Land from the pre-relocation baseline. Policy and Administration, and maintains an exter- nal Land Policy and Administration webpage. The World Bank also participates in the Global Donor Bank Contribution Platform for Rural Development which supports an active cross-country research program on contem- Since 1990, the World Bank has supported 76 porary land policy and administration issues. projects with land administration as a major theme in 48 countries with total assistance amounting to some US$3.6 billion. In addition, some 228 projects Moving Forward in 78 countries addressed land policy issues as a secondary theme. In some cases projects focused Land and property often account for between one- solely on land issues; in others, land issues were one half to three quarters of national wealth. From this of several components of broader investment perspective, clarifying land ownership and occu- programs. Some projects financed specific pation, and the distribution and value of land re- investments, while others supported policy and sources, as well as designing appropriate laws, institutional reforms. regulations and institutions, are very important for growth, poverty reduction, and sustainable develop- The World Bank’s strong analytical capacity and ment. A supportive legal framework and effective intellectual leadership has allowed operations to arrangements for land administration are as draw on cutting-edge research to show the impor- important to the development process as are sound tance of land issues for overall economic deve- laws, regulations and institutional arrangements for lopment. It has also helped countries formulate and labor and capital. As climate change, food price build consensus around national strategies to deal volatility, and other factors place increasing pressure with land in a prioritized and well-sequenced on scarce natural resources, countries are facing the manner. need to accelerate efforts to modernize land WORLD BANK RESULTS 5 administration systems to secure land rights; ensure Bank is joining forces with partners to seek lower- that they have accurate data on land resources, cost land administration technologies and services occupation and ownership; and that this (e.g., in land surveying, titling, registration, information is organized in ways that can be easily alternative conflict resolution mechanisms) to updated and shared across institutions involved in ensure the coverage and sustainability of its work in development, post-conflict and post-disaster the poorest areas. planning. For these reasons, the last three World Development Reports (2008, 2009, and 2010) have The World Bank will continue to work with consistently advocated stepped-up support for land countries on diagnosis, policy dialogue, operational policies and institutions. and financial support in an effort to establish land administration systems that help protect the rights Work in the area is increasingly addressing of the poor, induce better national resource governance challenges, including instruments such management, increase investment, and help shift as global performance standards and user surveys, in towards a more diversified economic structure. parallel with further analytical work. The World LEARN MORE – Land Tenure Policy and Administration – http://go.worldbank.org/2S3OYC6NS0 – Kyrgyz Republic: Land and Real Estate Registration Project – http://go.worldbank.org/GRLNCM7720 – Global Donor Platform for Rural Development – (www.platform.org), IFC Doing Business surveys – http://www.doing business.org/rankings