USAID’s Land Tenure and Property Rights (LTPR) Division has released a new suite of tools and methodologies created under the recently completed Property Rights and Resource Governance (PRRG) Project. These tools were designed to enhance the understanding of LTPR challenges and improve programming to advance the global development objectives of the United States, including food security, global climate change, conflict mitigation and women’s economic empowerment.
The tools are intended to help USAID technical staff as well as other U.S. Government personnel and development practitioners understand:
1) USAID’s programming approach to land tenure and property rights issues,
2) Recommended interventions for different asset and social classes,
3) Considerations for sequencing interventions in order to maximize impact, and
4) Assessment and evaluation of LTPR issues and projects.
LTPR and other development professionals outside the U.S. Government are also likely to find the tools useful in their own context for the reasons listed above.
How to use the tools
The suite of tools guide users through the assessment of issues and constraints regarding LTPR and resource domains, specifically minerals, trees and forests, freshwater lakes, rivers, and groundwater. Users should begin with the Land Tenure and Property Rights (LTPR) Framework, which introduces themes, definitions, and the LTPR matrix. The matrix helps users identify the “universe” of possible LTPR constraints and interventions and the causal linkages between them. There are five matrix overlays that guide users through additional constraint and intervention considerations. These matrix overlays can be used alone or in coordination with one another to understand how LTPR issues impact projects.
- Overlay 1: Land Tenure and Property Rights Matrix;
- Overlay 2: Freshwater Lakes, Rivers, and Groundwater Matrix;
- Overlay 3: Minerals Matrix;
- Overlay 4: Trees and Forests Matrix; and
- Overlay 5: Women, Land, and Resources Matrix.
In addition to the matrices, there are two tools that offer methodologies to guide USAID mission programming. The LTPR Situation Assessment and Intervention Planning (SAIP) Tool helps USAID missions assess LTPR issues and determine how these contribute to or impede realization of development objectives. The LTPR Impact Evaluation Tool provides a methodology for designing evaluations around the outcomes and impacts of land and natural resource tenure and property rights programming.
USAID and other USG staff that have a need for LTPR technical assistance, may contact the Land Tenure Division. Development professionals seeking a more general understanding of basic LTPR issues should refer to USAID’s LTPR Issue Briefs.