Post Type: Blog

Strong and meaningful land tenure begins with national, regional and local government coordination.

Voices of Local Leaders

Colombia’s bureaucratic public administration system is an obstacle for rural municipalities to connect with the national government, especially in the poorest and most conflict-affected regions. Communication and administrative bottlenecks prevent much needed funding from reaching Colombia’s most vulnerable, underdeveloped areas and hamper the implementation of Territorial Economic Development Plans (PDET), a key tool to boost investment and development in these regions, which also honors commitments for comprehensive rural reform in the 2016 Peace Accord.

“Let’s Click” for the PDET —an initiative created by USAID, the Agency for Territorial Renewal (ART) and the Presidential Counselor for Stabilization, Emilio Archila— seeks to link local priorities with national resources and relevant cooperation programs funded by USAID. It also helps streamline support to avoid redundancy and increase the efficiency of investments.

Last year, USAID’s Land for Prosperity Activity participated in Let’s Click meetings with ART regional officials and elected leaders from several municipalities: The Mayor of Tumaco, 11 municipalities in Catatumbo, 15 in Montes de María, 4 municipalities in Southern Tolima and the Governor of Sucre.

In a meeting with municipal leaders of Southern Tolima, USAID presented its activities and offered technical assistance which aligns with the priorities and needs expressed in their PDETs. Public officials proved eager to continue coordinating with USAID, picking up where past initiatives have left off, such as in land tenure, government strengthening, and tertiary roads.

The mayors from Ataco, Planadas, Chaparral, and Rioblanco also presented USAID-funded tertiary road inventories to the Ministry of Transportation. The ministry is currently selecting the priority tertiary roads to receive attention and funding. USAID is also partnering the the ART to improve private public partnerships in the coffee and cocoa value chains in Southern Tolima.

“We see the PDET territorial approach as the ideal long term solution to consolidate peace in Colombia because of the government’s will to push projects forward”
-Lawrence Sacks, USAID Mission Director in Colombia

The mayors of rural PDET municipalities agree that strengthening land tenure and property formalization are key drivers of stabilizing their territories. Over the past five years, PDET communities have continually requested improved land administration in order to update rural land cadasters and issue property titles. Multipurpose cadaster programs designed with USAID support and led by Colombia’s National Land Agency have become the roadmaps that align all levels of government, build the capacity, and inform the community.

In 2019, Colombia’s President Ivan Duque set lofty goals for supporting land policies and updating the country’s rural cadaster. Today a little more than 20% of the country’s cadaster is updated, and the government aims to reach 60% by 2022 and 100% by 2024.

“The Ovejas Pilot (massive land formalization) is proof that land titling, property, financial inclusion, and agriculture strengthening programs can be a reality.”

-Iván Duque, President of Colombia

For the better part of the past four years, USAID has harmonized inter-institutional coordination and partnerships with the National Land Agency (ANT), the Agustin Codazzi Geographic Institute (IGAC), the Superintendence of Notary and Registry (SNR), the National Planning Department (DNP), municipality leaders, and communities. 

Land titling serves to transform the local economy by strengthening state presence, triggering public and private investments, and providing local governments with tools for land use and administration. On an individual level, land titling is the first step toward land security and citizen property rights, decreasing people’s vulnerability to displacement. A property title also allows farmers to access subsidies and financial services.

By Land and Rural Development Program in Colombia

Discussions about land tenure in development aid often end up like this: a question mark whether land titles are enough to alleviate poverty. Property titles—people tend to argue—provide landowners with an asset, which can be used as collateral to access credit and create capital to improve productivity and adopt new technologies. But are they enough to lift families out of poverty?

Experts say land titles strengthen the bond between farmers and land and create incentives to invest more in their patrimony, including their children’s future. Study after study demonstrates improvement in the factors that contribute to poverty, from reduced child labor to higher spending on education and food.

These studies are hard to dismiss, but the road to prosperity has many detours, especially for women.

In rural agriculture, ensuring land tenure for women is of particular relevance, especially where women are the main breadwinners or where antiquated land policies undermine women’s rights. The truth is that without investments in infrastructure, robust policies, and economic opportunities, a land title is little more than a small step up a big mountain.

Colombia is no stranger to the issues of land informality. A five-decade conflict often revolved around access to and the acquisition of land, and six of every 10 land parcels is informally owned. Indeed, the inequity and poverty born from the conflict led to land reform schemes that sought to go beyond “just a land title.”

For example, during several years, Colombia’s former land authority, INCODER, doled out more than 1,000 land tracts— each one known as a parcelación—to some 28,000 families. Each parcelación groups 20-plus families together and requires them to work together through a farmers’ association. The catch: they must manage their land under one land title. As one might expect, the attempt to ensure land tenure and create economic success fell short on both fronts. 

By Land and Rural Development Program in Colombia

When Colombia held Chocoshow, its first national cacao trade show, at the end of 2018, growers readied their finest cacaos to compete for recognition and fame on the nation’s stage. A victory for any lot of high-grade cacao would be a welcome boost to a sector constantly struggling with price fluctuations.

Meta-based cacao growers’ association Asopcari was prepared. After two years of fundamental changes in how its producers harvest and process cacao, the association came to Chocoshow with high hopes. In the end, it walked away with one gold and one silver medal, a triumphant showing for a group of 90-plus growers scattered about the Ariari river valley.

The growers have not always been great at production, Lopez admits, but it is not for lack of trying. The history of cacao in Meta is one of success and tragedy. By the mid-eighties, cacao was a cash crop for thousands of farmers, and annual production peaked at 5,000 tons. By 2000, illicit crops had essentially gutted Meta’s cacao future, destroying more than 7.5 million trees and leaving families in a far more vulnerable state.

In 2000, Asopcari was created and started with 300 hectares of quality cacao clones. In 2004, Meta cacaoteros produced a meager 400 tons of cacao. For Asopcari and others, it was going to be an uphill battle. Since then, the efforts to recuperate cacao cultivation in Meta have been slow. For more than a decade, much of Meta was off limits due to conflict, the drug trade, and an overwhelming distrust of anyone and everyone, making it especially difficult to establish sustainable marketing channels.

To make matters worse, the government delivered little necessary technical assistance to improve growing and harvesting techniques. Farmers soon lost track of which trees were improved varieties and bundled all cacao together, regardless of origin or type.

How a public-private partnership is solving several problems for Meta’s plantain growers and winning support in unlikely places.

By Land and Rural Development Program in Colombia

When Meta-based plantain growers’ association Asoplagran made its second shipment of plantain to Grupo Éxito, the Colombian multinational firm returned 30 kilograms of fruit that did not meet its standards. Edilson Aguilar and his colleagues were overjoyed, since they had originally delivered more than three tons.

“Grupo Éxito’s inspectors gave us good feedback and were quite impressed with our plantains,” explains Aguilar. “We are building our relationship with Grupo Éxito. The negotiation is straightforward, and they are not the same type of tyrant you see with traders in the local market.”

Thanks to the PPP, Asoplagran and three additional growers’ associations sat face-to-face with Colombian buyers—including Grupo Éxito and Cencosud—Colombia’s largest food retailers. The business conference, set up by thanks to the Meta Chamber of Commerce, is an example of USAID’s power to convene market players and broker new relationships.

USAID helped create the plantain PPP in early 2018 to leverage government support, gain interest from the private sector, and give producers the chance to continue improving their skills and knowledge. The partnership is valued at approximately US$400,000 (COP1,180 million), includes investments from four municipal governments, and benefits 130 growers from four plantain growers’ associations, such as Asoplagran.