Document Type: Briefs

As a thought leader and one of the largest bi-lateral donors in the land and resource governance sector, USAID has been a strong supporter of the development and implementation of the VGs since 2011. Dr. Gregory Myers, Director of USAID’s Office of Land Tenure and Resource Management chaired the Open-Ended Working Group that negotiated the VGs. Today, in 32 programs across 27 countries, USAID is deploying over $300 million in programs that implement many of the principles and practices outlined in the VGs. These programs – which are closely aligned with the recommendations in the VGs reflecting best practice in tenure reform – help to clarify and strengthen the land tenure and property rights of all members of society, enabling broad-based economic growth, gender equality, reduced incidence of conflicts, enhanced food security, improved resilience to climate change, and effective natural resource management.

Across the developing world, USAID is investing in programs that strengthen land tenure and property rights. Our programs are closely aligned with the principles and practices outlined in the Voluntary Guidelines (VGs). This infographic highlights how USAID is supporting the implementation of the the Voluntary Guidelines.

The Kenya Transition Initiative (KTI) supports a wide range of actors that are contributing to the reform agenda. These include the Government of Kenya (GOK) at the national or local level; non-governmental organizations / civil society; and private sector firms. KTI’s approach relies on a simple philosophy: identify and support change agents that support the ongoing reform effort in Kenya. This simple organizing philosophy flows through the many examples of collaboration provided in this document. KTI has been effective in locating change agents within government organizations undergoing significant reforms. These change agents emerged at the national, regional and local level (e.g., the speaker of the House (2008-2013) or a Chief Magistrate at a local level). KTI nurtures these change agents by providing in-kind support and technical assistance on key projects in their organizations. This document summarizes those efforts and the broad partnerships that KTI has developed with the GOK over the five-year transition period.

Land reform is at the heart of ethnic conflict in Kenya and was a major factor in the post-election violence that devastated the nation following the 2007 general elections. While the 2010 constitution laid the groundwork for far-reaching land reforms, progress towards implementing the new land administration framework has been slow. Old grievances remain unresolved, and land conflicts remain a potential spoiler for peaceful general elections scheduled for 2013.

Adding to the challenge of effective administration, paper documentation poses a significant problem, as increasing numbers of land records and transactions add to an already enormous and still-growing pile of poorly organized and stored records. Decades’ worth of paper files are haphazardly kept and improperly cared for in most registries, leaving them vulnerable to damage, destruction, theft or manipulation.

In recognition of the need to facilitate a constructive role for Kenya’s government in operationalizing the new policy framework, USAID is working with several county-level land registry offices to improve service delivery, facilitate information sharing, and improve their documentation processes and user interfaces.

In 2012, USAID partnered with the land office in Nakuru County, an area known for highly contentious land disputes, by providing technical assistance to facilitate stakeholder engagement and communication, and building the capacity of registry staff on key elements of the new land legislation.

In a matter of months, USAID helped the Nakuru land registry organize and store years’ worth of paper records that had been piled up in storage rooms and hallways. Assistance was also provided for an electronic inventory of records to enable the ministry to conduct searches, check title and deed details, and edit records, dramatically reducing the time required to conduct routine land transactions. Following USAID assistance, a 2012 audit report commended the Nakuru Lands Registry for its transformation from an office “historically fraught with challenges of poor record keeping and missing files” to a “well-organized registry.”

Contact: Megan German, Program Manager, e-mail: mgerman@usaid.gov; telephone: (202) 712-1997; Web: www.usaid.gov – Keyword: OTI

In the coastal region of Kenya, poverty, lack of proper formal education, heavy dependency on illegal substances as well as landlessness are the region’s biggest challenges. In spite of the region been endowed with natural resources and beautiful physical features, land remains the largest hindrance to the region’s economic advancement. Land disputes in the six counties in the area have been a constant source of conflict among the local inhabitants with feelings of aggression from the ancestral land owners towards those they perceive as illegitimate owners due to their suffering during forced evictions and displacement from land their families had historically owned and occupied. With the 2010 Constitution laying down a framework for major land reforms that offer a more equitable land tenure management, key policies are yet to be fully put into place highlighting the need for a model land registry that the people of the coast can identify with and relate the much needed change in the land reforms.

To advance land reform at the Coast as well as increase the level of user satisfaction by the residents, USAID helped to support the Kilifi Lands Registry Office (KLRO) to improve its efficacy in key processes including access, retrieval and sharing of data as well as building the capacity of the registry staff to ensure maximum efficiency at the registry and heightened satisfaction by the registry users.

Building off the successes of USAID’s initial support to the registry that involved providing additional storage facilities for the land files, increasing the physical security of the registry and its precinct in order to protect critical land documents and creating an improved work environment for the registry workers, USAID and the Kilifi lands registry office noted that there was an existing gap in the need for appropriate documentation of crucial land files. In an effort to eliminate land brokers and promote accountability at the registry USAID partnered with the KLRO to create a simplified electronic filing and management system. The system would significantly reduce the transaction times at the registry.

With USAID’s support the registry was able to engage a consultant, who duplicated the database developed in the Kitale Lands registry in a previous grant by USAID, with the activation of the database the registry was able to engage interns who inputted land registry files enabling secure data access and sharing. “The new electronic filing system has greatly impacted service delivery at the registry, especially during searches where clerks have correctly identified a file and given accurate information on it, with USAID’s support , the Kilifi lands registry is creating a new track record in service provision” said Peter Joakim, Project Coordinator- KLRO

To ensure a culture of knowledge sharing, USAID helped support staff from the Kilifi lands registry to visit the Kitale lands registry so as to glean from them on what pitfalls to avoid and share lessons learned and experiences. In addition to this USAID also helped the Kilifi lands registry team to have a team building retreat in which they were taken through a change management course to enable them to embrace the new developments at that the registry. With the success of the project Mr. Joakim stated that “The digitalization of land, the exchange visit and the change management training USAID supported the registry with, has left a mark of excellence in the Kilifi lands registry making it a reference point where other land registries will have to bench mark themselves on”

Contact: Francis O’Malley, Program Specialist, e-mail: fomalley@usaid.gov; telephone: 202-712-5528; Web: www.usaid.gov – Keyword: OTI

USAID/Kenya Supporting Land Reform through the Kenya Transition Initiative (KTI) (2008 – 2013) – $1,765,798

KTI uses a multi-pronged approach for land reform activities. These include:

1. Research grants to inform KTI and civil society;
2. “Pull” grants to assist change agents within the Parliament and the Ministry of Lands and the new National Land Commission;
3. “Push” grants to assist civil society (including the private sector) in identifying problems and demanding reforms;
4. Technical guidance through USAID/Kenya, the US Embassy, and the Development Partners Group on Lands (DPGL); and
5. Support to build the capacity of local communities to address local land issues.

Achieving our global development objectives – better food security and nutrition, sustainable management of natural resources, less conflict, and broad-based economic growth for women and men – will require coordinated action by donors and development agencies, civil society organizations, governments, and the private sector in countries across the globe. To that end, USAID is leading a global effort to improve coordination and information sharing in the land and resource governance sector. Over the past year, USAID, first through the Knowledge Management and Technical Support Services (KMTSS) project and later through the Evaluation, Research and Communication (ERC) project, managed a data collection and visualization project that gathered information on the land governance programs from members of the Global Donor Working on Land.

The result of these efforts is a database of approximately 445 programs in over 119 counties with a total value of over $2.8 billion. Using the information in the database, ERC developed an interactive mapping tool that clearly displays where different donors and development agencies are working, and what they are working on, with respect to land and resource governance, including how each program supports specific aspects of the Voluntary Guidelines for the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries, and Forests in the Context of National Food Security. This information can help stakeholders better coordinate these programs, avoid unnecessary duplication, and identify opportunities to leverage resources for greater impact.

On October 11, 2013, USAID Land Tenure and Property Right’s Division Chief, Dr. Gregory’s Myers, and ERC Training and Communication Specialist, Jeremy Green presented the donor database and map via web-conference to the Global Donor Working Group on Land at a side event at the 40th session of the U.N. Committee on World Security. After the presentation, representatives from the governments of Canada and Japan committed to join the donor database initiative. In December, the 2013 U.K. G8 Presidency Report highlighted the donor database initiative as an example of progress in this sector.

Ultimately, the database and maps are tools for information sharing. The real value of this initiative will be measured through greater coordination and collaboration resulting in improved development outcomes.

CHALLENGE: In late August 2013 Colombian campesinos, faced with increasing prices for raw materials and fuel to transport their goods as well as decreasing profits for their products, took to the highways, creating roadblocks in rural areas and eventually marched through the streets of Bogotá requesting help from the government. After three weeks of protests and subsequent negotiations, President Juan Manuel Santos announced a series of reforms in the country’s agricultural policies as outlined in his Pacto Agrario, the Agrarian Pact, stating “the protests have made us rethink how we plan the sector’s development.” In addition to being responsible for the implementation of this new strategy, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) is increasingly aware of the need for innovative strategies to gather information and integrate feedback from local campesinos.

INITIATIVE: USAID is working directly with the Government of Colombia (GOC) to provide essential support for the implementation of its land and rural development agenda. To this end USAID has been providing technical assistance to MARD as it plans local level meetings to be organized by the Municipal Councils of Rural Development (CMDR) as well as departmental and regional level meetings, to be organized by the Sectional Council of Agricultural Development (CONSEA).These meetings are expected to strengthen communication channels between Bogotá and the regions, making sure that campesinos’ voices are heard by their national representatives. After receiving inputs from the local, departmental and regional levels, the national government will then prioritize the needs of rural communities incorporating them in the 2014-2018 National Development Plan.

RESULTS: This high level of participation by civil society, citizen and local government in consensus building processes around rural development issues has not been seen for decades. Although it is early in its development, a highly democratic grassroots initiative appears to be underway, one in which campesinos and civil society organizations are able to provide suggestions and reach a consensus on the most pressing priorities for rural development all over the country. Broad efforts to train and encourage local participants are underway and community forums are planned to begin in January 2014.

Over the past six years, Donaldson Phiri has been planting the tree Faidherbia albida in his corn, cotton, and tobacco fields in the Eastern Province of Zambia. The tree, known locally as msangu, is a nitrogen fixing “fertilizer” tree that can be planted in fields and over time reduces the need for costly inorganic fertilizers. Unlike most trees, msangu loses its leaves during the rainy season when crops are planted and harvested, and thus does not compete with crops for light. A range of international, regional and national organizations have promoted msangu as a miracle tree that can increase food security, help farmers cope with the negative impacts of climate change, and even sequester carbon.

Yet despite these benefits, there has been relatively low uptake of msangu by farmers in Zambia. One potential reason for this limited adoption is the lack of tenure security of farmlands for smallholder farmers. Msangu takes 8-12 years before it provides noticeable yield benefits and as many as fifteen years before the full benefits are realized. Farmers who are willing to plant and care for long-term investments like trees on farms must have some confidence that they will still be in control of their farms when benefits materialize.

Consistent with other farmers in the customary systems of Zambia where Chiefs and village headman allocate land, Mr. Phiri has no documentation of his rights to his farmland. Historically, when population densities were low and land was widely available, this system was effective. More recently, national and international investment, people moving from urban areas to secure new family farms, and increasing population densities have placed new demands on land. In 2012, a new settler came to Mr. Phiri’s village and asked the headman for land to cultivate. Following approval from the Chief, the headman allocated approximately an acre of land Mr. Phiri had been cultivating, which had dozens of msangu trees, to the new settler. Mr. Phiri received no compensation and contested this decision, but the Chief ruled in favor of the new settler.

Upon further appeal to the Chief, Mr. Phiri argued that he had invested time and money in the trees on the land. Under the Zambian Constitution the President owns all trees, but in discussions with Chiefs and farmers, the perceived ownership of trees is ambiguous. Many farmers feel secure in “owning” the trees they planted on their farms. Other farmers and Chiefs feel that because the Chiefs “own” the land, they also own the trees; while others were aware that the State legally owns the trees. With respect to Mr. Phiri’s appeal, the Chief ultimately decided that the new settler must plant an equivalent number of msangu on Mr. Phiri’s other lands and care for them for three years, or the settler will lose the originally allocated plot back to Mr. Phiri.