Feed the Future Tanzania Land Tenure Assistance (LTA) seeks to clarify and document land ownership, increase local understanding of land use and land rights, and support land use. This monthly report covers the period of January 1 – January 31, 2017.
As part of the Feed the Future (FTF) initiative, USAID has invested in several agricultural projects in the Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT) and is seeking to develop focused land tenure programming to support USAID’s existing and planned investments in the region.
The Land Tenure Assistance (LTA) activity seeks to clarify and document land ownership, support land use planning efforts, and increase local understanding of land use and land rights. It is anticipated that the interventions will reduce land tenure-related risks and lay the groundwork for sustainable agricultural investment for both smallholders and commercial investors throughout the corridor and in the value chains of focus for Tanzania’s FTF program.
Local sustainability is a critical component of the LTA activity. The goal of this activity is to empower district and village land institutions in the districts targeted by the LTA to carry forward the capacity building and land administration process independently (and with little or no outside financial support or assistance) when LTA concludes.
In carrying out its activities, LTA collaborates and coordinates with the Government of Tanzania and other donor programs to produce complementary programming that is timely, cost-effective, and sustainable.
LTA also coordinates closely with, and utilizes lessons learned from, the USAID Mobile Application to Secure Tenure (MAST) pilot project, which tested an approach for the mapping of land parcels, adjudication, and delivery of Certificates of Customary Right of Occupancy (CCROs) using an open source mobile application.
The Land Tenure Assistance (LTA) program works in the Districts of Iringa and Mbeya to provide assistance to local level authorities in the delivery of land tenure services under the Village Land Act No.5, 1999 and the Land Use Planning Act No.6, 2007.
LTA provides support to the implementation of land tenure regularization and first issuance and registration of CCROs and Village Land Use Plans (VLUP) in 41 selected villages (36 villages in Iringa District and 5 villages in Mbeya District). In addition to these key activities, support is also being provided to capacity building at both District and Village levels. Years 1 and 2 and 3 are focusing on the main task of building capacity in Iringa District. Capacity building activities will then be extended to Mbeya District Council through the District Land Office commencing in Year 3 and through Year 4. LTA work is undertaken under four activities re-stated here as follows:
This report provides a summary of the Addressing Biodiversity Social Conflict in Latin America (ABC-LA) project developments covering the last quarter and the past year ending September 2015.
The goal of ABC-LA is to improve enabling conditions for biodiversity conservation through enhanced natural resource governance and reduced socio-environmental conflict associated with extractive activities. Achievement of this goal will contribute to a long-term impact of reducing degradation and contamination of biophysical conditions in selected Biologically Significant Areas of Peru and Colombia.
Toward this end, ABC-LA is working at the local levels to strengthen community and government capacities to improve natural resource management and address socio-environmental conflict. The project’s capacity building approach provides training and technical assistance to institutions and community leaders, helps foster multi-stakeholder groups and develops tools and skills needed to better address threats to biodiversity and community well-being. ABC-LA works with local partners to apply this enhanced local capacity to: conduct applied research to generate reliable data and monitor environmental conditions, assess socio-environmental dynamics of vulnerable groups and to implement other targeted assessments such as on impacts associated with extractive activities including small-scale gold mining.
Addressing Biodiversity-Social Conflict in Latin America (ABC-LA) is a USAID-funded project with a two-year base period and three one-year option periods, for a possible total of five years. ABC-LA is an innovative project that seeks to address negative impacts associated with extractive activities on biodiversity and vulnerable communities through interventions focused on improved local capacities for enhanced conflict mitigation and natural resource governance, as well as improved land tenure and property rights in focal areas. This is the ABC-LA project’s first annual report covering the period from September 2013 through August 2014.
The ABC-LA project goal is “to improve indigenous/minority community and local/regional governmental capacities to better address conflicts (potential and ongoing) in the extractives sector that may negatively impact areas of significant biodiversity, thus leading to greater inclusion of marginalized groups.” The project will cover areas of high biodiversity in Colombia and Peru where there is an ongoing or potential conflict between the extractive sector and vulnerable indigenous or local communities. The focal components are biologically significant areas (BSAs) and vulnerable local and indigenous communities.
During this quarter ERC continued work on IE baseline reports, drafted new pre-analysis plans and accompanying data collection tools, launched the new USAID LandLinks website, held several public land educational events, developed the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) 2.0 (to launch in January 2017), supported the ONF as it adapts the Mobile Application to Secure Tenure (MAST) for use in Burkina Faso, and selected partners for implementation of a Responsible Land-Based Investment pilot project. This represents progress in line with ERC’s Year 4 work plan (May 2016-April 2017).
Under Task 2, ERC completed the draft of the Community Forest Program (CFP) IE baseline report in Zambia, completed the draft of the Tenure Security research paper, and prepared two abstracts of papers that were accepted for presentation at the 2017 World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty. Also under Task 2, a firm was selected to do the midline data collection for the performance evaluation (PE) of the Community Land Protection Program (CLPP) in Liberia, and additional preparation for this effort was made. For the SEA IE in Indonesia, ERC developed an IE Design Report and associated baseline data collection indicators.
Under Task 3, ERC launched the re-designed website (LandLinks) on October 11, carried out website troubleshooting and QA tasks, and launched the Wrike project management system. In addition, ERC produced a photo essay on apricot farmers in Tajikistan, held a webinar on the Kosovo Country Profile, and hosted a panel event on Artisanal Mining, Property Rights, and Development. Also under Task 3, ERC-produced fact sheets on food security and women’s land rights were published, and work on several country profiles continued. Finally, ERC also supported ad hoc requests to develop a Gender Analysis for the Urban Team at USAID and promote the U.S. Government’s National Action Plan on Responsible Business Conduct, which featured Land Tenure Country Profiles, the Land Tenure and Property Rights MOOC, and pilot 3 activities.
Under Task 4, ERC prepared for the launch of MOOC 2.0 on January 23, 2017. ERC filmed and began the editing process for three new MOOC modules on Geospatial Data, Customary Tenure, and the USAID Programming Cycle. ERC also re-filmed the introductory module and developed a promotional video. During the quarter ERC worked with third party platform Canvas to set up the new MOOC, including updating videos, quizzes, and required readings. ERC also developed a promotional plan and syllabus for the new MOOC.
Under Task 5, ERC submitted its final report on the MAST pilot project in Tanzania, thus closing out the pilot. ERC also scaled-up adaptation of the MAST technology for use in Burkina Faso, with the highlights being a launch event on October 27 and completing the field processing of 2,173 land parcels in Boudry Commune. Finally, on Pilot 3 ERC signed a contract to carry out a responsible land-based investment pilot in Mozambique and Cameroon, and planning for implementation commenced.
During this quarter ERC activities focused on four main activities: presenting research findings and developing new research articles designed for journal publication (and presentation at the Annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty) that are based on data collected for baseline surveys; supporting communications efforts, including a webinar/panel discussion on Women, Land and Food; managing the LTRM Office’s Massive Open On-line Course on LTPR; and continuing to support pilot activities in Burkina Faso and Tanzania. In addition, this quarter ERC supported LTRM Office efforts exploring the possibility of creating a third pilot project focused on responsible land-based investment.
These efforts, along with the other activities conducted under ERC, align with and support the goals identified by the LTRM Office as important for this Task Order:
Under Task 1, ERC submitted a draft endline report in Y3 Q2 for review; findings from this report were presented to the USAID Mission in Ethiopia and to a small group of stakeholders. ERC has, subsequently, received comments and will revise the draft and resubmit the report in Y3 Q4.
Under Task 2, most work focused on developing eight research articles that are designed to be submitted to academic journals and for presentation at conferences. However, ERC also presented research findings at two conferences: the American Evaluation Association (AEA) meetings in Chicago and the FLARE Conference. USAID’s Associate Administrator, Eric Postel, shared an overview email about the AEA meetings and presentations with senior Agency personnel. The Property Rights and Artisanal Diamond Development (PRADD) baseline report and data sets were submitted for review. Data cleaning continued for the Community-based Forest Management Project (CFP) impact evaluation. The IE Design Report was finalized for the LAND/Afar project and community listing work began.
Under Task 3, ERC planned and facilitated a webinar/panel discussion on “Women, Land and Food,” that was moderated by USAID’s Charles North and included USAID’s Senior Coordinator for Gender Equality Susan Markham, along with Chris Jochnick, CEO of Landesa and Dr. Lauren Persha of UNC Chapel Hill and Cloudburst. In addition, ERC developed three “Ask the Expert” features and one guest commentary. We drafted and published a commentary on “Why Land Matters for the SDGs” to support efforts to keep a land indicator under Goal 1: Ending Poverty.
Under Task 4, ERC managed USAID’s Massive Open On-Line Course (MOOC) on Land Tenure and Property Rights this quarter. The MOOC ran successfully with 2,000 registrants who came from over 60 countries, 200 of whom completed the course. Many participants took part in discussion forums, which allowed them to ask questions and share insights, personal experiences and best practices with each other and with MOOC lecturers.
Finally, during this quarter, the MAST project launched activities in the second pilot village: Itagutwa. Village leaders and villagers received training on Tanzania’s land laws and on women’s land rights. Local youth were trained as Trusted Intermediaries and they mapped over 1,000 village parcels. ERC supported the production of a conflict assessment for MAST’s third pilot village: Idodi. Concerns were raised this quarter about the conduct of land use planning processes and ERC also faced some delays in starting up activities in Itagutwa. As a result, the timeline for completing the pilot has shifted back several months. In Burkina Faso, the National Land Observatory (NLO) continued to make progress towards ensuring transparency in the land sector. NLO staff have been active in operationalizing the organization’s 5-year work plan and have initiated data collection, communications, and outreach activities to stakeholders, donors, and government bodies.
During this quarter the project continued to expand field activities, support joint LTRM/Bureau for Food Security (BFS) efforts related to land tenure and agriculture, improve approaches to data collection, and strengthen collaboration and communication across the STARR partners’ network.
Under Tasks 1 and 2 ERC worked closely with the LTRM Office to implement field data collection and improve survey and interview instruments. We have developed a robust review process for survey instruments that involves internal and external review, which is then incorporated into documents. We have developed flexible processes that allow for rigorous impact evaluations even under challenging conditions, such as the PRADD II Impact Evaluation (IE) in Guinea where the Ebola outbreak required a shift from in-person training and electronic data collection to remote training and paper-based data collection. However, working closely with Tetra Tech (TT), the implementing partner for PRADD II, we were able to address safety and health concerns and complete data collection.
By the end of the quarter, baseline data collection was completed for TGCC, LAND, PRADD II and CLPP. ERC had completed planning for and developed or revised survey instruments for the endline data collection for ELAP/ELTAP and had also developed survey instruments for the complex Community Forestry Program (CFP) in Zambia. We began discussions with the LTRM Office about how best to publicly share this data to meet USAID open data requirements and to meet the needs of researchers and others who will help build an evidence for the value of land tenure interventions and programs. Finally, we held a conference call with STARR partners to discuss impact evaluation and share experiences and lessons learned between implementing partner TT and Cloudburst.
This quarter activities under Tasks 3 and 4 continued to highlight STARR project work by featuring implementing partner projects on the USAID Land Tenure Portal, in presentations (Mercedes Sticklers’ presentation for the African Union’s Land Policy Conference) and through engagement with the new land tenure Community of Practice (which discussed the USAID program in Ethiopia implemented by TT and USAID programs in Columbia implemented by Chemonics). Our editorial calendar process helped STARR partners coordinate media outreach and messaging around land tenure and we continued to focus on expanding and leveraging the LTRM Office’s social media presence to drive more viewers to the USAID Land Tenure Portal.
We continued to support joint LTRM/BFS efforts. This quarter we developed a video for internal USAID promotion announcing a new joint statement on land tenure and agricultural productivity that features E3 Bureau Assistant Administrator Charles North and Tjada McKenna of BFS. We revised the operational guidelines for responsible land-based investments and supported the LTRM Office at the CFS plenary meetings where the Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems were endorsed.
ERC made good progress this quarter towards the goal of building capacity within the USG to understand and address land tenure issues. We filmed another module of the 14-module Land Tenure and Property Rights Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) and coordinated with 10 other presenters to help them develop materials. As noted above, we launched the Land Tenure Community of Practice (CoP) for USG staff, and we conducted a specialized LTPR training for USAID Mission staff in Haiti. These three activities support the ERC goal of deepening the pool of USG talent that can address land tenure and property rights issues.
Activities under Task 5 have also moved beyond start-up phases. The Mobile Technology Pilot, which has been renamed the Mobile Application for Strengthening Tenure (MAST) project finalized contracting with the technology developer, technology development started and we negotiated with a strong local implementing partner to conduct capacity building and legal awareness raising in our pilot village. We also collaborated with the impact evaluator for this project, MSI. This project is generating interest from the Government of Tanzania and may help the Government achieve ambitious goals related to mapping and registering rural land rights under its Big Results Now program.
The second pilot project, the Land Governance Partnership in Burkina Faso, presents a number of challenges. ERC consultants and staff provided remote support to the National Land Observatory staff, whose primary activities during this quarter were largely administrative and logistically-oriented. A significant amount of NLO staff time was dedicated to completion of administrative formalities and moving into and preparing a permanent office. NLO development was hindered due to the political turmoil in Burkina Faso which resulted in the delay of onsite ERC support to the NLO. Fortunately, the ERC task lead, Kent Elbow was able to return in December to work directly with the NLO staff. Significant progress towards further defining the 5-year plan for the NLO was realized during the visit. Initial concepts for the Transparency Initiative were also presented to USAID during this quarter.
This initial quarterly report is being submitted two months after contract award to put ERC on the standard USG fiscal year quarter schedule. During the quarter the primary activity focus was ERC mobilization and ongoing communications and knowledge management activities.
Priority year one activities that are already underway include:
During this quarter ERC continued work on IE baseline reports, drafted new pre-analysis plans and accompanying data collection tools, prepared the new USAID LandLinks website for launch, planned activities for the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) 2.0 (to launch in January 2017), completed one pilot project, supported the National Land Observatory (Observatoire National du Foncier, ONF) as it adapts the Mobile Application to Secure Tenure (MAST) for use in Burkina Faso, and received and reviewed concept papers from participants in the Responsible Land-Based Investment pilot project (Pilot 3). This represents progress in line with ERC’s Year 4 work plan (May 2016-April 2017).
Under Task 2, ERC submitted a draft policy brief on mutually beneficial contracting in large-scale land acquisitions (LSLA). ERC continued work on three ongoing evaluations, and launched activities for a new IE of the Sustainable Ecosystems Advanced (SEA) project in Indonesia. A Baseline Report was submitted for the Land Administration to Nurture Development (LAND) Afar IE, the Tenure and Global Climate Change (TGCC) IE draft Pre-Analysis Plan was submitted, and TGCC IE endline survey instruments were updated. For the Community Land Protection Program (CLPP) performance evaluation, endline instruments were revised, pre-analysis planning occurred, and ERC supported a brief trip to Liberia. For the SEA project, ERC conducted a scoping trip to Indonesia and drafted a Concept Note detailing potential design options and proposed implementation processes for the evaluation.
Under Task 3, ERC continued to work closely with sub-contractor Bixal to re-design the USAID Land Tenure internet portal to improve content organization, functionality and user experience in preparation for launch of the new site. ERC also continued to craft strategic communications goals and procedures as part of the Year 4 work planning process. Throughout the quarter ERC supported efforts to develop a series of new fact sheets and to update country profiles. These will be promoted through focused activities and campaigns in the next quarter. In line with Year 4 work planning ERC supported a well-attended webinar on the topic of “Legitimate Land Rights.” Finally, ERC also supported ad hoc requests to develop a Gender Analysis for the Urban Team at USAID and began initial research into a new project on Gender-Based Violence and Land Tenure.
Activities under Task 4 were relatively light this quarter but will ramp up next quarter as ERC prepares to launch MOOC 2.0. During the quarter ERC worked with USAID’s Geospatial Analysts Ioana Bouvier and Silvia Petrova to develop an outline and learning objectives for a new Geospatial module. ERC also worked with Dr. Cynthia Caron to develop an outline for a new module on Customary Tenure. Finally, ERC completed planning to film and edit new modules and also reviewed course readings, reviewed module questions, and answers to develop quizzed and added questions as needed, and produced a new FAQ document for MOOC 2.0.
Under Task 5, ERC closed out MAST pilot project by supporting efforts at the District Land Office (DLO) in Iringa, Tanzania to print and record land rights documents for Kitayawa (village 3) and by providing materials to assist with a transition to the Feed the Future Land Tenure Activity (LTA) project. Also during this quarter, ERC conducted a TDY to analyze how best to support the Government of Burkina Faso and the ONF in a new project that will adapt and implement the MAST technology. Finally, ERC conducted a co-creation workshop with Pilot 3 participants and supported the development of Concept Papers that were reviewed in September by a panel of Independent Scientific Experts.
During this quarter ERC activities focused on four main activities: completing the draft endline report for the ELTAP/ELAP project; developing materials and planning for the next phase of the LAND IE in Afar, preparing for and launching the new Massive Open Online Course in Land Tenure and Property Rights and expanding ERC pilot projects in Tanzania and Burkina Faso.
These efforts, along with the other activities conducted under ERC, align with and support the goals identified by the LTRM Office as important for this Task Order:
Under Task 1, a very robust data analysis was conducted to ensure that impacts identified for second-level land certification in Ethiopia, which was supported by USAID, were well supported by the evidence available. The draft endline report was submitted towards the end of the quarter for LTRM Office review. These findings will be shared with stakeholders at a meeting in Addis Ababa in October 2015. Under Task 2, data cleaning continued on several IE activities while the baseline report for LAND Oromia was completed. ERC continued work on the PRADD baseline report and began more intensive planning and preparation for the next phase of the LAND IE work which is to be conducted in the Afar Region.
In addition to this work, ERC began planning for and working on a set of journal articles that build on the impact evaluations with a goal of sharing results with a wider academic and policy audience. These papers, if accepted, will also be presented at the 2016 Annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty.
Activities under Task 3 continued to focus on broadening impact and outreach for LTRM Office communications efforts and materials. During the quarter ERC supported an “AskAg” discussion on land tenure, produced a photo essay to highlight the human face of the Mobile Application to Secure Tenure (MAST) project, shared an “Ask the Expert” video with IFAD land tenure expert Harold Liversage and produced social media content related to the new SDGs.
ERC was excited to launch the Massive Open On-Line Course (MOOC) on Land Tenure and Property Rights during this quarter. The MOOC opened on September 14th and will run through the end of December. Demand for this product proved far greater than anticipated among a general audience with over 1,600 participants registered by the end of quarter. This suggests both a pent up demand for information on this important issue and that USAID may play an important role providing a new public good: clear and accessible information about land tenure and property rights in the context of the developing world.
Finally, during this quarter, the MAST pilot achieved a major goal by delivering Certificates of Customary Rights of Occupancy (CCROs) for 914 parcels to villagers in Ilalasimba Tanzania. This provided a proof of concept for the idea that land rights may be efficiently crowdsourced by local people with support and capacity building provided by donors. Preparations and planning for the next phase of MAST, as well as work to improve the technology infrastructure, took place during this quarter. In Burkina Faso, the National Land Observatory (NLO) continued to make progress towards ensuring transparency in the land sector. NLO staff have been active in operationalizing the organizations 5-year work plan and have initiated data collection, communications, and outreach activities to stakeholders, donors, and government bodies.