Document Type: Progress Reports

USAID’s Property Rights Program (PRP) is a four-year activity that aims to address the property rights challenges and to develop a plan for the stabilization of the property rights regime in Kosovo. The program will work in partnership with the Government of Kosovo (GOK), selected municipalities and other relevant local and international stakeholders. USAID has allocated $8.5 million for the implementation of the Property Rights Program.

HIGHLIGHTS FOR YEAR ONE

Objective 1: Better Coordination and Policy Priorities

• Establishment of MOU with CCPR – USAID emphasized early on the importance that PRP coordinate and collaborate closely with the European Union (EU) funded Support to the Civil Code and Property Rights (CCPR) Project, to coordinate their efforts to assist the Government of Kosovo to develop its property rights reform strategy and improve the legal framework governing property.  On December 12, 2014, the USAID/Kosovo Mission Director witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the PRP and the CCPR that establishes the basis for their collaboration.  The MOU provides that PRP will lead donor and line ministry coordination to support development of strategy for reforming property rights and will contribute to CCPR legislative drafting by providing technical analysis of substantive property law and by developing secondary legislation to strengthen the property rights of women and members of minority communities.  The MOU also recognizes PRP’s role to lead development of improved court procedures to improve efficiency of court processes and enforce property rights of all Kosovars, especially the rights of women and members of minority communities.
• GoK Authorizes MOU to Lead Development of National Strategy on Property Rights – The MOU with the CCPR originally envisioned that PRP would facilitate coordination between government entities and donor partners to assist the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to lead development of the National Strategy on Property Rights (Strategy). In response to a change in the CCPR’s scope, PRP and USAID agreed PRP would take the lead in providing substantive technical assistance to the MoJ to develop the Strategy. On May 20, 2015, after extensive advocacy by PRP, the Government of Kosovo (GoK) issued its decision authorizing the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to draft the Strategy and include it on the Government’s Annual Work Plan. The GoK decision also provided the MoJ with the authorization to form the Property Rights Sector Working Group (SWG). The SWG is chaired by the Ministry of Justice and is comprised of over 80 government and donor stakeholders. The SWG monitors the development of the Strategy, and will validate its contents and officially present the Strategy to the Government when ready.
• Establishment of Structures for the National Strategy: CTG and TWGs – With the GoK authorization in place, PRP assisted the MoJ to identify and secure membership of stakeholders to the Core Technical Group (CTG), which is responsible for leading the development of the Strategy.  The CTG is comprised of representatives from key line ministries and the CCPR and PRP projects.  The CTG has appointed Thematic Working Groups (TWGs) on an ad hoc basis to provide guidance for drafting specific components of the Strategy.
• Two-Day National Stakeholder Workshop on Property Rights – PRP worked closely with the MoJ’s Director of the Department of European Integration and Policy Coordination and a team of MoJ staff to plan and organize a two-day national stakeholder workshop to launch the development of the Strategy.  The workshop, which was entitled “Kosovo’s National Strategy on Property Rights: Identifying Key Thematic Pillars Clustering a Wide Range of Property Rights Challenges,” was held on June 22-23, 2015.  The workshop also served as the initial session of the SWG.  The workshop successfully obtained stakeholder consensus on the topics and issues to be addressed in the Strategy.  The Minister of Justice stated that his top priorities are the development of the National Strategy on Property Rights, along with a clear action plan for its implementation, and the development a new Civil Code.  He expressed his gratitude to the participants, noting that the high rate of diverse participation set a high standard for an inclusive process over the coming months to develop the Strategy. The USAID Mission Director was also present at this event.
• Development of an Issues Document on Property Rights – In advance of the workshop, PRP and MoJ developed an Issues Document that was distributed to workshop participants. The document clustered the property rights challenges into five (5) Thematic Pillars.  Under each Pillar, key challenges were summarized, implications discussed and strategic considerations listed to guide stakeholder discussion during the workshop. These pillars support three aspirational objectives: to strengthen the rule of law, promote economic development, and support Euro-Atlantic integration.
• Commenced Development of Concept Notes for National Strategy – PRP conducted a tender and awarded a sub-contract to Strategy & Development Consulting (S&D) to develop five analytical Concept Notes, aligned with the five technical clusters presented in the Issues Document, to inform the drafting of the National Strategy.  The Concept Notes will present research and analysis and provide detailed recommendations on the specific actions that need to be taken to change property rights policy, law, and practice to achieve the National Strategy’s reform objectives.

Objective 2: Improved Court Procedures Related to Property Claims

• Selection of Four Courts of Merit – PRP facilitated a participatory process with the Kosovo Judicial Council (KJC) to select four Courts of Merit to work with the PRP to develop, pilot, and test court procedures to enable the courts to adjudicate property claims and disputes more efficiently and ensure that women’s rights to inherit property are fully enforced.  In consultation with the KJC, the presiding judges of the seven basic courts, and the presiding judge of the court of appeals, the Basic Courts of Peja, Gjilan, and Ferizaj and the Branch Court in Sterpce were selected as the Courts of Merit.
• Development of a Court Strengthening Action Plan – In May 2015, PRP developed a Court Strengthening Action Plan to guide development of activities under Objective 2.  The Action Plan was built on a strategy to reduce the number of property-related claims that are resolved under the Law on Contested Procedure.  A number of procedural requirements have been identified in this law that creates case flow bottlenecks that contribute to case backlogs.  Additionally, a significant number of all properties recorded in the cadastre are registered in the name of deceased persons and, therefore, do not convey clear title to land. Because inheritance proceedings are required to convey rights from the deceased to living heirs, the Action Plan also provides for a strategic approach to develop more streamlined inheritance procedures to address this inter-generational inheritance issue.  To begin to implement the Action Plan, PRP engaged a Differentiated Case Management (DCM) expert to conduct a closed-case study of property related cases in the four PRP supported Courts of Merit to produce accurate, empirical data of the specific substantive and procedural caseflow issues that constrain efficient resolution of property claims in the courts.
• Comprehensive Analysis of Caseflow Management for Property Rights Cases in Basic Courts – PRP completed a comprehensive analysis of caseflow management for property cases in the four Courts of Merit and presented its findings to USAID in its Report entitled “Caseflow Management for Property Rights Cases in the Basic Courts.”  PRP designed and applied the DCM methodology mentioned above to develop substantive and procedural data elements with which to disaggregate and analyze court procedures to process and resolve property cases in order to formulate recommendations to improve efficiency and court performance.  PRP applied this analysis to a total of 1,276 property rights cases that were filed and disposed within a 30-month period (2013-2015).  The Report served as the basis for further analysis that has produced an action plan to improve caseflow management in Kosovo courts.
• Judicial Training Needs Assessment – PRP commissioned an assessment of the Kosovo Judicial Institute’s (KJI) judicial training curricula on property rights.  PRP and the KJI held a working session with a focus group of 8 judges to identify and discuss judges’ and lawyers’ professional needs with respect to substantive knowledge of property law and practical skills.  The discussion also covered possible ways to meet those needs, e.g., through training, developing a bench guide and other strategies.  The assessment confirmed that the legal framework governing property rights is contradictory and confusing for judges; and that the judges lack guidance on adjudicating property cases owing to a lack of a bench book providing guidance on best practices, a lack of published case law, and a lack of continuing professional training.  The assessment also noted the need to change judges’ attitudes and behaviors with respect to gender-related matters. PRP is working closely with the KJI to agree and begin implementing the assessment’s recommendations, prioritizing the development of training modules on property rights, improving judges’ understanding of gender issues and the constraints women face in implementing their rights in practice, training on improved case management practices when developed, and the development of a bench book to provide guidance to judges on property rights cases.

Objective 3: Enhance Women’s Rights to Use Property in Practice

• Publication of Major Gender Assessment – On April 22, 2015, PRP presented to stakeholders the “Gender, Property, and Economic Opportunity in Kosovo” report produced by an expert consultant, Dr. Sandra Joireman.  The report identified and discussed cultural attitudes and behaviors that result in women being pressured to renounce their rights to inherit property; administrative constraints that prevent women from exercising their rights in practice; and how the frustration of these rights negatively impacts economic development in Kosovo.  In response to the report’s findings, the Minister of Justice created a legislative working group and publically stated his commitment to supporting development of legal safeguards to protect women from being pressured to renounce their rights to inherit property.
• Publication of a National Baseline Survey for Property Rights in Kosovo – On June 10, 2015, PRP organized an event to present empirical baseline data from the Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices (KAP) survey it conducted to facilitate discussion among relevant stakeholders about the public’s knowledge and cultural attitudes and behaviors surrounding women’s rights to inherit property.  The meeting was attended by over 50 stakeholders, including representatives from local CSOs, government agencies, and donor projects.  The meeting validated the findings of the KAP survey and helped inform PRP’s development of further activities to put in place legal safeguards that will afford women the opportunity to exercise their property rights on an informed and deliberate basis.  Furthermore, the data were repurposed and presented as trigger messages that have been periodically posted on USAID/Kosovo’s website and social media to reach a wider audience with empirical data on citizens’ perceptions and the ability of women to exercise their property rights in practice.
• Establishment of the Gender Coordination Group – To improve coordination among government agencies and civil society organizations implementing activities that promote equality for women, PRP established the Gender Coordination Group (GCG).  The first GCG meeting was held on June 2, 2015, that saw the development of its Mission Statement, Coordination Action Plan and Learning Agenda.  The group has prioritized legislative changes needed to strengthen women’s ability to exercise their property rights.  PRP also worked closely with the Agency for Gender Equality to develop administration instructions (AIs) creating financial incentives for joint registration of property.
• Support to Engagement for Equity Implementing Partner – Since February 2015, PRP has been providing capacity assessment and capacity building support to the USAID Engagement for Equity (E4E) implementing partner, Advocacy Training & Resource Center (ATRC), to assist ATRC to begin issuing and administering grants under the E4E mechanism.  PRP provided training to ATRC on USAID grant-making procedures, systems, and planning processes throughout the entire grants cycle.  Additionally, ATRC received assistance to develop RFA topics that were designed to support PRP’s program objectives related to public education, outreach, and advocacy activities to improve women’s access to property rights in practice.  With PRP support, ATRC has successfully executed its first round of grant making, has set up its rapid response grant mechanism, and is preparing its second ground of grant-making.  PRP is providing continued support to ATRC by recommending specific improvements to their current organizational policy manual and incorporating USAID-specific requirements in managing a Cooperative Agreement.

Objective 4: Improved Communication, Access to Information and Understanding of Property Rights

• Proposal for G2G Activity – PRP has designed a detailed proposal for government-to-government (G2G) support to select municipalities.  The initiative is designed to address the problem that land records in Kosovo are often incomplete and outdated (as noted above in regards to inter-generational cases), which means that many citizens lack clear title to their land.  This situation often impedes the smooth handling of inheritance matters and makes it difficult for courts to adjudicate land rights claims.  These factors in turn seriously impair the development of a healthy private land market and the effective use of public land.  PRP’s proposal builds upon and further develops the GIS applications developed by the EU-funded ‘Implementation and Enforcement of Rural Spatial Planning (IRuSP) project to link archived land records to parcel maps to provide information required by courts to adjudicate rights and municipal offices to improve their data sharing practices.
• Municipal Selection Process Completed – PRP designed and carried out a multi-phased and transparent selection process for identifying the municipalities most eligible to receive USAID Forward G2G assistance.  The project used objective performance criteria, including the collection of performance data on Own Source Revenue; the number and type of regulations produced by the municipality to provide citizens with property-related services; the publication of audit reports and the publication of transactions involving municipal property assets as required by law.  Through these and other criteria, including their participation in informational workshops held by PRP, the project evaluated proposals from the 11 top-scoring municipalities and provided its recommendations to USAID.

The Land Governance Support Activity (LGSA) supports the establishment of more effective land governance systems, ready to implement comprehensive reforms to improve equitable access to land and security of tenure, so as to facilitate inclusive sustained growth and development, ensure peace and security, and provide sustainable management of the environment. Tetra Tech and partners Landesa, Namati, CDR Associates (CDR), Sustainable Development Institute (SDI), and Parley form a collaborative team providing technical and organizational assistance to the Government of Liberia (GOL), civil society, and communities in their land rights reform process.

Throughout the Year 1 work plan, LGSA made the assumption that the Land Rights Bill and Liberia Land Authority Bill would be passed in a timely fashion. While the Land Authority Bill passed the Senate in April it did not pass the House until late September. No action has been taken on the Land Rights Bill as the Legislature has now adjourned and will only reconvene in January 2017. The Land Commission’s mandate expired in early January 2016 and in late March was replaced by an Interim Land Task Force (ILTF) appointed by the President to institutionally bridge the gap between the Land Commission and the Liberia Land Authority. LGSA has updated its risk analysis and mitigation table in Section 1 to reflect the changing situation.

Delays in the legislative agenda have not had a significant impact on LGSA’s ability to continue project activities and meet the Year 1 objectives. In January 2016 LGSA consultant John Bruce completed his analysis of the legal reform process surrounding the land sector which reviewed the experiences of the Land Commission during its lifetime, but also developed a prioritization strategy for future policy, legal, and regulatory reform. LGSA completed institutional audits of the principle entities to be consolidated into the new Liberia Land Authority: the former Land Commission and Land Coordination Centers (LCCs), the Center for National Documents and Records Agency (CNDRA), the Department of Land, Surveys and Cartography of the Ministry of Lands, Mines and Energy, and the County Land Commissioners of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. At the request of the ILTF, LGSA also prepared a draft transition plan for the Liberia Land Authority. LGSA, in consultation with the ILTF, developed a learning agenda comprised of seven studies to broaden the understanding of issues surrounding customary land with the work focusing on the process of negotiating boundaries and boundary harmonization, an impact assessment of the establishment of community governance structures under previous People, Rules, and Organizations Supporting the Protection of Ecosystem Resources (PROSPER), SDI, and Land Commission activities, women’s land rights, the determination of community membership, and the economics of livelihoods in areas impacted upon by concessions.

LGSA has also developed the necessary monitoring and evaluation tools for data collection, analysis, and reporting; finalized a draft of a communication strategy for the land sector reform agenda and project implementation and worked to re-establish the Women’s Land Task Force and the Association of Public Land Surveyors of Liberia (APLSUL).

Administratively, all senior, administrative, and technical project staff have been hired. Weekly general staff meetings are held to keep all project staff abreast of project activities. Weekly technical staff meetings are also held to ensure coordination of field activities both technically as well as logistically. Financial management, procurement, and administrative procedures are in place and continue to be followed.

The Land Reform Project in Tajikistan (LRPT) works with government stakeholders to reform policy and land legislation, provides legal assistance to farmers to improve legal aid, and builds capacity through training and outreach for lawyers, judges, and local government officials on land issues.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SECOND PROJECT YEAR

• Developed amendments to the Land Code as part of the Land Code Working Group and submitted final draft to the Government of Tajikistan (GoT)
• Completed draft to amend the Law on Dehkan Farms, supporting the efforts of the Dehkan Farm Working Group and receiving input through a public-private dialogue with farmers, legal aid center (LAC) lawyers, and local government authorities
• Assisted the Cooperatives Working Group to complete a draft Law on Cooperatives for submission to the GoT
• Awarded 10 grants to local organizations through a competitive process to serve as the project’s LACs during Year 2, providing training and legal services to farmers and rural citizens
• Carried out a comprehensive survey with the World Bank to gather data on farmers’ knowledge of their land use rights, the status of freedom to farm, and information seeking behaviors
• Conducted 12 public-private dialogues to bring a variety of stakeholders, including dehkan farmers and dehkan farm heads, into the reform process
• Trained more than 15,000 dehkan farmers and 2,445 local government officials on land use issues in their local communities
• Published 24 editions of the project newspaper with a circulation of 97,500 copies; nationally broadcasted 64 radio programs and 48 television shows
• Co-facilitated a half-day workshop on gender and land reform together with the World Bank and Helvetas/Swiss Development Corporation (SDC)

The Land Reform Project in Tajikistan (LRPT) works with government stakeholders to reform policy and land legislation, provides legal assistance to farmers to improve legal aid, and builds capacity through training and outreach for lawyers, judges, and local government officials on land issues.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE FIRST PROJECT YEAR

• Led the Working Group on Structural and Land Reform’s preparation of a comprehensive set of proposed amendments to the Land Code that will create the framework for a market in land use rights;
• Advocated for amendments to the Law on Mortgage to introduce “truth in lending” provisions in line with international best practices;
• Prepared a legislative agenda for the Government of Tajikistan’s (GoT) Agricultural Reform Program that included a specific legislative road map for legislative development in 2011;
• Carried out four public-private dialogues to introduce public participation in land policy development and legislative drafting;
• USAID legal aid centers (LACs) successfully defended their clients in 17 out of 17 court cases with an additional seven cases pending;
• Provided more than 4,000 legal consultations in LAC offices and over 2,600 consultations directly in farmers’ fields on land-related legal issues;
• Conducted 300 local trainings in farmers’ fields on demand-driven topics with more than 5,000 participants;
• Developed and published the following informational brochures: Commentary on the Law on Dehkan Farms, Land Use Contracts for Dehkan Farms, the Reorganization and Creation of Dehkan Farms, and Legislation on Land Relations; and
• Informed farmers and the general public about land rights issues though nine editions of the project newspaper, 21 television programs, and 22 radio programs.

The purpose of the Ethiopia Land Administration to Nurture Development (LAND) program is to expand and extend two previously successful projects—Ethiopia Strengthening Land Tenure and Land Administration Program (ELTAP) implemented in 2005-2008 and Ethiopia Strengthening Land Administration Program (ELAP) implemented in 2008-2013 – financed by The United States Agency for International Development (USAID)/Ethiopia Mission and implemented by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and six regional states with technical assistance provided by Tetra Tech ARD. These projects helped strengthen rural land tenure security and women’s land use rights; encourage efficient land transactions; build capacity of federal and regional land administration agencies to improve service delivery and pilot cadastral surveying and certification methodologies to recognize and document rural land use rights.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

During the reporting period, LAND continued to make significant progress across all project components.

Under Component 1 (Improved legal and policy frameworks at national and local levels)

Bahir Dar University and Hawassa Universities submitted the final version of their assessments on the implementation of land administration and land use (LALU) laws for Amhara and SNNP National Regional States (NRSs) respectively. Both universities conducted validation workshops on their findings during the reporting period. Some 45 participants drawn from regional councils (parliaments), representatives of zonal administrations, land administration and use offices as well as other relevant sectors took part in each workshop.

LAND subcontractor, the Amhara Design and Supervision Works Enterprise, delivered the second draft of the Afar National Regional State pastoral communal land expropriation, valuation and compensation guidelines.

LAND has been advocating for an overarching and comprehensive national land use policy that provides a framework for a holistic, regulated, and integrated use of land to advance socio-economic development of the country.

The policy development process reached another milestone during the reporting period as the Prime Minister officially announced the country’s decision to develop a comprehensive national land use policy. The Prime Minister made the announcement at a high-level meeting held in his office on June 9, 2016. He said, “Land use policy is at the heart of all development endeavors that aim to bring about economic transformation. Our success in achieving the transformation depends on the effective use of our land according to its potential.” LAND will be responsible for developing the draft policy through a combination of in-house experts and independent consultants.

Under Component 2 (Strengthened capacity in national, regional, and local land administration and use planning)

LAND had engaged an Ethiopian consultant to provide the Ethiopian Mapping Agency (EMA) with technical assistance to rehabilitate and make fully operational its Continuously Operating Reference Station (CORS). The consultant assisted EMA to resolve telecommunication and power supply issues that hampered proper functioning of the CORS stations and trained 16 EMA and four Information Network Security Agency (INSA) staff in installing, operating and maintaining CORS.

The consultant has submitted the draft proposal on the expansion of geodetic network of the country based on CORS Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) on short-, medium- and long-term plans. EMA expressed its satisfaction on the project proposal. The consultant is incorporating minor comments provided to him by LAND and EMA staff and writing a report on the progress on EMA’s capacity building program supported by LAND. Upon receiving the final document, LAND will organize a one-day stakeholder workshop to discuss the proposal and the way forward.

Under Component 3 (Strengthened capacity of Ethiopian universities to engage in policy analysis and research related to land tenure and train land administration and land use professionals)

The first batch of 41 students enrolled in the Institute of Land Administration of Bahir Dar University’s
(ILA/BDU) in the summer M.Sc. program have commenced their thesis research work in their respective regions. They are expected to graduate in October 2016. The second group of 42 students have completed their first session at the ILA/BDU in August 2015 and have taken home assignments that they will complete before their second and final summer session in June-August 2016.

The grantees selected under LAND’s competitive grant scheme made satisfactory progress towards completing field research. On the spot monitoring visits were conducted by LAND experts. The visits along with desk reviews have confirmed that data collection activities are completed and analysis and report writing is in progress. WLRC has already conducted validation workshop in Dessie on 22-23 May, 2016 with the participation of 60 stakeholders representing federal, regional and woreda land administration officials and experts from Amhara and Tigray regional states including two staff members from LAND. Grant closeout procedures were discussed with grantees at meetings held with the leadership and principal investigators of each grantee.

Preparation for the 2016 Ethiopian Annual Land Conference by ETHIOLANDNET is in progress. All of the research grantees have committed themselves to present papers from their findings.

Under Component 4 (Strengthened community land rights in pastoral and agro-pastoral areas to facilitate market linkages and economic growth)

LAND organized a two-day meeting with the Afar Environmental Protection and Rural Land Administration and Use Agency (EPLAUA) staff on LAND’s Afar Action Plan and Formation of the Afar Regional Pastoral Advisory Committee (APAC) on May 11-12, 2016. LAND’’s presentations in the meeting included preparation of the Afar draft regulation for empowering community land governance; customary governance entities of pastoral landholdings; customary landholding boundaries to be demarcated, surveyed, registered and certified; public information and awareness (PIA) activities to be conducted in Chifra and Amibara woredas; key findings of the LAND Afar rapid assessment; and the Terms of Reference (TOR) for the Afar Regional APAC.

During the same meeting, the Afar Regional Pastoral Advisory Committee (APAC) was established and orientation on APAC’s roles and functions was provided. The woreda APACs were also formed in the two pilot woredas, Chifra and Amibara, in early June 2016. Both the regional and woreda APACs will meet quarterly on a regular basis.

The LAND team held four meetings with representatives of all the 18 rural kebeles by splitting them into 4 groups to discuss their preferred unit of certification of pastoral landholdings.

LAND drafted the manual on adjudication, demarcation, surveying and registration and certification of pastoral communal landholdings after incorporating the comments given at a consultative meeting that was held from February 23-24, 2016 at Awash town.

As part of preparatory works for surveying, demarcation and registration of pastoral landholdings in Chifra and Amibara woredas of Afar region, LAND obtained Spot5, Wv012 and Google earth images. The google maps of both woredas have been downloaded, geo-referenced, and mosaics were made in required resolution.

The purpose of the Ethiopia Land Administration to Nurture Development (LAND) program is to expand and extend two previously successful projects—Ethiopia Strengthening Land Tenure and Land Administration Program (ELTAP) implemented in 2005-2008 and Ethiopia Strengthening Land Administration Program (ELAP) implemented in 2008-2013 – financed by The United States Agency for International Development (USAID)/Ethiopia Mission and implemented by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and six regional states with technical assistance provided by Tetra Tech ARD. These projects helped strengthen rural land tenure security and women’s land use rights; encourage efficient land transactions; build capacity of federal and regional land administration agencies to improve service delivery and pilot cadastral surveying and certification methodologies to recognize and document rural land use rights.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

During the reporting period, LAND made considerable progress on most project components.

Under Component 1 (Improved legal and policy frameworks at national and local levels)

LAND worked closely with the Oromia Rural Land Administration Bureau (OBERLEP) to develop the draft Oromia Pastoral Land Administration and Management Regulation that will recognize and protect land rights of pastoral communities. The LAND Property Rights Lawyer and legal experts from OBERLEP prepared legal analysis, explanatory notes and suggested language to enrich the draft regulation.

LAND finalized preparations to facilitate a national workshop to be held on October 20-21 to engage government decision makers in discussions highlighting the need for an overarching national land use policy to guide legislation that will ensure efficient use of land and protect natural resources. LAND engaged expert consultants who produced peer-reviewed policy papers that will be presented and discussed during the workshop to help pave the way for crafting the national land use policy.

Bahir Dar University delivered its draft report on the assessment of the implementation of the Amhara National Regional State (NRS) and their impacts. LAND provided editing comments and suggestions to strengthen the assessment report.

Under Component 2 (Strengthened capacity in national, regional, and local land administration and use planning)

LAND continued its support to build the capacity of federal and regional land administration and land use (LALU) professionals in cost-effective land use planning methodologies to develop national and regional master land use plans and local level land use plans that are envisioned in the Ministry of Agriculture’s Growth and Transformation Plan. I LAND developed a Trainer of Trainers methodology to build training capacity at the regional level to then be cascade to the woreda and kebele levels. LAND delivered a training module in conventional methods of land use planning and GIS and remote sensing to 260 regional trainers. The training will be cascaded in the coming quarter.

Bahir Dar, Haramaya, Hawassa and Mekelle Universities produced training manuals to strengthen capacity of land administration officials in their respective states to implement provisions in federal and regional states’ land administration and land use legislation. LAND has begun to support preparation of training manuals on the topics of Expropriation, Valuation, and Compensation.

Under Component 3 (Strengthened capacity of Ethiopian universities to engage in policy analysis and research related to land tenure and train land administration and land use professionals)

LAND partnered with Bahir Dar University’s Institute of Land Administration (ILA/BU) to offer a master’s degree program for federal and regional land administration professionals to build advanced skills. The first group of 41 professionals successfully completed the two summer course works, and are embarking on thesis research to earn their M.Sc. degree. The second group of 42 students began their studies also in the past year. Ethiopian Land Research and Development Network (ETHIOLANDNET) located at Bahir Dar University was established with LAND assistance and a three-year capacity strengthening grant. During the quarter it conducted its second annual general meeting in conjunction with the 7th Eastern Africa Land Administration Network annual general meeting that was hosted by the Institute of Land Administration of Bahir Dar University.

The six grantees awarded grants under LAND’s Competitive Research Grant Scheme are all making satisfactory progress to carry out research.

Under Component 4 (Strengthened community land rights in pastoral and agro-pastoral areas to facilitate market linkages and economic growth)

LAND provided technical and financial support to the Institute of Pastoral Studies of Haramaya University (IPAS/HU) to conduct the “Assessment of the Customary Land Administration and Natural Resource Management in the Pastoral Areas of the Oromia Regional State”. The assessment was requested by the OBERLEP to inform development of its draft regulation to recognize and secure pastoral land use rights. LAND facilitated a workshop with Oromia officials, community representatives, and other stakeholders to present and validate findings presented in the assessment report.

LAND also facilitated the Oromia Regional and Zonal Pastoral Advisory Committees meetings to discuss the appropriate geographic boundaries for certifying pastoral land use rights. Regional officials requested that LAND organize additional grassroots level consultations with pastoral communities.  LAND will assist the formation of technical committees in the Borana and Guji zones that will then conduct consultations in up to four locations in each zone. Consultative meetings will be conducted in two woredas in Guji Zone that were not included in previous consultations.

Terms of Reference were developed for a rapid assessment of the customary land administration and natural resources management in Amibara and Chifra woredas of the Afar National Regional State. The purpose of the assessment is to compile information on the customary organizational structure and the rules and regulations employed by the communities in the two woredas in managing natural resources including rangelands.

A team of experts comprising participants from the Ministry of Agriculture, the LAND project, and land administration agencies and bureaus of five National Regional States (Afar, Oromia, SNNP, Somali, and Gambela) participated in the study tour on land use planning and land tenure/governance issues in pastoral areas of Kenya and Tanzania. The purpose of the tour was to learn from the experiences of these countries to identify best practices potentially relevant to the Ethiopian context.

The purpose of the Ethiopia Land Administration to Nurture Development (LAND) program is to expand and extend two previously successful projects—Ethiopia Strengthening Land Tenure and Land Administration Program (ELTAP) implemented in 2005-2008 and Ethiopia Strengthening Land Administration Program (ELAP) implemented in 2008-2013 – financed by The United States Agency for International Development (USAID)/Ethiopia Mission and implemented by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and six regional states with technical assistance provided by Tetra Tech ARD. These projects helped strengthen rural land tenure security and women’s land use rights; encourage efficient land transactions; build capacity of federal and regional land administration agencies to improve service delivery and pilot cadastral surveying and certification methodologies to recognize and document rural land use rights.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Institute of Land Administration of Bahir Dar University and Hawassa universities submitted their inception reports and field study instruments for assessment of the implementation of rural land laws in their respective regions. The field research has commenced. The law faculties of Bahir Dar, Haramaya, Mekelle, and Debub Universities were selected to prepare manuals on their respective region’s rural land laws which will be used for training and as a reference. In addition, Bahir Dar University will prepare the manual on federal land law and property rights, which would be used in all regional states.

A native Somali speaking consultant with experience of drafting legislation was selected to assist the Somali Regional State in drafting the region’s pastoral lands administration and use regulation. An agreement has been reached with the consultant and approval received from USAID on his engagement.

A committee composed of four MOA experts and LAND’s Property Rights Lawyer has been formally established to prepare the amended draft federal rural lands administration legislation. The Committee prepared a work plan and has started preliminary work.

Training was given to one zonal and 6 woreda officials of Afar regional state on the regional pastoral land administration and land use laws, which was conducted by the Afar regional Environmental Protection and Land Administration Agency in Awash town.

Planning for a workshop on practices of regional states in expropriation, valuation, and compensation of rural lands has commenced. The terms of reference were prepared and regional states requested to prepare papers on the practice and the problems encountered in their respective states.

LAND, in collaboration with Women’s Affairs Directorate of Ministry of Agriculture, conducted gender awareness raising workshops in Yirgalem town of SNNPR and Wukro town of Tigray Regional State. One Hundred participants attended the workshops of which 19 were women. The workshops aimed to shed light on some of the most critical gender issues in land legislations & enforcement in the respective regions. The participants discussed strengths and weakness of existing land policy and legislation in promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment.

A series of meetings were held on preparation of the papers for the national stakeholders’ workshop on national land use policy. LAND has provided comments on the draft papers and has been working with the writers to expedite their finalization. The date for the workshop is yet to be decided by the committee after the papers have been revised to the required standard.

A local consultant was hired to build the capacity of the Ethiopian Mapping Agency (EMA) in the area of establishing and operating continuous reference station (CORS). The consultant has produced a brief road map categorizing the activities into four agreed upon phases; i.e. (i) training and infrastructure needs assessment; (ii) preparation of training material and delivery of the training; (iii) making the existing four CORS operational; and (iv) preparation of a project proposal for CORS geodetic network development in Ethiopia. Accordingly, assessment of EMA’s staff competency and identification of the capacity needs for establishing and operating of CORS is completed and the reports is being reviewed by EMA. The consultant has begun drafting inception report and training materials.

LAND is building the capacity of federal and regional land administration and use professionals providing Training of Trainers (ToT) on GIS, remote sensing, participatory local level land use planning, and conventional land use planning. The ToT strategy is implemented in such a way that the federal and regional levels trainees cascade the trainings down to woreda level staff. Thirty-five federal and regional ToTs were trained on these courses during this quarter. They, in turn, trained a total of 237 experts of which only 17 were female. This is part of LAND’s effort to link the ToT training with the ongoing Sustainable Land Management Program II and the government’s regular programs in watershed conservation and management operating at the woreda and kebele level.

LAND, in collaboration with MSU and local consultant, has completed second round survey, which aimed at triangulating results of the report produced by MSU on the demand for land administration professionals. An intensive consultation was made with federal level stakeholders and universities. The surveyed data has been organized and interpreted. LAND plans to organize a participatory workshop to present report findings to key stakeholders once the final revised report is produced.

The process of establishing the Ethiopian Land Research and Development Network (ETHIOLANDNET) has reached its final stage. The concept note for the network was approved and the memorandum of association (MoA) for establishing the network adopted by the founding members. LAND and ILA/BDU will sign the sub-contract for operating the network, which is expected to be officially established in the next quarter.

Thirty-two concept papers were received in response to the Annual Program Statement (APS) issued by LAND its Competitive Grant Scheme (CGS). The CGS Review and Evaluation Committee (REC) selected 14 concept papers from 12 institutions to advance to the next stage of the process. The 12 short-listed institutions received orientation in developing responsive grant proposals and they submitted full proposals, which is being reviewed by the REC.

Guji Zone pastoral advisory committee (GZPAC) was established in late July 2014. The establishment of the committee had been delayed due to the conflict between Borana and Guji Oromos. The field trip of the Regional Oromia Pastoral Advisory Committee to Borana and Guji Zones was postponed to October 2o14 due to an unforeseen pressing assignment of some of the members.

A joint team of Haramaya University, Institute of Pastoral Studies (HU/ IPAS) and LAND experts started the assessment of customary administration and management of rangelands in the three pastoral areas of the Oromia Regional State. The study has been underway since late August 2014 and will continue through October 2014. The study assesses governance and operations of pastoral customary institutions and the rules used for rangeland management.

LAND’s newly recruited Pastoral Land Tenure Specialist and the Oromia Regional Field Coordinator in collaboration with the zone’s Rural Land Administration and Environmental Protection Offices collected basic data for profiling grazing unit management. These data will supplement the IPAS field assessment and provide input for the development of pastoral land use rights legislation.

Haramaya University completed a draft proposal for establishing the Ethiopian Pastoralist Information Management System (EPIMS). The proposal was circulated for comments to LAND and PRIME staff.

The purpose of the Ethiopia Land Administration to Nurture Development (LAND) program is to expand and extend two previously successful projects—Ethiopia Strengthening Land Tenure and Land Administration Program (ELTAP) implemented in 2005-2008 and Ethiopia Strengthening Land Administration Program (ELAP) implemented in 2008-2013 – financed by The United States Agency for International Development (USAID)/Ethiopia Mission and implemented by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and six regional states with technical assistance provided by Tetra Tech ARD. These projects helped strengthen rural land tenure security and women’s land use rights; encourage efficient land transactions; build capacity of federal and regional land administration agencies to improve service delivery and pilot cadastral surveying and certification methodologies to recognize and document rural land use rights.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

During the reporting period, LAND made considerable progress on all project components.

On Component 1 (Improve legal and policy frameworks at national and local levels)

LAND, and its partner, Landesa, supported the creation of the National Taskforce on Women’s Land Rights, whose aim is to deliberate on women’s land rights issues in order to inform formulation and implementation of land policy and legislation in Ethiopia. It will identify customary, legal and regulatory constraints affecting women’s rights to access and use land and make recommendations to policy makers and legislators on how they could be addressed. As a voice for women’s inheritance and land rights, the Taskforce will review and comment on forthcoming laws and regulations and make recommendations to ensure that the laws are in place and implemented to promote the realization of women’s land rights. The Taskforce currently has 20 members including representatives from the Ministries of Agriculture, Justice, Women, Children and Youth Affairs; the Federal Supreme Court, Oromia Pastoral Development Commission, USAID/Ethiopia, UN/WOMEN, UK funded LIFT and USAID PRIME projects and civil society groups such as the Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association. Two important national workshops were organized in collaboration with Land Administration and Use Directorate, Ministry of Agriculture (LAUD/MOA), the first one being on regional experiences in expropriation, valuation, and compensation. The purpose of this workshop was to discuss the varying practices in the region states to value and compensate land taken for public purposes and make recommendations to develop policy frameworks to harmonize practices to ensure citizens impacted by the takings are fully compensated for the loss of use rights to their land. The second workshop dealt with review of the suggested amendment to the Rural Land Administration and Use Proclamation No. 456/2005, which provided for lively debate on how best to broaden and more effectively secure tenure rights for both the farming and pastoral communities. Drafting of the Somali Pastoral Land Administration and Use Regulation was completed.

On Component 2 (Strengthen capacity in national, regional, and local land administration and use planning)

The Ethiopian Mapping Agency’s (EMA) continuously operating reference station (CORS) at Gondar airport became operational after system reconfiguration and improving internet connectivity. Currently the EMA is receiving data from all four stations made operational with LAND assistance. LAND organized a graduation ceremony for the 20 CORS technology trainees. Trainers of trainees (ToT) who were trained by LAND in Tigray, Amhara, Oromia and SNNP regional states cascaded ToT trainings at the grass roots level to build capacity of an additional 1,146 staff during this quarter. University partners continued preparation of training materials on the federal and rural land laws of Amhara, Oromia, SNNP and Tigray regional states. First drafts were submitted by Haramaya and Mekelle Universities, respectively for Oromiya and Tigray.

On Component 3 (Strengthen capacity of Ethiopian universities to engage in policy analysis and research related to land tenure and train land administration and land use professionals)

LAND obtained USAID approval for six grants under its Competitive Grants Scheme for a total value of $669,554. The ETHIOLANDNET network has started operation. It is preparing its five-year strategic plan and to conduct a national conference on land issues to be held in July 2015.

Component 4 (Strengthen community land rights in pastoral and agro-pastoral areas to facilitate market linkages and economic growth)

LAND held a series of consultation with Oromia Regional Officials and other stakeholders on reaching a consensus and a common vision for the way forward to demarcate and certify grazing units in Borana and Guji zones. It was agreed that a new Oromia Pastoral Land Administration and Use regulation will be prepared with the technical and financial assistance of LAND and further discussions and consultation should be held on the demarcating, surveying and mapping of the physical boundaries of the grazing units to be registered and certified.

During the next quarter, LAND will support drafting of legislation to protect the land use rights of pastoral communities in Oromia Regional State. LAND secured agreement with Oromia officials to develop a legislative drafting committee to draft a regulation that will pave the way for LAND supported activities to demarcate boundaries of community grazing systems and strengthen community governance structures to work with regional officials to effectively manage rangeland resources. Additionally, LAND’s partner, Landesa, will provide gender trainings for the Ad hoc Federal Drafting Committees to amend Federal Proclamation No. 456/2005, the Oromia legislative drafting committee and the Ethiopian Women’s Land Rights Task Force.

The purpose of the Ethiopia Land Administration to Nurture Development (LAND) program is to expand and extend two previously successful projects—Ethiopia Strengthening Land Tenure and Land Administration Program (ELTAP) implemented in 2005-2008 and Ethiopia Strengthening Land Administration Program (ELAP) implemented in 2008-2013 – financed by The United States Agency for International Development (USAID)/Ethiopia Mission and implemented by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and six regional states with technical assistance provided by Tetra Tech ARD. These projects helped strengthen rural land tenure security and women’s land use rights; encourage efficient land transactions; build capacity of federal and regional land administration agencies to improve service delivery and pilot cadastral surveying and certification methodologies to recognize and document rural land use rights.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The revised LAND Project five-year work plan and Monitoring and Evaluation Plan were approved by the USAID/ Ethiopia Mission. Accordingly, the work plan for the remaining period of Fiscal Year 2014 was revised and submitted to USAID and approved.

The Institute of Land Administration of Bahir Dar University (ILA/BDU) submitted its inception report of the review of implementation of Amhara regional land administration and land use legislation that will be reviewed by a steering committee.

Agreement has been reached with ILA/BDU on the curriculum and a budget for summer courses leading to a Master of Science (M.Sc.) degree for 84 federal and regional land administration experts in two batches. The first intake will occur in June 2014. This will be firmed up by signing a subcontract with ILA/BDU.

Terms of reference (TOR) for delivering training on operation of the Continuously Operating Reference System (CORS) and for preparing a proposal for densification of the CORS infrastructure in the country in the short-, medium-, and long-term was prepared and agreed upon with the Ethiopian Mapping Agency (EMA) and the Ministry of Agriculture/Land Administration and Use Department (MoA/LAUD). The consultant will execute the assignment during FY 2014.

LAND partner, Michigan State University (MSU), has completed the fieldwork for assessing the market demand for land administration professionals and private surveyors, and review of university undergraduate and Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) land administration training curricula in January 2014. The report will be completed in April 2014, and a validation workshop will be conducted at the end of May 2014.

A meeting of key stakeholders was held on March 17, 2014, to discuss the concept note to establish the “Ethiopian Land Research and Development Network (ELARDEN).” The concept was endorsed and suggestions given on how to proceed with establishment of ELARDEN. A Memorandum of Association was drafted and agreed upon, and strategies for operationalizing the network and ensuring its sustainability prepared. This was followed with brainstorming on thematic areas for research. The proposal that ILA/BDU be the secretariat for ELARDEN was also endorsed. The LAND Grants Management Manual was approved. LAND will publish an Annual Program Statement (APS) soliciting concept papers for research grants on or about April 30, 2014.

Broad modalities for collaboration were agreed upon with the PRIME project in implementing Component 4 of LAND. A monthly meeting has been instituted to review joint activities of both projects and chart the way forward. An Oromia Pastoralist Advisory Committee (OPAC) on land administration and natural resources management was established at the regional level. OPAC is an informal forum to discuss issues and action plans, exchange information and come to a common understanding to facilitate and increase the effectiveness of LAND and PRIME interventions in Oromia regional state. The terms of reference for OPAC were agreed upon. Zonal OPACs will be formed in the Guji and Borana zones in May 2014 when the regional OPAC is visiting these zones.

An assessment of pastoralist rangeland management institutions and the rules and procedures they use in administering and managing their rangelands and natural resources will be made to inform drafting legislation to secure pastoral land rights in the Oromia regional states. A terms of reference was prepared for carrying out the assessment among the Borana, Guji, Kereyu, Itu, and Bale pastoralists and discussed with the Institute of Pastoral and Agro-pastoral Studies (IPAS) of Haramaya University, which will carry out the task within the next quarter.

The Land Administration and Land Use Planning Expert of LAND attended a workshop in Negele-Borana to validate the resource map and boundaries of grazing units (dhedas) prepared under PLI-II and PRIME projects. He observed that further consultation with the communities and using larger-scale satellite maps would be necessary to finalize the resource map and boundary maps.

The LAND project is working with PRIME and Haramaya University to develop the architecture for an Ethiopian Pastoralist Knowledge Management System (EPKMS). The system will be designed to support the eventual formalization of land rights across the spectrum of customary rangeland management institutions in Ethiopia. Haramaya University will serve as the repository for this knowledge management platform, and work with both the LAND and PRIME projects to standardize the collection, management, online access and use, and dissemination of the information among targeted user groups.

The purpose of the Ethiopia Land Administration to Nurture Development (LAND) program is to expand and extend two previously successful projects—Ethiopia Strengthening Land Tenure and Land Administration Program (ELTAP) implemented in 2005-2008 and Ethiopia Strengthening Land Administration Program (ELAP) implemented in 2008-2013 – financed by The United States Agency for International Development (USAID)/Ethiopia Mission and implemented by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and six regional states with technical assistance provided by Tetra Tech ARD. These projects helped strengthen rural land tenure security and women’s land use rights; encourage efficient land transactions; build capacity of federal and regional land administration agencies to improve service delivery and pilot cadastral surveying and certification methodologies to recognize and document rural land use rights.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

During the reporting period, LAND made considerable progress on most project components.

Under Component 1 (Improved legal and policy frameworks at national and local levels)

LAND supported a national experts workshop in March 2015 where draft amendments to the Federal Land Administration and Land Use (LALU) Proclamation No. 456/2005 were presented and discussed. The workshop participants recommended that the draft is reviewed by representatives of regional land administration bureaus and universities for feedback and comment. In response to this request, LAND organized a ten-day workshop in April 2015 in Adama where 20 experts from regional land administration and justice bureaus and from universities participated. Comments and technical inputs from the experts were incorporated into the draft amendments and used to produce explanatory notes that were submitted to senior management in the MOA for approval. The consultant hired to prepare a draft the Somali National State Region (NRS) Pastoral Lands Administration and Use Regulation and LAND’s Property Rights Lawyer presented the draft to land administration and justice bureau experts and several officials and regional parliamentarians at a workshop held in Jigjiga in April 2015. The Consultant improved the draft with the inputs obtained from the workshop. The regional rural development bureau conducted another workshop where members of communities and elders participated and the feedback was used to improve the draft regulations further. The draft was finalized in May 2015 and submitted to the regional bureau in June 2015.

Haramaya, Debub and Mekelle Universities submitted first drafts of land law training manuals they were commissioned to prepare by LAND for their respective regional states on which LAND technical specialists gave their comments. Bahir Dar University has not yet submitted its draft. The first draft report on the assessment of the implementation of rural land laws in the Amhara NRS by Bahir Dar University was received which is being reviewed by LAND’s technical specialists.

Under Component 2 (Strengthened capacity in national, regional, and local land administration and use planning)

On May 6, 2015, LAND experts presented the conclusions of three thematic papers to senior management of the Ministry of Agriculture, MOA chaired by His Excellency Ato Tefera Derbew. The message focused on the adverse consequences of lack of an overarching national land use policy and the urgent need for its formulation. The presentations were favorably received and H.E. the Minister instructed the Director of the Land Administration and Use Directorate (LAUD) to prepare a policy brief and a decision memo on a recommendation for the next steps. Accordingly, LAND provided assistance to LAUD in the preparation of a 10-page policy brief.

The consultant hired to provide technical assistance to EMA prepared a needs assessment report and started drafting a project proposal that enable EMA to establish full coverage of the geodetic network in the country with CORS.

Under Component 3 (Strengthened capacity of Ethiopian universities to engage in policy analysis and research related to land tenure and train land administration and land use professionals)

The M.Sc. training program for government land administration staff is progressing as planned. Both batches (2014/2015 and 2015/2016 entry) of 42 trainees each are currently enrolled at ILA/BDU since June 2015. A LAND team will visit Bahir Dar University in July to monitor the academic activities and assess the performance of the Secretariat of ETHIOLANDNET (ILA/BDU).

LAND received the Michigan State University (MSU) revised draft research report on demand for land administration professionals. A validation workshop was held in 23-24 June 2015 with the participation of key stakeholders. The MSU research team presented the findings of the study with sufficient details and useful comments and information were received that would enrich the final report. LAND expects the MSU team to formally submit the final report in the next quarter.

Regarding the Competitive Research Grant Program, six grantees that received approval from both Tetra Tech ARD and USAID/Ethiopia Mission were given orientation on the terms and conditions of the Grant Agreement with a primary focus on the “Mandatory Standard Provisions (MSP) and Required as Applicable Standard Provisions (RAASPS). All invited representatives attended the workshop with active participation and contribution. Subsequently, LAND released funds to the grantees according to the USAID procedures of grant administration.

Under Component 4 (Strengthened community land rights in pastoral and agro-pastoral areas to facilitate market linkages and economic growth)

LAND completed an inventory of lands allocated for cropping and grazing enclosures (kalos) in the Borana zone, which included data on the holdings that are above one hectare in 10 woredas of the Borana zone. Similar data collection activity is underway in five pastoral woredas of the Guji zone and will be completed in the next quarter. LAND’s technical team reviewed the report submitted by Haramaya University entitled “Customary Land Administration and Natural Resource Management in the Pastoral Areas of the Oromia Regional State” and sent its comments and suggestions for substantial improvements to the University. The report contains useful information on the three pastoral groups located in East Shewa, West Hararghe, and Bale zones. It documents the customary practices and institutions used to administer and manage the rangelands and other natural resources.Work on demarcation and mapping for registration and certification of pastoral lands was halted because an agreement could not be reached with the Oromia NRS on the unit of land to be registered. LAND is preparing a position paper on this issue for discussion with the Oromia Regional Pastoral Advisory Committee. This paper will be presented at the validation workshop of the IPAS/HU study findings.

Consultation Meetings were held from April 30 – May 1, 2015, with the Afar NRS officials and stakeholders. The objective was to establish a common understanding on the process of certifying pastoral land use rights in the region. The meeting that was held in the Afar NRS capital (Semera) was jointly initiated by the Afar government, the Land Administration and Use Directorate (LAUD) of the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA), and the LAND Project. The attendance was impressive and included the cabinet members of the regional state, including the President, Vice President, Regional Bureau heads and deputy heads, staff members and officials from the federal MOA, a member of the Afar Pastoralists Council, LAND project leaders and experts, and a Senior Policy Advisor of the USAID/Ethiopia Mission. Reactions from the participants indicated that the discussions were indeed valuable and provided new insights on issues of pastoral land use rights in the region. The Afar NRS government selected Amibara and Chifra woredas for piloting pastoral land certification. A LAND technical team visited both sites in June 2015 to discuss with woreda officials and community elders the planned interventions that would commence with a rapid situation appraisal in the next quarter. The responses observed from participants of the two woredas were overwhelmingly positive.