Document Type: Project Summaries

The Land-Potential Knowledge System (LandPKS): Sharing Local and Scientific Knowledge to Increase Land Productivity and Resilience

Background

The Evaluation, Research and Communication (ERC) project is a 5-year initiative, launched in 2013 under the Strengthening Tenure and Resource Rights (STARR) IQC.  The purpose of the project is to create, expand, and communicate evidence-based knowledge around best land tenure and property rights (LTPR) practices to enhance internal USAID and external U.S. Government (USG) learning, guide program design and implementation, and make the most effective use of limited development resources to accomplish key development objectives.  The ERC project consists of five tasks:

• Task 1) Impact Evaluation: Promotes evidence-based policy by designing and implementing innovative approaches to measure the impact of USAID LTPR programming
• Task 2) Research: Strengthens knowledge and understanding of LTPR by undertaking innovative research and generating evidence-based results
• Task 3) Communication: Facilitates knowledge sharing and LTPR program design, and promotes ERC research, evaluations, trainings and pilots
• Task 4) Training: Builds LTPR capacity among USG, host country and other key target audiences to support the next generation of LTPR practitioners
• Task 5) Implementation of Pilot Activities: Tests, analyzes, and pilots approaches to strengthen LTPR for replication and scaling of future initiatives

Preliminary Outcomes

Under Tasks 1 and 2, USAID is implementing a series of rigorous impact evaluations (IE) to more precisely determine the impact on livelihood outcomes of land tenure interventions. ERC has conducted 6 baseline data collections and completed baseline reports for each:

• the Land Administration to Nurture Development (LAND) project in Oromia, Ethiopia
• the LAND project in Afar, Ethiopia
• the Property Rights and Artisanal Diamond Development II (PRADD II) project in Guinea
• the Community Land Protection Program (CLPP) in Liberia
• the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) Community-Based Forest Management Program (CFP) in Zambia’s Eastern Province
• the impact of USAID’s Tenure and Global Climate Change (TGCC) Project’s

ERC has also collected endline data, completed analysis of panel data, and published the endline report for an IE of the Ethiopia Land Administration Program (ELAP) and the Ethiopia Strengthening Land Tenure and Administration Program (ELTAP).  Currently, ERC is preparing to closeout the TGCC IE; the endline data collection is anticipated for June 2017, and analysis of the panel data will follow.

Under Task 3, ERC conducts targeted communication campaigns to promote STARR project impacts, research, best practices, and lessons learned from STARR and USAID’s broader land tenure portfolio.  Recent communications campaigns have focused on Land Matters for Youth and the Mobile Application to Secure Tenure (MAST) project, and included a sustained campaign to promote USAID’s LTPR MOOC (see below).  ERC also manages the USAID Land Tenure Portal (https://www.land-links.org), which features commentaries, issue briefs, project information, country profiles, and other materials showing the results, challenges, and lessons from USAID’s efforts to improve land and resource governance for all members of society.

Under Task 4, USAID has developed training initiatives that include USAID’s Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on LTPR, which was launched in September 2015.  ERC has also drafted a grants mechanism to support academic research on LTPR.  These initiatives are designed to build capacity within USAID, the USG, and the broader development community to better understand and address LTPR issues.  During this quarter ERC worked with USAID to prepare new MOOC course offerings. The new offerings are included in the MOOC 2.0 course, which will be offered in January-February 2017.

Under Task 5, USAID’s Mobile Applications to Secure Tenure (MAST) was used to map and collect data on approximately 3,900 parcels in three villages in Tanzania’s Iringa District. By June 2016 just over 1,600 land rights certificates (CCROs) were printed, and this pilot is now complete.  Also under Task 5, from August 2014-February 2017 ERC supported the operations of the National Land Observatory in Burkina Faso.  The Observatory is an independent organization that undertakes research on land governance issues in the country and uses the information gathered to foster policy dialogue.  This support was to advance G-7 commitments made in 2014.  Since September 2016, ERC has provided a separate stream of support to the Observatory to adapt the MAST-Tanzania platform for use in the legal and institutional environment of Burkina Faso.  In the latter half of 2016 the ERC supported a pilot project in Burkina Faso, run through the ONF, to adapt the MAST technology for use in that country.  In late 2016 the technology was deployed to map 2,708 rural land parcels in only 25 days.

Finally under Task 5, USAID is supporting innovative approaches to “road test” the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition’s “Analytical Framework for Responsible Land-Based Investments in African Agriculture.” The project is developing an enhanced due diligence process to help investors identify land tenure risks and develop strategies to address these risks. The pilot is likely to work in Belize (the pilot anticipated working in Cameroon but this investment was not pursued) and in an African country to be determined. The pilot is also working with Illovo Sugar, Ltd. in Mozambique to help map and record land rights in approximately 3,000 hectares of land surrounding Illovo’s Maragra Acucar plantation. This work will help secure rights for several thousand smallholders – those who contract with Illovo to grow sugar cane as well as those with parcels in the pilot area who grow other crops. It will also help establish a grievance mechanism for Illovo and a plan for a multi-stakeholder platform to support dialogue on land concerns. Lessons learned, case studies and communications materials from this pilot will be shared with the private sector to promote more responsible investing, reduce land-related risks and in support of USAID’s goals of securing land rights for women and men in developing countries.

Within the Mau Forest Complex (Mau), women are the primary cultivators of land and heavy users of forest products. However, few are owners of the land they cultivate, few participate in community forest associations in the Mau, and even fewer act as elders within their communities. Early fieldwork in the area demonstrated deeply entrenched cultural norms against women engaging in public affairs, particularly related to resource use and dispute resolution. As a result, women not only have little ability to influence local resource rights and use arrangements, but also have no assurance that village elders, their first and often only venue for addressing resource issues, will adjudicate in ways that support their rights and interests.

Legal rights to land are necessary, but not alone sufficient, to improving women’s access to justice related to land. There must also be in place institutions and mechanisms at the national and local levels—both formal and informal—to recognize, support and enforce those rights. Because traditional elders enjoy strong social legitimacy and influence the allocation of rights to natural resources, engaging them in strengthening women’s access to justice is key to more secure resource and ownership rights for women and contributes to a more fair and equitable rule of law.

USAID’s Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance (USAID/DCHA/DRG), in partnership with the Bureau for Economic Growth, Education, and Environment (USAID/E3/LTPR), has funded “Enhancing Customary Justice Systems in the Mau Forest, Kenya” (Kenya Justice Project), which is being implemented by Landesa. This pilot serves as a model for improving rural women’s access to justice related to land while building processes to bridge the gap between formal and informal justice systems.

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PLOT COMMUNITY

– Land tenure insecurity is high due to a history of arbitrary and illegal government actions

– 2,500 people (spill over to approx. 3,000)

– Remote and marginalized community

– Majority Maasai, with Kalenjin and Ogiek minorities

– Dependent exclusively on land and forests for livelihoods

– Majority of the land is privately owned

BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN FORMAL AND INFORMAL JUSTICE SECTORS

The pilot aimed to improve women’s access to justice related to land by bridging the gap between formal and informal justice sectors. The Constitution (2010) guarantees women’s land rights as well as recognizes the role of traditional dispute resolution mechanisms, i.e., elders, in implementing the Constitution. Using applied legal literacy training with a focus on developing legitimate processes, the Justice Project provided the time and space for beneficiaries to consider the implication of these historic constitutional changes. In so doing, the pilot aimed to shift attitudes regarding women’s land rights and thereby improve community practice towards women’s access and rights to land. Assuming financial resources are in place, the ultimate goal is to partner with the Government of Kenya to replicate and scale the model throughout the country.

PROJECT COMPONENTS

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RESULTS

Following pilot activities that ended in May 2012, a quantitative and qualitative evaluation was undertaken to measure the short-term impacts of the Justice Project on women’s access to justice and land in the pilot community. The evaluation revealed that the Justice Project generated significant and higher magnitude improvements (as compared to a control community) in several key areas:

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At the conclusion of the pilot 14 women were elected to the local Council of Elders and by March 2014 that number had risen to 22. As of this writing, the Justice Project team continues to seek opportunities for national scaling of the project model through partnerships with the Government of Kenya and civil society organizations.

The Property Rights and Artisanal Diamond Development (PRADD) project is a joint USAID/Department of State initiative to assist the governments of the Central African Republic (CAR) and of Liberia to fulfill their commitment to the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS). Launched in CAR in 2007 as a pilot initiative, and in Liberia in mid-2010, the project aims to increase the amount of alluvial diamonds entering the formal chain of custody while improving the benefits accruing to mining communities through an approach of strengthening property rights.

SUPPORTING THE KIMBERLEY PROCESS IN THE CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC AND LIBERIA

OVERVIEW

The Property Rights and Artisanal Diamond Development (PRADD) project was launched in the Central African Republic (CAR) in 2007 and in Liberia in mid-2010 as a joint USAID/Department of State initiative. The aim is to assist the governments of CAR and Liberia to fulfill their commitment to comply with the Kimberley Process (KP).

The objective of PRADD is to increase the amount of alluvial diamonds entering the formal chain of custody while improving the benefits accruing to diamond mining communities in both CAR and Liberia. Nearly all of the thousands of artisanal miners are extremely poor. Only a very small minority purchase mining licenses, which are expensive and must be renewed every year. This means most miners operate outside the law. They are therefore vulnerable to arrest, and to having their diamonds confiscated. Not surprisingly the prevailing mindset is to mine quickly, sell fast taking the first price offered, and then move on. The economic and environmental consequences of these prevailing attitudes are predictably bad, and impact compliance with the KP.

THE PRADD APPROACH

PRADD is premised on the knowledge that strengthened property rights create positive incentives to be a good steward of the land. When a community makes the right of an artisanal miner to prospect and dig for diamonds more formal and secure, that miner is more likely to sell any diamonds he finds through legal channels, enabling the government to meet its obligation to the KP to track the origin of those diamonds. The miner who is secure in his rights will not sell his diamonds in fear and haste. He will negotiate better prices that he can use to provide for his family.

Furthermore, a secure claim on the land increases the value of the claim should the miner decide to sell, and thereby stimulates the market in land. PRADD is demonstrating that compliance with the KP is easier for governments when miners’ rights to mine have been strengthened.

OBJECTIVES

The PRADD project works with artisanal diamond mining communities in Lobaye, Sangha Mbaere and Mambere Kadei Provinces, CAR, and in Lofa Bridge and Weasua, Liberia. PRADD assists the governments of CAR and Liberia to:

• Clarify and formalize rights to land and natural resources;
• Improve monitoring the production and sale of diamonds;
• Increase the benefits accruing to mining communities;
• Strengthen capacity to mitigate environmental damage; and,
• Improve stakeholders’ access to crucial

PRADD IN THE CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

Prior to 2011 the fee for artisanal mining licenses was very high and only a small percentage of miners bought licenses to mine. PRADD produced a comparative study of artisanal licensing systems in ten countries that showed that reducing license fees increases the number of miners who buy licenses sufficiently to increase government revenues. Based on this evidence the government of CAR cut the artisanal mining license fees by 36% in January 2011 and 41% more miners bought licenses in 2011.

Since opening as a pilot in 2007 PRADD has worked to identify and geo-reference mining sites in its area of intervention, has conducted community meetings to validate the miners’ rights to mine, and has provided the miners with certificates signed by the government, and finally has inputted the data into a claims registry. PRADD has formalized customary claims to a total of 2,849 diamond mines.

The PRADD system of community-validated certificates reduces conflict. The certificates are increasingly used by authorities and the courts to arbitrate diamond-related land conflicts, which fell from 142 to 51 in one year, and now have nearly disappeared in PRADD’s project area. The certificates have also stimulated the market in land; certified claims are sold at a higher price than non-certified ones. Because of these positive outcomes the government of CAR has directed the PRADD operation since April 2011, and now PRADD is assisting the government in a larger land tenure reform process initiated in December 2011.

To mitigate the environmental damage caused by artisanal mining PRADD assists communities to undertake income- generating projects that reclaim exhausted mines while diversifying livelihoods. As of October 2011 a total of 591 mined out diamond pits had been converted into 361 fish farms, 176 vegetable gardens, and 54 fruit tree orchards. Some artisanal miners now earn more income from fish farming than from digging for diamonds.

PRADD IN LIBERIA

Since commencing operations in 2010 PRADD has conducted a census of diamond mines in Lofa Bridge and Weasua and has geo- referenced over 500 claims. PRADD has used those GPS coordinates to create an artisanal mining cadastre for the government.

Late in 2011 PRADD conducted a review of the policy, legal, regulatory and administrative frameworks governing artisanal mining, and identified gaps and contradictions that create points of friction between statutory and customary rights. PRADD recommended 20 changes to policies, laws, regulations and procedures to secure tenure rights, improve the licensing system, increase the amount of diamonds entering the formal chain of custody, increase benefits for miners, and promote environmental rehabilitation. PRADD presented these to the government and they have been accepted.

As part its effort to comply with the KP the government opened diamond offices to monitor the production and marketing of diamonds. PRADD has refurbished ten of the buildings and equipped them with motorbikes and solar-powered high frequency radios to enable its agents to visit mines and report on activities.

Artisanal mining of diamond deposits in Liberia is environmentally destructive. The mining law obligates miners to backfill their sites, but this is seldom done. Pitting is the main technique used by artisanal diamond miners. Pitting leaves a large amount of the diamond-bearing gravel unexposed and thus unexploited, and the sterile overburden leaves the land useless once mining ends. To address this issue in Liberia, PRADD is introducing the SMARTER mining method of trenching and stepping. Trenching and stepping exposes more of the diamond-bearing gravel and allows higher recovery of diamonds. The miner backfills a mined out trench with overburden from a new trench as mining proceeds, so environmental damage is mitigated as part of the excavation process.

Kenya’s land reform, initiated in the 1950s, involved large-scale conversion of customary land tenure systems to private, individualized ownership. However, land privatization failed to increase agricultural productivity or provide the level of tenure security anticipated. Many smallholders lost land to wealthy, influential individuals. Efforts were also made to secure group tenure for pastoralist communities residing on lands in arid and semi-arid areas which comprise approximately 80% of the country. These reforms resulted in serious consequences, particularly for resource governance and wildlife conservation.

USAID’s work with land tenure and property rights (LTPR) in Ethiopia began with the Ethiopia Land Policy and Administration Assessment in 2004, which led to the following projects: (1) Strengthening Ethiopian Land Tenure Policy and Administration Program (ELTAP) from January 2005–June 2008; and (2) the Ethiopia Strengthening Land Administration Program (ELAP), 2008–2013. ELTAP was implemented to: reform the legal framework for land and property by harmonizing regional land administration and use laws with federal legislation; improve the awareness of land users and stakeholders about land administration and land use laws and regulations; and strengthen the capacity of federal and regional governments to implement second level land registration and certification. Both ELTAP’s achievements and ongoing technical and policy challenges created demand for the successor ELAP project.

This brief looks at the successes, challenges, and future plans to support assessments of land tenure and property rights, community consultation, and legal reforms including the Decree Law on State Leases (2004), Law on Private Leases (2005), and most recently, the Ministerial Regulation on the Cadastre—the legal basis for the current Project’s land claims collection activities. (April 2011)

Southern Sudan is in the midst of a fragile transition from decades of civil war to a tentative peace. Land tenure and property rights (LTPR) issues could undermine that transition by hampering a productive agricultural sector and long-term economic growth. Rural people contest the right of the GOSS to hold and manage land in trust on their behalf, claiming that land “belongs to the people.” Ongoing conflicts, many violent, erupt among pastoralists and between pastoralists and farmers. Customary claims to land in peri-urban areas are routinely ignored, fueling conflict. Laws and state institutions for land administration and conflict mediation are weak, and there is confusion over which laws take precedent, statutory or customary.

The Sudan Property Rights Program (SPRP, September 2008 – February 2011) assisted the Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS) to develop a draft land policy based on extensive public consultation and research, as well as provided support to build the capacity of the Southern Sudan Land Commission (SSLC). A follow-on project, the Sudan Rural Land Governance Project (SRLG, 2011 – 2013) will help harmonize the land policy with the 2009 Land Act and support selected State and local governments for more effective land administration and planning.

Helping to develop a clear policy, laws, regulations and procedures, as well as consistent technical support to institutions responsible for the administration of land and land rights are essential steps for effective land governance and conflict mediation, enabling the equitable and efficient use of land that promotes peace and economic growth.

OVERVIEW

Southern Sudan is in the midst of a fragile transition from decades of civil war to a tentative peace. Land tenure and property rights (LTPR) issues could undermine that transition by hampering a productive agricultural sector and long-term economic growth. Rural people contest the right of the GOSS to hold and manage land in trust on their behalf, claiming that land “belongs to the people.” Ongoing conflicts, many violent, erupt among pastoralists and between pastoralists and farmers. Customary claims to land in peri-urban areas are routinely ignored, fueling conflict. Laws and state institutions for land administration and conflict mediation are weak, and there is confusion over which laws take precedent, statutory or customary.

The Sudan Property Rights Program (SPRP, September 2008 – February 2011) assisted the Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS) to develop a draft land policy based on extensive public consultation and research, as well as provided support to build the capacity of the Southern Sudan Land Commission (SSLC). A follow-on project, the Sudan Rural Land Governance Project (SRLG, 2011 – 2013) will help harmonize the land policy with the 2009 Land Act and support selected State and local governments for more effective land administration and planning.

Helping to develop a clear policy, laws, regulations and procedures, as well as consistent technical support to institutions responsible for the administration of land and land rights are essential steps for effective land governance and conflict mediation, enabling the equitable and efficient use of land that promotes peace and economic growth.

STATUS

The SPRP concluded in February 2011, with the handover of a draft land policy to the Government of Southern Sudan which will undergo its final high-level review before promulgation.  In 2010, the SPRP and SSLC concluded a series of government and civil society stakeholder consultations that directly involved over 1000 key GOSS, State, and local government and civil society stakeholders as well as traditional leaders.   Complementing the consultations, the SPRP and Nile Institute of Strategic Development and Policy Studies (NISPDS) based at Juba University, managed a research project on key LTPR issues such as conflict, urban informal settlements, and jurisdiction for land administration; the research findings informed the drafting of the land policy.  Finally, the SPRP convened a training in the capital, Juba, for 64 GOSS, State, and local government participants on LTPR concepts and practices, presented by regional and international experts.

SUCCESSES

In 2008 – 2011, USAID, in collaboration with the SSLC, achieved the following:

• Supported a number of formal consultation workshops throughout Southern Sudan, engaging 1061 participants (780 Men, 281 Women);
• Trained 64 policy-makers on key LTPR concepts and principles in September 2010;
• Completed a comprehensive draft land policy based on public consultation and research;
• Completed research on informal settlements, land conflict, customary tenure, and jurisdiction while building Southern Sudanese research

CHALLENGES

The following issues affect the design and implementation of activities:

• As a new nation, Southern Sudan will review and revise existing policies and laws or develop entirely new ones, complicating any policy and legal drafting work in the near term;
• Vast distances and rudimentary infrastructure that affect both travel and communications;
• Political changes and instability that affect government collaboration or support LTPR programming;
• Nascent government and civil-society organization that require extensive support to develop effective

FUTURE

In 2011-2013, the Sudan Rural Governance Project will help the GOSS further develop and refine the policy and legal framework governing land tenure and support State and local governments in selected areas develop institutions and procedures for effective land administration and conflict mediation. The SRLG will coordinate closely with other donors to implement programs that clarify and improve LTPR systems, reduce land-related conflicts, and increase agricultural productivity. Continuing support for the GOSS, State and local governments, traditional authorities, and civil society will be essential to build effective institutions for land tenure and peaceful land conflict management.

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The Sudan Property Rights Program (SPRP, September 2008 – March 2011) assisted the Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS) to develop a draft land policy based on extensive public consultation and research, as well as provided support to build the capacity of the Southern Sudan Land Commission (SSLC). A follow-on project, the Sudan Rural Land Governance Project (SRLG, 2011 – 2013) will help harmonize the land policy with the 2009 Land Act and support selected State and local governments for more effective land administration and planning.

 

The USAID-funded Securing Rights to Land and Natural Resources for Biodiversity and Livelihoods in the Kiguna, Boni and Dodori Reserves and Surrounding Areas Project (SECURE Project) works with the Ministry of Lands in Kenya’s north coast region of Lamu to help implement the new NLP. The Lamu environs are recognized as international hotspots for biodiversity and the home to three national reserves that incorporate 2,500 kms² of coastal forest, mangrove, estuarine, and marine ecosystems hosting numerous vulnerable and endangered species. Lands in this region have long been categorized as government lands, but local communities manage them under customary land tenure arrangements.

OVERVIEW

Land issues have long been critical factors in the economic, social, and cultural development of Kenya. Indeed, land played a central part of the struggle for independence, as well as in the post-election violence of late 2007 and early 2008. With an estimated population of 40 million and an annual growth rate of 2.9%, the challenge of accommodating Kenya’s rapid population growth on its limited arid and semi-arid lands is reflected in high rates of rural-urban migration, land fragmentation, and many land conflicts. The system of land administration inherited from the British colonial era no longer accommodates these forces. Kenya’s new National Land Policy (NLP) recognizes that the country is in need of a new land administration system that engages local communities in land management. The National Land Policy is bolstered by the new Constitution, which endorses its key principles; prescribes a series of legislative, administrative, and structural reforms; and seeks to address such issues as gross disparities in land ownership, gender and trans-generational discrimination, inequitable and extra-legal land allocations, and historical injustices against minority and vulnerable groups.

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HISTORY OF COMMUNITY RIGHTS TO LAND

Although provision of secure tenure to land in Kenya has been ongoing since the late 1950s, few concrete measures succeeded at recognizing rights and interests to land claimed communally. Heretofore, citizens’ rights to land and security of tenure were derived from government lands and trust lands; notably among others the Government Land Act (Cap280), the Land Adjudication Act (Cap 284), the Land (Group Representatives) Act (Cap 287), and the Agriculture Act (Cap 318). Apart from  the Land (Group Representatives) Act, all the other statutes are geared towards recognition of private property in land, with few or no provisions for recognizing communal rights and interests to land.

The Group Representatives (also referred to as Group Ranches) Act recognizes representatives of groups who are recorded as land owners under the Land Adjudication Act. However, the registration of these groups as owners and occupiers of land occurs through a process of adjudication aimed at extinguishing customary land ownership in favor of individualized or private ownership. The Group Ranches Act is primarily a land use and management tool for pastoralist areas and is not suitable for providing tenure security for non-pastoralist peoples. Unfortunately, pastoralist representatives have often sold  off land without proper consultation with other community members.

The Trust Land Act (Cap 288) is intended to reserve state lands for community use. County Councils are vested with the authority to hold and manage trust lands on behalf of the people. In practice, County Council land administration has rarely benefited local communities. Councils lack management capacity on one hand; but on the other, they have lost the trust of local constituencies due to irregular and illegal land transactions.

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Particularly along Kenya’s coast, people live in squatter villages and other informal settlements. The Agriculture Act (Cap 318) has been used to recognize individual rights to land through the squatter settlement provisions. Individual letters of allotment have been issued under the Government Land Act (Cap 280) rather than legal recognition of community settlement rights. Admittedly, the subdivision and recognition of private rights to land settled informally is complex. The corpus of land Acts lack a clear method for recognizing group rights, whether those of lands long managed under customary tenure or those settled more recently on trust lands. Guidelines and regulations are not developed for how a village, as an institutional entity, can register and manage land rights.

A WAY FORWARD

In December 2009, the Government of Kenya created the National Land Policy (NLP) as a framework to resolve myriad land tenure issues. The new Constitution in August 2010 incorporates many aspects of the new land policy. The constitutional changes now recognize the new categories of public, community, and private lands. Public lands are to be administered by a National Land Commission with decentralized representation. Former Trust Lands, and some Government Lands along the coast, will be converted to community lands, managed and administered by local residents.

The USAID-funded Securing Rights to Land and Natural Resources for Biodiversity and Livelihoods in the Kiguna, Boni and Dodori Reserves and Surrounding Areas Project (SECURE Project) works with the Ministry of Lands in Kenya’s north coast region of Lamu to help implement the new NLP. The Lamu environs are recognized as international hotspots for biodiversity and the home to three national reserves that incorporate 2,500 kms² of coastal forest, mangrove, estuarine, and marine ecosystems hosting numerous vulnerable and endangered species. Lands in this region have long been categorized as government lands, but local communities manage them under customary land tenure arrangements. Land speculation linked to the anticipated creation of the new port of Lamu is now rampant. Interest in pristine beach plots now fuels illegal land transactions. Entire islands have been allegedly put up for sale. In this era of rapidly rising land prices, indigenous communities have not yet been able to protect their customary rights to land and other natural resources.

The SECURE Project has worked closely with the Land Reform Transformation Unit (LRTU) of the Ministry of Lands to design a participatory customary land rights recognition process—the Community Land Rights Recognition (CLRR) model—that enacts relevant provisions of the NLP. The CLRR approach spells out steps to register customary land rights through community institutions involved in the management of land and other natural resources. Through a transparent and participatory process, the CLRR records the array of community and local rights and land-use practices to land and other natural resources. To secure the customary rights of the local community, the CLRR spells out measures to further protect customary institutions against arbitrary uses of power by local elites and land administrators. The CLRR is being piloted in 2011 in four communities in the Lamu area. Lessons learned from the pilot will then help guide modifications in the CLRR approach, which upon formal approval by the Government of Kenya, will be incorporated into a new Community Land Act. This Act will apply the CLRR not only to coastal lands but to all former Trust Lands (about 65% of the total land area of Kenya), potentially touching millions of lives.

Concurrently, the SECURE Project is facilitating the improved biodiversity conservation and sustainable use of natural resources in partnership with the Kenya Wildlife Service, Kenya Forest Service, and Department of Fisheries. In collaboration with these partners, SECURE will help design and implement co-agreements for community forests situated on public lands. The pilot initiative is launched among the Boni—an indigenous peoples engaged farming and forest product gathering around a national reserve. SECURE will continue to assist its government partners in developing co-management agreements in coastal areas for the sustainable management of fisheries, wildlife, and mangroves.