Document Type: Studies

This Land Market Study (LMS) was commissioned by Tetra Tech to inform the USAID-funded Liberian Governance Support Activity (LGSA). The aim of the LGSA is to support the establishment of more effective land governance systems, ready to implement comprehensive reforms to improve equitable access to land and security of tenure, to facilitate sustained and inclusive growth and development, ensure peace and security, and provide sustainable management of the environment.

The objective of the LMS is to examine the land services presently available in the country, and the gaps, or need/s not yet met, both at the county and national levels. The survey also highlights the types of land services that are in demand but have little capacity or are missing entirely. It concludes with a ranking of the services that have the highest demand, and those which have a high potential to contribute to the LGSA objectives and should be prioritized by the LGSA and the Government of Liberia (GOL) to support. The survey also advances specific recommendations on how the private sector can be engaged to realize some of the land services, throughout the county.

This survey was conducted in Montserrado, Grand Bassa, Margibi, Bong and Nimba Counties. Their selection was based on their accessibility, high potential for growth, and history of land conflict. A total of 89 persons participated in the survey: 40 as Key Informants, and 49 as Focus Group Discussants. Males constituted 56% and females 44%.

Findings from the survey revealed that most of the land services (surveying, registering, land inspection, land dispute resolution, evaluation and appraisal, and probating of deeds) are available in all of the study counties. Every surveyed county has a service center where land services are being provided. However, the centers are under staffed and lack the logistical capacity to effectively serve the public. As such, some people wanting services are still coming to Monrovia. Other services mentioned outside of Monrovia included planting of cornerstone, someone to conduct due diligence, and caretaker of the land until it is ready to be developed.

According to service providers, the services with the highest demand in all survey counties include surveying, appraisal, architecture design and construction. Services with the lowest demand are GIS, real estate brokerage, and production of aerial maps. Their low demand is due to the fact that they are unaffordable by the majority of the population. Services to include inspection of land before construction are available at the Ministry of Public Works, but the Ministry lacks logistics to attend to customers’ needs.

Services which have a high potential to contribute to the LGSA objectives and for which LGSA and the GOL should prioritize their support are: a nationwide cadastral system, massive awareness to the public about land processes and instruments, and an institution to train land service providers.

Although women’s access to, and ownership of, land has improved, their access is still low compared to their male counterparts. Gender has not been sufficiently mainstreamed in the traditional land system, and many women are still denied access to their father’s land.

The private sector can be engaged to provide land services nationally and at the local levels by the government creating the enabling regulatory environment for private providers to venture into the counties. Credit facilities for innovative ideas, paved roads, provision of electricity and water, and creation of jobs will pull professionals to work in the counties as a result of demand for land services. The agricultural sector as well as the housing and urban development sector will be the main contributors to the increased demand for land services.

The recommendations captured for this report for the government and the project were:

1. The passage of the Land Rights Act and the Land Authority Act and enacted into law with full implementation.
2. The Land Authority should have prosecutor power.
3. The government should prioritize setting up a nationwide cadastral system using digital technology.
4. Work with the Probate Court to fast track the series of land issues to include probating and land dispute resolution. In the interim, there might be a need to set up a special land court and/or expand the use of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms to accelerate the solving of land cases.
5. The Probate Court and CNDRA should conduct due diligence before probating and registering deeds respectively.
6. Create institutions to train land surveyors, and promote and formalize, through legislation, the Association of Professional Land Surveyors of Liberia that has been established to license and monitor ethical behavior of land surveyors.
7. Tax unutilized land to serve as a disincentive to hoarding of large tracts of land.
8. Provide adequate awareness on all land related legislation, to include the processes as it relates to acquiring and transferring a piece of land, and about the various land instruments at the Legislature.

This document was developed for the European Union, which is a co-funding the Property Rights and Artisanal Diamond Development II (PRADD II) project in Cote d’Ivoire. The document is in French, although the Executive Summary has been translated as follows:

The present report offers an assessment of land and conflict dynamics in the mining communities of Séguéla and Tortiya, Côte d’Ivoire, including the types and causes of land-related conflict and existing mechanisms for conflict resolution. This component was financed through the European Union’s contribution to the land and conflict diagnostic that took place as part of the land rights formalization activity of the Property Rights and Artisanal Diamond Development II (PRADD II) project. PRADD II aims to increase the volume of Côte d’Ivoire’s legally exported diamonds while improving livelihoods of artisanal mining communities. Through participatory research in 10 villages around Séguéla with different resource user groups, the diagnostic revealed several dimensions of land management that had implications for conflict mitigation and prevention, including those outlined below.

Land is entirely managed under traditional and customary practices, with laws and regulations little understood and rarely applied. The main land management principle in the targeted villages is that land can never be bought and sold. There is a unique definition of a land rights owner: the first occupant and his family, as determined in the village by a customary land manager called “chef de terre.” He acts as guarantor of land governance and supervises land transmission within autochthonous families and with non-autochthonous communities (organized into foreign-born and non-native communities): donation, land rent, land pledging, other land use, and land users. Villages were created around this principle, and it contributed to developing ties between different communities. However, customary and traditional land management practices exclude most of the land users from land-related decision-making process—especially women and non-autochthonous people. As a result, non-autochthonous inhabitants (who constitute the majority of inhabitants in the mining communities of Séguéla and Tortiya) accept the principle, but as they have been installed for decades on land there, mainly adding value to land through farming, they could claim some rights on the land. This land management principle has led to open conflicts between community groups or within communities, between actors of the same production system (holders of exploitation permit), or even between actors of various production systems (artisanal miners and farmers).

Several conflicts have been identified between: i) artisanal miners and farmers on use of land for their activities; ii) farmers and livestock raisers; and iii) villages (to a lesser extent), especially in regard to villages boundaries. Côte d’Ivoire’s existing land legislation is little known and rarely applied, and some contradictions can be highlighted as it intends to create more rights among land users, while at the same time validating the inequalities in customary tenure. PRADD II interventions could support communities in analyzing the inequities arising from this system (especially toward women and the non-autochthonous) and searching for solutions to reduce it. If the land rights formalization process can survive the pressures raised by existing social and economic realities, this new land legislation constitutes a unique opportunity to implement registration of oral agreements stemming from customary practices. This could serve as a basis for strengthening the legislation and land use planning both in Séguéla and Tortiya.

Solid traditional and customary responses to land use-related conflicts exist in many of the villages. Conflicts identified within the mining communities between miners, farmers, and livestock raisers are all caused by the historical allocation of occupational rights. The encroachment by users of various systems of production (mining, farming, and livestock) on available land initially allocated for mining activities creates tensions and disputes. The territorial boundaries of villages are unclear to both communities and administrative authorities due to the expansion of land claims for cash crop farming and artisanal mining, layers of mining permits, and administrative delineation of regions structured according to political realities rather than to sociocultural ones. In Tortiya, this has led to open conflict between two communities who both claim ownership of places where both communities feel there is unlimited potential for finding diamonds. Formalization of land rights through PRADD II’s technical assistance could be an opportunity to reduce actual and potential conflicts, as well help communities and the state to define land use potential within and among villages. Community leaders and key resource persons are the main actors of local conflict management mechanisms. Their effectiveness could be consolidated by strengthening the capacity of these actors to be involved in the decision-making process around conflict management.

Livelihood diversification and promotion of economic growth are essential to overcome inequities arising from diamond mining. Both Séguéla and Tortiya have experienced an evolution and diversification of their main economic activities since the country was placed under the United Nations (UN) embargo on exporting Ivorian diamonds in 2005. Artisanal diamond mining has been replaced as a principal source of income by cash crop farming. Even though cash crop farming seems to be a more solid source of income because revenue is somewhat more predictable, artisanal mining communities are still attracted by the speculative aura of diamond mining. Rural development programs like PRADD II must consider this dynamic during program planning. To achieve project goals, PRADD II must be very careful to take into account these community needs and behaviors.

Regular consultation and communication involving all major stakeholders from the state (mining sector and land, agriculture, and animal resources ministries and divisions) and representatives of a wide spectrum of the local communities must occur on a regular basis. PRADD II is not a substitute for the coordination role of the state, but it brings together stakeholders with divergent interests. Through interventions on land tenure, the project provides an opportunity for an innovative collective planning and decision-making process in which stakeholders—especially the communities—are involved in all steps. The project contributes technical assistance to the state and local communications through legal education and assistance in land use planning. PRADD II can play a key role in helping these actors develop a strategic vision for the artisanal mining sector that would offer an opportunity to break the circle of poverty and build a common commitment to income diversification within the artisanal mining sector.

The conflict diagnosis provided for PRADD II is an overview of the conflict dynamics that surround the extraction of diamonds around Séguéla and Tortiya. The diagnosis also enables project staff to understand the expectations of the communities who, with the lifting of the UN embargo in April 2014, look forward to the revitalization of the sector’s activities. At this time, it is unclear what form (industrial or not) diamond mining will take and the implications for development in the affected communities. Several issues will have to be addressed, if not resolved, in the face of the embargo’s lifting: the legal status of the land and the rights to be exercised thereon; the new dynamics of land use and economic development related to cash crop production of cashews and cocoa; and the regulatory instruments structuring both agricultural and mining uses. The diagnosis therefore has highlighted a number of issues for the PRADD II project to address:

1. How to reconcile the fact that the 1998 Rural Land Law strengthens an institution (customary) that excludes property rights for key land users such as non-autochthonous people and women.
2. How to reconcile the objective of the 1998 Rural Land Law that ultimately is designed to replace the customary system with a statutory one, but that does not seem to address the complexity of the very diverse customary regimes.
3. How to overcome the lack of public awareness of the 1998 Rural Land Law and the complex formalization process in order to avoid misinterpretation leading to further conflict.
4. What intermediate options exist to formalize existing tenure agreements and conflict resolution practices in the communities without undermining the present land management system.
5. How can PRADD II mitigate the risk of outbreaks of new conflicts among and with the Société pour le Développement Minier and diamond collectors, and between farmers and other land users during the resumption of mining activity following the lifting of the UN embargo?
6. How to proceed to change, in an ethical manner, the principles of current land management in order to lead to the territorial delimitation process.

Several recommendations have been proposed in this report for consideration by PRADD II and its partners. While this conflict assessment sketched out the broad dynamics of the conflicts as we understand them, there is a need to delve deeper. The recommendations below should be viewed as a process to confront these conflict issues, but not solutions themselves.

• Conduct additional in-depth conflict assessments to better understand the dynamics of land users marginalized by traditional and customary tenure (e.g., external migrants, women, other underprivileged people) in order to define intervention strategies and propose prevention and responses to tensions and conflicts involving all the main stakeholders.
• Define a joint strategy for land rights formalization, combining customary practices, the 1998 Rural Land Law, and suggestions to overcome its limits by involving representatives of the ministries involved in mining and land issues. The common strategy should include a proposition to formalize unwritten land agreements.
• Strengthen livelihood diversification initiatives in mining communities and establish protocols defining each step of project interventions with all the communities, ensuring participation of both men and women.
• Identify and build the capacity of principal conflict management stakeholders while strengthening existing conflict resolution mechanisms to take into account the specificities of each community.
• Support the establishment of a collaborative framework of various institutional stakeholders within government to analyze the current land laws, propose action plans to clarify land tenure while reducing land related-conflicts, and through this process, encourage revision of the laws based on the confrontation with local realities.

The PRADD II project has the advantage of working in a relatively small place to pilot initiatives that can inform the artisanal mining sector in Côte d’Ivoire. In light of the diversity of situations found in its project intervention sites, this is an opportunity to put in place a theory of change to test the proposition that the clarification and formalization tenure regimes can lead to the reduction of conflicts while contributing to increased investments in livelihoods by local communities.

Release Date: Thursday, July 17, 2014

The goal of this study was to analyze gold supply chains in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) for the Capacity Building for a Responsible Minerals Trade (CBRMT) project to determine how to promote responsible conflict-free sourcing of gold, and apply due diligence consistent with international best practices. The work included the following elements:

• A review of responsibly mined gold around the world to capture best practices, lessons learned, and opportunities for alignment based on similar international systems;
• Meetings with existing artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) gold pilot projects and large-scale industrial gold operators in the DRC to identify best practices and challenges in establishing and scaling up legal export channels and supply chains for ASM gold from the region; and
• Assessments of the efficacy, cost, transparency, credibility, and sustainability of existing efforts to promote responsible conflict-free sourcing of artisanal gold from the DRC.

The Capacity Building for Responsible Minerals Trade Project (CBRMT) aims to transform the mineral wealth of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) into economic growth for the men, women, and youth working in artisanal mining in the DRC through the transparent regulation of strategic minerals in the region.

CBRMT includes four components that simultaneously aim to strengthen the policy framework, organizations, and processes of mineral supply chains for tin, tungsten, and tantalum (3Ts) and gold. An analysis of the legal and policy framework and a consultative process will inform proposed rights-based reforms to the conflict-free minerals supply chain in the region. Gaps between stated rights and practices will be identified, including where laws are discriminatory in their interpretation, resulting in restricting rights of men and women to earn a safe, legitimate livelihood. Tailored technical assistance will help equip men and women in the conflict minerals supply chain with the know-how to effectively implement and expand 3T traceability systems that track and certify conflict-free minerals. Central to the scaling up of mine sites implementing traceability and certification is the demonstrated security for men, women, boys, and girls working in and around mine sites. Finally, the project will enhance the third-party monitoring of mineral supply chains by operationalizing the Independent Mineral Chain Auditor (IMCA), a body of the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), and by raising awareness in the region about responsible mining, the ICGLR regional certification mechanism, and the role of the IMCA.

Formalization, regulation, and reform of the Artisanal and Small-scale Mining (ASM) sector cannot be achieved without consideration of the gender dimensions within the ASM sector, and how access and control over resources are inequitably distributed between men and women. Targeting women in this fashion will improve understanding of gender roles, barriers to access, and opportunities for empowerment, relationships, and dynamics in light of the desired project results. The different roles of men and women throughout the ASM value chain will augment the information already captured and analyzed by CBRMT Tetra Tech subcontractor Pact and their civil society organization (CSO) partners in the DRC around women’s roles in ASM. Based on the present gender analysis, activities will be developed and implemented to ensure that gender dynamics are monitored and mainstreamed throughout the project.

Gender Scope of Work and Objectives

USAID recognizes the importance of integrating gender across all of its programming to increase program effectiveness and to ensure that all members of society can contribute to and benefit from their country’s development. In accordance with USAID policy (ADS 201, ADS 205), all contracts awarded under the Strengthening Tenure and Resource Rights Indefinite Quantity Contract require a project level gender analysis. This analysis aims to answer the following questions in the context of the CBRMT project:

1. What are the differences in the status of women and men and their differential access to assets, resources, opportunities, and services (related to project activities and outcomes)? What are the relevant gaps in the status and anticipated levels of participation of women and men (including age, ethnicity, disability, location, etc.) that could hinder overall project outcome? Which of these differences could be narrowed or closed as a result of CBRMT interventions?
2.  What influence do gender roles and norms have on the division of time between paid employment, unpaid work (including subsistence production and care for family members), and volunteer activities?
3. What influence do gender roles and norms have on leadership roles and decision-making, constraints, opportunities, and entry points for narrowing gender gaps and empowering females?
4. What are the potential differential impacts of the activities and outcomes on males and females, including unintended or negative consequences?
5. What are the cultural, societal, and institutional conditions that facilitate or undermine the possibilities for female empowerment within the project context?

This gender analysis aims to strengthen CBRMT project results by integrating attention to gender throughout project activities. It does so by identifying strategic areas of intervention in the work plan and providing recommendations on how to integrate gender into already existing and approved activities. It is important to note that as gender integration proceeds through project implementation, there may be need to modify gender activities to address changing circumstances or take advantage of additional gender integration opportunities as they arise. For this reason, the Gender Analysis should be considered a roadmap to be revisited and updated as the project proceeds. The CBRMT Performance Monitoring Table, and associated Performance Indicator Reference (PIR) sheets, include gender-disaggregated indicators, and are designed to ensure that evidence-based decision making and adaptive planning are integrated within the CBRMT.

Report Structure

The research approach for considering the implications of proposed CBRMT activities for men, women, boys, and girls is described in Section 2, Methodology. The chapter summarizes the six domains of USAID’s Gender Analysis framework—access, beliefs, practices, time/space, rights, and power—that subsequently serves to organize the remaining sections. Section 3, Findings, first describes gender-differentiated roles, risks, and benefits of artisanal mining in the DRC and then summarizes findings along the six domains. Project and activity level recommendations stemming from this analysis are outlined by component and indicator in Section 4 before concluding remarks in Section 5.

Supporting document for PRADD Direct Marketing Workshop on October 12, 2011.

This study contains research for the purpose of ascertaining the feasibility and desirability of establishing more direct trading relations between artisanal miners in the Central African Republic (CAR) and Liberia and international buyers—with special attention to the US diamond industry—on the premise that increasing the price achieved by artisanal miners may make them more able and thus likely to formalize their activities.

A compendium of studies on Southern Sudan land tenure issues, including: a Scoping Paper; Jurisdiction of GOSS, State, County, and Customary Authorities over Land Administration, Planning, and Allocation: Juba County, Central Equatoria State; Land Tenure and Property Rights in Southern Sudan: A Case Study of Informal Settlements in Juba; Customary Authority and Traditional Authority in Southern Sudan: A Case Study of Juba County; Conflict Over Resources Among Rural Communities in Southern Sudan; and, a Synthesis Paper.

This Comparative Study assesses how legalization of artisanal diamond miners can be promoted through reduced costs of licensing, royalties, taxes, and fees. Detailed case studies from diamond producing countries—Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guyana, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)—and general experiences from several other ASM countries provide interesting insights (French version).

This Comparative Study assesses how legalization of artisanal diamond miners can be promoted through reduced costs of licensing, royalties, taxes, and fees. Detailed case studies from diamond producing countries—Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guyana, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)—and general experiences from several other ASM countries provide interesting insights.