Event Type: Event

Property Rights and Resource Governance Issues and Best Practices–CANCELLED

Please be advised: this training event has been cancelled. This interactive course is intended for USG foreign assistance practitioners interested in strengthening their knowledge and skills in applying land tenure and property rights in their portfolios. Through presentations, video, discussion and practical exercises, participants will share experience and strengthen their skills and expertise in the following:
  • Land tenure and property rights concepts, current issues and interventions
  • Land and resource-based conflict and post-conflict stabilization
  • Land and resource tenure for women and other vulnerable groups
  • Land markets and administration
  • Land tenure in natural resource management, biodiversity conservation, and climate change

The course has three objectives: (1) Exchange experiences and strengthen understanding of Land Tenure and Property Rights (LTPR) issues, best practices internationally and their application to USAID programming (2) Introduce LTPR concepts and approaches aimed at improving programmatic interventions in economic growth, food security, governance, conflict mitigation, natural resource management, food security, and climate change; and (3) Teach USG foreign assistance practitioners tools to address land tenure and property rights issues.

Legitimate Land Rights

Join experts from USAID, Illovo Sugar Ltd., International City/County Management Association, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, Namati, and the World Bank for an online discussion about the meaning and applications of the concept “legitimate land rights.”

Moderator

Richard Gaynor, Millennium Challenge Corporation

Panel

Brian Keane, USAID
Kate Mathias, Illovo Sugar Ltd.
David Grossman, International City/County Management Association
Jonathan Lindsay, World Bank

The Voluntary Guidelines for the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (VGGTs), unanimously adopted by the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) in 2012, are among the most significant global land agreements to date, providing a framework that governments, civil society, and the private sector can utilize to create policies and programs in support of land tenure, natural resources, and sustainable urbanization.

Throughout the VGGTs, the term “legitimate tenure rights” is used to describe a range of rights without defining what those rights actually are or what they mean in different contexts. The notion of legitimate land rights takes on a variety of legal and policy implications, allowing for context-specific applications that potentially could provide greater tenure security for people living in informal, undocumented, and customary systems.

This panel event will explore the complexities of this concept. We will look at how the meaning and application of legitimate may vary in urban and rural settings, as well as how ideas of legitimacy can be used to serve different populations, such as indigenous people, women, and slum dwellers. And we will examine the challenges development professionals, private sector actors, and governments face in securing legitimate land rights through policies and programs.

This event is over, but you can watch the recording here.

World Bank Land and Poverty Conference 2016


Every year, the World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty brings together representatives from governments, the development community, civil society, academia, and the private sector to discuss issues of concern to communities, land practitioners and policymakers worldwide. The growing importance of this event highlights the increasing recognition that clear, secure land rights are central to alleviating poverty, promoting economic development, improving food security, limiting conflicts, and increasing stability.

At this year’s conference, USAID will be highlighting new research, technologies and tools that focus on three key themes:

  1. Strengthening customary tenure systems
  2. Using innovative mobile applications to secure land rights and improve land management
  3. Improving evidence-based programming in the land sector through rigorous impact evaluations

You can also learn more about each of these issues and access research and resources below.

Learn More About:
COMMUNITY LAND TENURE
Through pilot programs, research, and evaluations, USAID is developing practical tools and methods to strengthen community tenure systems. View research, case studies, success stories and other resources on community tenure.
LAND RIGHTS AND TECHNOLOGY
Learn how USAID is developing and testing technologies to make it easier for governments and local communities to more easily map, document, and maintain records of land rights and improve sustainable land management.
EVALUATIONS AND RESEARCH
There is a growing body of evidence that suggests that stronger land tenure security has a positive impact on important development outcomes. View survey designs and tools being used in impact evaluations in Ethiopia, Guinea, Liberia, and Zambia.
Featured Resources:
MOBILE APPLICATIONS TO SECURE TENURE
USAID has developed a suite of low-cost, open-source Mobile Applications to Secure Tenure (MAST), that help people and communities secure rights—whether customary or formal—to their most important asset: land.
View the brochure »
VIDEO: MAST TANZANIA
In Tanzania, USAID trains youth to map and record rural land rights with an easy-to-use smartphone app—MAST.
Watch the video »
CERTIFYING ZAMBIA’S FUTURE
A photo essay on using mobile technology to document customary land rights to reduce conflict, address climate change.
View the gallery »
USAID Papers Presented:

Tuesday Presentations

Wednesday Presentations

Thursday Presentations

Panel Discussion: Ag Sector Council

On July 29, 2015, the Ag Sector Council will host the panel discussion, “This Land Is Whose Land? Navigating Issues of Land Rights and Governance.” Panelists will include:

Yuliya Neyman
Land Governance and Legal Advisor, USAID

Anthony Piaskowy
Land Tenure, Communications and Learning Specialist, USAID

Delilah Rothenberg
Managing Director, Development Capital Strategies

As the private sector increases investments in agricultural areas, the impacts on smallholder farmers as a result of weak land governance structures can compromise household resilience and even community food security.

Despite these challenges, USAID acknowledges that agricultural investments in land and other resources are happening in many developing areas and will likely continue into the foreseeable future.

This Ag Sector Council webinar will introduce USAID’s “Operational Guidelines for Responsible Land-Based Investment,” a new tool to help practitioners and private sector partners navigate the complex issues surrounding local land rights. Additionally, we will explore ways that practitioners can mitigate the negative effects of large-scale land acquisitions and ensure that smallholders and their communities remain food secure.

World Bank Land and Poverty Conference 2015

Why Land Rights Matter InfographicView USAID’s infographic on “Why Land Rights Matter.”

Every year, the World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty brings together representatives from governments, the development community, civil society, academia, and the private sector to discuss issues of concern to communities, land practitioners and policymakers worldwide. The growing importance of this event highlights the increasing recognition that resource governance is central to alleviating poverty, promoting economic development, improving food security, limiting conflicts, and increasing stability.

To keep up with the advancing global dialogue on land and resource rights, follow news and events from the 2015 World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty on this page.