Flexible Mobile Land Technology Applications: Demonstrations and Lessons Learned

USAID has developed and piloted a suite of low-cost, open-source Mobile Applications to Secure Tenure (MAST) in different countries and contexts, providing flexible tools that help people and communities secure land and resource rights. At the Innovation Fair, USAID will demonstrate technology and present lessons from the evaluation of the original MAST pilot, which used an Android-based app to map and record customary land rights in three villages in Tanzania and its follow-on, which has been scaled to 41 villages in Tanzania. USAID will also showcase the latest version of MAST, which was recently launched in Burkina Faso following the initial positive results from Tanzania, and discuss next steps for this technology. USAID will also present two mobile applications for improving conservation and resilience through better land-use planning and land management currently being piloted in Kenya and Namibia. Key to all of these efforts is working closely with local partners to ensure that the tools are context-appropriate, flexible, sustainable, and effective at making improved land management and land tenure administration more transparent, accessible, and affordable for all.