Frithjof Kuhnen (1996):
Synthesis of Current State of and Trends in Land Tenure and Land Policy in Asia

Introduction

Land tenure means the bundle of rights to land and the resulting social relations within the rural society. These rights may be customary or legal, prescribed or determined by contract.

In the world, there are many types of land tenure to meet the varying requirements. The local land tenure system is always related to the social, political, economic and technological situation in the locality. There is no ideal land tenure system, but only one adjusted to the current situation, and, as all the factors cited above change very quickly nowadays, a constant adjustment of the land tenure system has to take place.

Land tenure exercises direct and indirect influences on agricultural and rural development. The present study tries to summarize the current state of and trends in land tenure and policy in Asia and their effects on development. At the somewhat advanced stage of economic, political and technological development, it is not useful to understand land tenure too narrowly. It should be seen within the framework of general development and include fringe conditions such as land management, land use, scale of farms and the changing functions of land.

Chapter 1 gives an overview of the state of and trends in land tenure over the last 50 years in the most important regions of Asia. Special emphasis is laid on the relation between land tenure and social and economic development and vice versa.

Chapter 2 looks at the same 50 years of land tenure development in Asia from another angle. It deals with land tenure and its changes and the way in which they affect human relations, income and its distribution, production and productivity, and the land market.

Chapter 3 analyses the relation between land tenure and development projects and programmes. After an overview of the general effects of land tenure, the second part deals with different types of land tenure and their consequences, while the third part analyses the effect of the different scale of access to land.

Chapter 4 offers suggestions for land tenure to be included in development cooperation. At first, the determinants of a successful tenure policy are outlined, and, then, possible fields of action are discussed.