Guiding Principles:
Land Tenure in Development Cooperation

Orientierungsrahmen:
Bodenrecht und Bodenordnung

Deutsche Gesellschaft
für Technische Zusammenarbeit
Abt. 45 / Div. 45

The ratio of land available for cultivation and the total population is worsening. In Asia this has led to the problem that many households do not have enough land to secure a living. For example, in Indonesia 70% of the farms are comprised of less than one hectare; in West Java, 73% of the farms have areas of less than half a hectare. Similar conditions are developing in East Africa (Kenya and Rwanda). Correspondingly, off-farm labor and sources of income are increasingly in demand.

A change in attitude towards farming has taken place amongst the younger generation (cf. 2.1.2). Their interest is already more towards the "access to income" and not to the "access to land." If the parental farm has sufficient land and possibilities for irrigation and mechanization exist, then the willingness to continue with farming is present. However, if the resources, equipment and possibilities for development are insufficient, then off-farm opportunities and/or migration are sought.

Multiple employment often arises. The household head takes up non-agricultural work besides his work on his farm or works as an agricultural laborer on other farms. These multiple employments bring additional income (very often from non-agricultural sources) into the household. If the off-farm job is lost, then the cultivation of the own farm can be intensified at any time, especially if landowners design their lease contracts flexibly so that they can self-cultivate their farms without problems at any time. Such a flexible land market for usufructuary rights cannot be valued enough in economically dynamic regions.

The differentiation between households with enough land that are dedicated to farming and those with only enough land to subsist requires a new approach of promotional policies. Agricultural policies with their classical instruments (price, innovation and structural policies) are appropriate for the households having sufficient resources at their disposal. Those types of agricultural policy measures are of little interest to other households having too little land to subsist. Regional development (that can include agricultural policy measures) offers more appropriate promotional instruments (e.g. training, social security, generation of employment opportunities).

Land policies must meet new objectives. Land should no longer be in the hands of those not interested in farming, but transferred to those households desiring to continue with intensive farming. Few are willing to permanently give up land due to the uncertainty of off-farm employment, fear of speculation, reservation of land for construction for the next generation. New institutions for the creation of an efficient land market with a high degree of flexibility and quick ability to adapt to changing conditions are necessary.

The speed with which smallholders give up farming is variable. On the outskirts of large industrial centers this development occurs rapidly, similarly in marginal locations (e.g. the Sahel). Planning with an outlook towards the future that includes the opportunity costs of government policies is required. It is not worthwhile to channel major investments into agriculture if it can be expected that a high proportion of agricultural land will be abandoned in only a few years.

The greater the chance is of finding employment outside of agriculture, the more questionable it is to distribute small plots of land in agrarian reforms. The landless will accept them, but then will look for better income sources very soon if the prerequisites for profitable modern cultivation are not given.

The more certain and profitable employment is outside of agriculture, the less time is invested for the farm. In such cases, the land should be transferred to those that guarantee an efficient agricultural production. New forms of cooperation have emerged in different countries that are examples for others: entire or partial transfer of labor in agriculture to others (immigrants), contract farmers, hired contractors with their own machines, support of cooperatives for machines, farm assistants, etc.