Policy dialogue in the area of "systems of land tenure" must not only be intensified between international partners, but also within the development policy makers in Germany. Information deficits must be reduced (possibly also in scientific circles giving policy advice). Reservations with respect to the theme and operationalization of land tenure problems discussed in governmental negotiations and when implementing projects should be reduced. The following would be suitable to accomplish this:

• Bring together executives from the ministries, technical cooperation, financial cooperation, political foundations and NGOs for seminars to create awareness;

• Deal with this area in the scientific advisory committee of the BMZ, in the committee for economic cooperation (AWZ of the German Parliament) and the respective EU departments;

• Include this topic in international forum discussions, and other conferences on agricultural growth, sustainable resource management and the fight against poverty in international agriculture research (Amman conference in September 1997 of ICARDA; DSE and IFPRI, Rio follow-up conferences, ISCO conference in Bonn 1996, FAO follow-up conferences).

A policy dialogue should be oriented towards the "indications for the promotion of political, legal and administrative framework conditions within the bilateral governmental development cooperation" (BMZ). They emphasize the following:

• The respect and preservation of human rights: The access to land for women and the security of autochthonous rights as well as those of minority groups are a particular challenge;

• The creation of legal security: Crucial economic incentives for high productivity and long-term farming possibilities can only occur if there is legal security.

• The participation of the population in the political process: This includes, for example, strengthening local ownership and user groups in the codification of property rights and land use planning and the integration of local know-how;

• The establishment of a market economy system framework: as has been attempted in many transforming and reforming countries already with respect to newly formulated systems of land tenure.

German development cooperation possesses favorable prerequisites for credibility and the power to convince in policy dialogue. This is founded, for example, in the following:

• Experiences with the problems of transformation of land tenure (e.g. in the New German States after the reunification),

• Only few interventions in autochthonous land tenure as a former colonial power which have a direct impact up to now,

• It possesses a model of property which especially emphasizes social responsibility,

• Many years of experience with a decentralized land administration,

• Multifaceted agrarian structure and effective instruments to facilitate the process of change in different types of land use.

Based on the experiences to date, the policy dialogue concentrated on the following fields of work:

• Increasing the partner´s awareness to arising and deepening land tenure issues (effects on the economy and society due to land conflicts, blockades from power struggles in the bureaucracy, investment stalemates, etc.);

• Discussions on comparable land tenure problems in neighboring countries with similar socioeconomic and political structures and the approaches for solving land disputes and application of land tenure instruments (e.g. the assessment of opportunities and risks of land registration in Thailand as a case study for neighboring Laos);

• Suggestions as to the type and extent of land tenure problems to be expected in the future if the current land policy is sustained (problems with leasing, insufficient intensification in agriculture or environmental problems in African countries, fragmentation due to inheritance and necessary redistribution of land in parts of Asia, growing use of violence due to landlessness in Latin America);

• Initiation of a wide discussion on the future of agriculture and rural areas (limited access to land, waning interest in agriculture, off-farm income);

• Discussions on rural/urban linkages;

• Discussions on various options for land policy and its effects in comparable countries;

• Strengthening the mediation/facilitation capacity;

• Development cooperation should function as an advocate for disadvantaged groups (see above).