GTZ - Land Tenure in Development Cooperation: Chapter 4.3.1

Guiding Principles: Land Tenure in Development Cooperation
Orientierungsrahmen: Bodenrecht und Bodenordnung		Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit Abt. 45 / Div. 45

4.3.1 Land Register and Cadastre

Land registration is the core of the land administration (DVW 1993, Henssen 1990, Williamson 1997). In some countries there is one register for all of the land information (e.g. The Netherlands). In other countries, however, the information is divided into two registers based on historical and cultural backgrounds. (In Germany the two registers are called "Grundbuch" (land registry) and "Kataster" (cadastre)) (see also section 3.10.2). The legal status of parcels of an administrative unit is described in the land register (To whom does the land belong and with what rights and responsibilities?). The cadastre describes the location, size, use and possibly the value of parcels. Therefore, it is fundamental for development cooperation to have knowledge on the historical and current background of land tenure and land register in the respective country in advance.	Land register information
Advantages for the individual owners or the community based on a systematic establishment of the land register are the following: Improved certainty in law with respect to land; Stimulation for investments and sustainable use; Improved access to credit; Security and efficiency of property transactions; Minimization of land conflicts and the costs associated with them. Advantages for the government are the following: Efficient basis for raising a land tax; Basis for structural adaptation like land reform, land redistribution and rehabilitation of urban areas; Control over land transactions; Efficient basis for planning (land use planning, effective procedures of land allocation and permission for specific land use); Effective management of information in the public administration.	Advantages of a systematic establishment of land registers
Disadvantages include the following: High institutional and financial cost for the establishment of the land register and especially its upkeep; The concern that the establishment of a land register strongly changes or manipulates autochthonous land tenure; The concern that the establishment of a land register means the land ownership becomes individualized and secondary rights will be ignored; The concern that the land register will soon be out-of-date because changes are not entered due to different reasons (save costs and cover-ups). Well-conceptualized systems for land registration, however, do not alter any rights. Instead, they describe legal and objective facts. The challenge is found in the attempt to register undocumented complex land tenure contents, norms and secondary rights as they exist. This is so they will be made transparent to the public and, if necessary, legal action can be taken. Simultaneously, the continuous development of autochthonous land tenure and its adaptation to local challenges must be guaranteed through innovative local solutions. Countries with newer development are the Côte d’Ivoire, Madagascar and Fiji.	Disadvantages
International experience with the establishment of land registers shows that its promotion can be successful especially if it is a priority with the following socioeconomic prerequisites: Population pressure in densely populated areas; Significant investments; Lively land market; Heterogeneous social structure; High land shortage The adaptation of methods and techniques to the amount of the land value is a basic prerequisite for the "feasibility" of the establishment of a land register. As a guideline, the cost is usually approximately one to four percent of the land value (personal data collection of W. Zimmermann, GTZ). For economic action it is, therefore, necessary to adapt methods to the socio-ecological zone and land value.	International experience

Table 7: Cost comparison for the establishment of a land register with respect to a precision gradation and areas of use
Area type	Mapping type and scale	Survey type and scale	Cadastre?	Costs to establish cadastre (US$ per ha)
Urban	1:500-1:2000	Aerial (1:6000-1:10000) & ground survey	yes, multipurpose	50 to 200
Peri-urban	Orthophotomaps 1:2500-1:5000	Aerial survey 1:15000	yes	20 to 60
Densely pop. rural	Orthophotomaps 1:5000-1:10000	Aerial survey 1:15000-1:30000	possibly	5 to 40
Populated savanna	Orthophotomaps and maps 1:10000	Aerial survey 1:30000 or high resolution satellite	according to need; simple	2 to 15
Savanna agricultural	Photomaps 1:20000	Aerial survey 1:30000-1:50000 or high resolution satellite	generally no immediate need	1 to 5
Forest and tree crops	Base maps 1:20000	Ground & air survey + satellite images	possibly
Rangeland and semi-arid	1:100000	Satellite images + ground & air survey	no
(Falloux 1989 and Zimmermann)

Public/private partnerships, decentralization combined with new technological developments and a tendency of prices to decline as a consequence can lead to considerable increases in productivity and therefore reduction of costs. The following are examples of some technologies utilized: GPS (Global Positioning Systems), digital orthophotos (on CD-ROM), GPS-supported aerial photography, new high resolution satellite systems, electronic field books, etc.

Some important questions to be answered before starting a land registration initiative: Land registration systems and institutions

Who is responsible for forming and implementing land policies and land reform (ministries, departments)? Level of expertise to formulate and administer policies?
What are the policies and laws existing and being implemented concerning cadastre and what are the effects? How are land policies integrated in the national context (urban and rural)?
What are the mechanisms for monitoring the implementation and consequences of land policies?
Which government departments are responsible for data related to cadastre (adjudication, demarcation, survey and registration)? How do they co-operate in land-related efforts (exchange of data, administrative relationships)? Is the private sector involved?
What are the procedures for adjudication, demarcation, survey and registration? Is the approach systematic?
Are efforts of land registration decentralized (central register or local court registers of deeds and other documents)?
What is the percentage of land registered, what are the costs?
Are registers up to date?
What are levels and skills of those involved in land information systems? Are there possibilities for training? Facilities for training and education?
Does the public have access to land-related data? How about data subject to copyright or security restrictions (aerial photography)?
Land tenure and land registration
What rights in land are recognized by custom and law?
Is customary law recognized by the government and embedded in the legal framework concerning land issues?
Are interests in other resources related to land recognized (overriding interests, for example, squatters, usufructuary rights)?
Is the title to land guaranteed by the government?
What laws constitute titles?
How do the procedures to get title look and how long does it take to register land?
How are rights to land transmitted (sale, gift, inheritance)? How long does it take to transfer property from owner to owner at what costs? Are transfers of land required to be registered?
What rights are documented (leases, subleases, easements)? Are the registers complete in terms of spatial cover, owners, terms of rights (among others)?
What is the relation between the informal and the formal land market?
Are strata titles recognized? Are rights recognized referring to space above and below ground level?
What happens to land where the owner cannot be traced?
Can disputes over land be described? How often do they occur? What are main reasons for conflicts?
What are mechanisms to solve conflicts (traditional and official)? Who resolves those disputes?
How are boundaries of parcels determined? Are they visible from the air?
Who is responsible for the preservation of boundary marks? What are penalties for disturbance of boundaries?

(Additional information on:

Land surveys and mapping
Land valuation and land tax
Planning and land development)

Source: Dale & McLaughlin 1988

(References (adapted): P. E. Dale and J. D. McLaughlin, 1988)

The regular establishment of land registration is currently being supported in Egypt, Jordan, Cambodia, China (Shanghai), Georgia (together with the German state Saarland) and Paraná, Brazil (together with the German state Baden-Württemberg).

Early agreement between technical cooperation and financial cooperation is recommended, on the one hand, for the promotion and financing of projects for the establishment of land registration; on the other hand, agreement with the decision makers of the land tax administration on possible co-financing is also suggested.

Experience with the establishment of land registers using simplified methods for rural and urban areas exists for the following countries, for example:

Paraguay (small town development),
Benin (resource management),
Dominican Republic (dryland forest),
Cambodia (land registration),
and projects for the rehabilitation of squatter areas.

The instrument, Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA), adapted to systems of land tenure is appropriate in specific cases (such as for RRD projects, resource management or forestry) for developing a basic understanding of the land tenure situation. Thus, the project can be correspondingly adapted. An overview on the procedures for the documentation of autochthonous land tenure in Africa is described by Le Roy et al. (1996) (see also 4.4.4).

Experiences with development cooperation