Responsible Land Policy in Madagascar

General

Madagascar is the fourth largest island in the world and has about 24 million inhabitants. 65 % of the population are directly or indirectly dependent on agriculture and forestry, most of them working in subsistence agriculture (rice, maize and manioc). 70 % of the land is used for agriculture, including a high proportion of pastures, and only about 15 % of the land is still covered by forest. Deforestation and degradation of forest landscapes are some of the country's biggest environmental problems. Consequently, livelihoods and agricultural productivity in rural areas are increasingly endangered. As part of the African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative (AFR100), Madagascar has committed itself to restoring 4 million hectares of forest landscapes by 2030. This commitment is offset by a lack of clearly defined and formalized rights for land use and ownership, which inhibits the willingness to invest into forest restoration. Such an investment without a secured, long-term use perspective involves a high risk. Women and marginalized groups find it particularly difficult to assert their land use rights, as they generally know little about legal regulations and procedures and are thus unable to claim their rights.

   Activities in Madagascar

   The country module operates in four areas of activity:

   Activity 1 focuses on securing individual land ownership rights.

   Activity 2 aims at strengthening civil society organizations (CSOs) and resolving conflicts.

   Activity 3 focuses on the link between land tenure and forest landscape restoration.

   Activity 4 works on rural governance. 

An example from the field

From a formal point of view, the legal situation in Madagascar since the land reform in 2005 presents a solid basis for smallholder farmers to formally register their land and obtain a land use certificate for it. The decentralised system provides for a competent authority (Guichet Foncier) in each municipality to issue these certificates. Reality shows, however, that in many places the issuance of land certificates is de facto impossible, as Guichet Fonciers have only been opened in 535 of Madagascar's 1693 municipalities, are often understaffed or not functional due to a lack of infrastructure. Moreover, the process of applying for the certificate and of proving land use is currently complicated and costly in many of the municipalities. The ProPFR project (Promotion d'une Politique Foncière Responsable – Promotion of a Responsible Land Policy) - active in the regions of Boeny and DIANA - is therefore committed to improving and simplifying the procedure for obtaining a land certificate. In order to achieve this goal, a Land Inventory Protocol (LIP) procedure has been introduced during the first phase of the project, which allows the rural population in the pilot communities to participate in a systematic land inventory. Civil society and decentralized structures responsible for land law are jointly developing an efficient and transparent procedure for inventorying the parcels and are being supported in the process. As a result, LIPs are to be issued, which already bundle various information required for the application for a land use certificate. By doing so, multiple field surveys are to be avoided and the latest technology is to be used to make precise land surveys possible. Starting from the second phase of the project in 2020, ProPFR introduced the Land Inventory Stratified Systematic or IPSS (Inventaire Parcellaire Systméatique Stratifiée). The IPSS methodology enables the mapping of unrecognized land rights in a manner that is faster, lower cost, simpler, and more sustainable. Additionally, it facilitates the provision of legal documentation to secure property or usage rights.

Results

More than 68 269 plots, including 17 224 assigned to women, covering an area of more than 160 048 ha have been inventoried. In the implementation of forest landscape restoration (FLR) 43 sites cover an area of more than 108 000 ha, tenure and territorial planning for sustainable development takes an important part in this. In addition, 2 958 key actors (public sector, private sector, women, marginalized groups) were educated on the legal and regulatory framework for land. 142 trainers were taught how to provide legal assistance on land issues to target groups.

Resources

Here on Landportal, the GPRLP shares its knowledge products, which come directly from the projects in the countries. These include good practices, impact stories, as well as manuals and guidebooks on topics like tenure security, dispute resolution and implementation strategies. You can find all our resources from Madagascar down below!