Commune-Based Land Allocation for Poverty Reduction in Cambodia

Land distribution to the poor is discussed in the broader context of the Cambodian land reform which is considered to follow a liberal approach based on the re-introduction of private property rights in land following Cambodia’s socialist period. This approach has produced good results for providing private land titles for existing land use on state private land but has turned out to be quantitatively ineffective in the distribution of state public land for the poor through social land concessions. Experiences from the ongoing donor-funded project on land allocation for economic and social development (LASED) show the necessity for a more complex political, legal and spatially-planned approach and for a mix of new instruments that include the regularisation of unauthorised land use by the poor and partnerships between big and small holders.