Karol Boudreaux has recently penned this article, Addressing Land Rights Can Make Social Change Possible for the Guardian. USAID is delighted to see an important foundation taking a public and carefully articulated stand on this vital development subject. Ms. Boudreaux correctly notes "The challenge is to expand people's opportunity to improve their lives by securing their property rights." This is indeed one of the most fundamental objectives in addressing challenges related to property rights.

A recent article from IRIN news discusses land and conflict, as well as some potential opportunities for land reform, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). According to the article, “land disputes are key drivers of conflict in eastern DRC, and they hinder development across the region.

Here’s a new book that addresses one of the most interesting puzzles in the land tenure field: how best to formalize customary or informal rights. With chapters by some of the leading lights in land tenure work (John Bruce, Lorenzo Cotula, and Andre Hoekema) it should be a good addition to the library.

Country profiles for 62 USAID presence countries have been drafted to provide information on key issues and constraints for land tenure security, legal framework and land administration, as well as summaries of tenure issues with freshwater, trees and forests and minerals for each country. Check back under the PRRG Products tab, Country Profiles for additional profiles.

Tim Fella, Land Tenure and Conflict Advisor - USAID, moderating the panel discussion.

USAID Land Tenure and Property Rights Division Chief Dr. Gregory Myers's Remarks from Partners’ Support to the Voluntary Guidelines & Land Governance: Exploiting Synergies & Measuring Impact. Remarks posted as written.

A working draft of a Washington Declaration Diagnostic Framework (also in French) has been prepared by USAID for use by the Working Group on Artisanal and Alluvial Production (WGAAP) of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS). This tool is intended to help countries assess the status of their artisanal mining sector, and implement the principles outlined in the "Washington Declaration on Integrating Development of Artisanal and Small Scale Diamond Mining with Kimberley Process Implementation.”

Following a November 2012 public roundtable conducted in Kabul through USAID’s Land Reform in Afghanistan (LARA) project, one man was moved to grant portions of his family’s land over to each of his sisters, who had previously been denied the opportunity to inherit any of the property. In Afghanistan, women often lack secure rights to inherit and own land, which makes them more vulnerable to poverty, domestic violence, hunger and homelessness. The LARA project works to secure property rights for Afghan citizens through improved institutional, policy, and legal systems.

Globally, there is a strong push to devolve control over natural resources, including protected areas, to regional and local stakeholders. In many developing countries, communities with long-standing customary claims to land, forests, and other natural resources contest attempts by central governments to claim these resources as “public”, held by government as national resources. In many countries, local stakeholders continue to claim rights to access and use such resources, even at the risk of being penalized for illegal uses.

A recent USAID publication titled, The Global State of Agriculture, cites access to land as one reason why women farmers are less productive than men. Structures within the statutory and customary land tenure systems compounded by societal norms in many locations limit a woman's ability to secure land. Click the links below to see the infographic and a report outlining land tenure and property rights challenges for women.
To view the infographic, click here.
To read the full report linking Land Tenure, Property Rights and Gender Challenges, click here.

Guest commentary by Robert Oberndorf, Resource Law Specialist, Tenure and Global Climate Change Project.

Over the past year, USAID has led a global effort in the land and resource governance sector to improve donor coordination and support the Voluntary Guidelines for the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries, and Forests in the Context of National Food Security(Voluntary Guidelines). Working with the Global Donor Working Group on Land, a newly formed group of bi-lateral and multi-lateral donors and development agencies, USAID led a data collection and visualization project that gathered information on land and resource governance programs from around the globe.