Resource information
Executive Summary: "In the context of transition to a more open form of
government, the Myanmar government has
begun to liberalize land markets and, in 2012, enacted two major land-related laws.
Implementing these new land laws has proven challenging, however, as it has been difficult to
integrate these laws with the existing customary practices of various ethnic minorities. To
address these and other issues UN-HABITAT Myanmar is assisting the Myanmar government in
developing a
Land Administration and Management Program
(LAMP).
As part of this process a team of Masters Students
from Columbia University’s School of
International and Public Affairs (SIPA) was invited
to carry out a detailed study on customary
land tenure in the southern area of Myanmar’s Shan
State with a focus on three ethnic groups:
the Shan, Pa-o, and Danu. The SIPA team completed a
desk review of secondary source material
and conducted two phases of field research. The first phase of field research was conducted in
Yangon in January 2013 with the purpose of identifying opportunities and challenges the new
land laws present. The second phase of field research sought to gather the impressions of
farmers, community leaders, and local government representatives in southern Shan State.
Information was gathered during a three-day “worksh
op” conducted in Taunggyi, the capital city
of Shan State.
The SIPA team’s objectives were to provide UN-HABIT
AT Myanmar and the Myanmar
government with needed information on three topics:
1) prevailing ideas on best practices in
land management and registration procedures, 2) successful and unsuccessful land management
practices in comparable countries in the region, and 3) the current status of customary land
tenure and of the implementation process of the new
land laws in Southern Shan State...
