Program Advisor LAND-at-scale at RVO, the Netherlands Enterprise Agency.
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LAND-at-scale is a land governance support programme for developing countries. The livelihood of a large part of the world’s population depends directly on having secure access to land. LAND-at-scale aims to contribute to fair and just tenure security and access to land and natural resources for all. This will lead to more sustainable and efficient use of land and natural resources for food, housing and production. It will also reduce conflicts and competing claims over land.
Improved land governance will help realize many of the sustainable development goals (SDGs). It will support food and nutrition security, economic development and peace and stability. The programme also contributes to more sustainable incomes and social justice. Women’s rights and climate change are important cross-cutting themes in the programme, as can be found in the LAND-at-scale programme document.
Current activities
LAND-at-scale is active in the following countries:
Burkina Faso, Burundi, Chad, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Iraq, Mali, Mozambique, Palestine Territories, Rwanda, Somalia, Uganda, and Vietnam.
Land-At-Scale Newsletters
Q2 2022 Netherlands Enterprise Agency (rvo.nl)
Q1 2022 Netherlands Enterprise Agency (spotler.com)
Q4 2021 Netherlands Enterprise Agency (spotler.com)
Q3 2021 Netherlands Enterprise Agency (spotler.com)
Q2 2021 Netherlands Enterprise Agency (spotler.io)
Outcomes
LAND-at-scale strives to realise just and fair land governance. In the long-term, this will contribute to SDGs 1, 2, 5, 11, 15 and 17 and may contribute indirectly to SDGs 8, 9, 10, 13 and 16. In the shorter-term, the programme focuses on the following outcomes:
- Improved, fit-for-purpose land administration;
- Improved land-use management planning, including participatory land consolidation, sound natural resource management and social integration;
- Improved access to justice for land-related conflicts and conflict resolution. Fewer cases of land conflicts and equal opportunities for man and woman;
- Increased inclusiveness in access to land, land use documentation, land rental and land markets. There is a special focus on women, youth and vulnerable people;
- Increased knowledge and learning about the effects of innovative approaches and how to scale successful land governance methods that advance structural change;
- New and improved action-oriented, multi-stakeholder networks. These networks enhance just, inclusive and sustainable land governance.
Process
Ideas for LAND-at-scale can be issued by Dutch Embassies. They should contain the upscaling of successful pilots or innovative pilots with upscaling potential. All ideas should relate to fair, inclusive and sustainable land governance at country, regional or landscape level. Ideas can involve a single intervention or several, related interventions needed to achieve the change wanted.
Dutch Embassies must share ideas for LAND-at-scale with the Netherlands Enterprise Agency. The LAND-at-scale Committee then selects most promising ideas. The Netherlands Enterprise Agency will explore the possibilities to translate ideas into projects. This will be done in close collaboration with embassies and local stakeholders. Once the idea has been formulated into a project strategy, the organisations that will implement the project will be identified. The Netherlands Enterprise Agency manages the projects.
Supported activities
Activities supported by LAND-at-scale contribute to the result frameworks of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ priority themes. These themes include food & nutrition security, access to justice, private sector development and gender equality. Land governance activities LAND-at-scale supports include:
- Making existing and new land-based investments inclusive and sustainable;
- Scaling and piloting innovative interventions that enhance structural change;
- Capacity development of governmental and non-governmental stakeholders;
- Improving the position of women, youth and vulnerable people;
- Joint learning, knowledge exchange and multi-stakeholder action;
- Lobby and advocacy.
Criteria for support
The criteria for support are included in the LAND-at-scale programme document. To qualify for support, ideas must:
- follow the annual LAND-at-scale strategic plan and the strategic plans of the relevant Dutch Embassy;
- contribute to the LAND-at-scale aims;
- have local support from the key stakeholders;
- be additional to the market; and
- not be eligible to apply to other programmes from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Supported interventions will be carried based on the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests (VGGT). LAND-at-scale projects will promote gender equality and women’s empowerment. Projects will also give attention to the effects of climate change. Support can be provided in various forms. This includes knowledge exchange, contracts and tailor made grants. Civil society organisations (CSOs), producer organisations, knowledge institutes, governments and companies or consortia may be chosen to carry out the interventions.
Geographic focus
LAND-at-scale is open to all low and middle income countries, except for the countries in Europe. Preference will be given to ideas from countries within the focus regions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and countries where LAND-at-scale can build on earlier Dutch supported interventions.
Budget
LAND-at-scale has an implementation budget of €37,5 million and will be open until 2026. The programme welcomes co-financing and cooperation with other demand-driven initiatives that aim to improve just, inclusive and sustainable land governance.
LAND-at-scale Burkina Faso Scaling up Land Governance for Food Security
General
Burkina Faso is a country dealing with many crises: food insecurity, climate vulnerability and massive population displacement. Land plays a critical factor in all these crises. The fast-growing population, degradation of land as well as widespread migration of the population across Burkina Faso are putting rampant pressures on land. The country is heavily dependent on agriculture, which employs 80% of the population. Despite this, the country deals with significant food security issues. With emerging patterns of high temperatures and pockets of drought, the country is very vulnerable to climate shocks. As is observed in many crises, vulnerable groups are hit hardest by the consequences. Women and youth particularly, suffer disproportionality. They suffer from marginalization through customary practices, which leads to increased vulnerability to the factors above and has led to decreased access to land, or even land dispossession. Project objective To improve food security and the resilience of women and youth in the country by securing their access to land and by strengthening land governance and management practices. Project strategies - Raising awareness on land rights among relevant stakeholders; - Participatory registration of land titles with special reference to women and youth; - Optimizing land management practices of secured land of women and youth to address challenges related to land degradation and/or food insecurity; - Monitoring and learning on the experiences of the other components and formulating recommendations for more sustainable land governance.
LAND-at-scale Palestinian Territories Improving land governance for Palestinian farmers
Palestinian farmers in the West Bank mainly engage in low intensity agriculture. Despite great agricultural potential, the prospect of losing access to the land impacts negatively on the willingness of farmers to invest in sustainable agricultural intensification. Moreover, prior investments in agriculture could be under pressure when farmers do not have the documents to prove their tenure rights.
Women in particular are often unable to claim rights to the land they are using, importantly caused by discriminatory inheritance practices.
Project objective
The project aims to increase land tenure security for Palestinian farmers, with a strong emphasis on women, by improvement of the land governance system through the provision of technical and legal support. Attention will be given to formal and informal inheritance practices and raising awareness of women’s land rights.
Project strategies
- Embedding of land tenure security activities in earlier and ongoing food security projects, to create strong links between the two objectives.
- Provision of tailor-made technical and legal support to the project beneficiaries.
- Analysing existing inheritance practices, the impact on women’s access to land, and formulating recommendations to empower women.
Increased knowledge and awareness on the importance of land governance and women’s land tenure security.
- Increased resilience of farmers and women in exercising land tenure security.
LAND-at-scale Mali - Boosting local capacity to manage land conflict and protect customary rights
General
Land tensions and conflicts have always existed in Mali. Formal and customary law co-exist, causing a legal duality and ambiguity. Competition over land and natural resources is growing, and so are land-related disputes. Over 90% of smallholder farmers and pastoralists access land through customary tenure systems. Considering the large role customs play in rural areas, formal legal recognition of these customary rights is important. At the same time, the patrilineal customary systems undermine the position of women and youth. Land Commissions form a key structure in Mali and play a key role when it comes to customary land tenure management as well as land conflict resolution. However, only 30% of the communes have established a Land Commission, and their functioning is not monitored on a systematic basis. Project objective The goal of the intervention is to promote stability, food security, climate resilient agricultural development and natural resources management by strengthening security of access to and rights over land and natural resources, with special attention for inclusivity (especially women and pastoralists), through establishing and capacitating Land Commissions. Project strategies - Formalizing a coordination mechanism for building capacity towards sustainable, inclusive and transparent Land Commissions. - Providing a systematic approach for validating and sharing capacity building for Land Commissions, with a focus on mediation and inclusivity. - Setting up an independent monitoring and evaluation system of Land Commissions. - Establishing a network and exchange organization for Land Commissions.
LAND-at-scale Rwanda Towards a fair and robust land management and governance system connecting people for sus
General
The Rwanda Land Tenure Reform Program, launched in 2009, gained international attention by regularizing land tenure at an unparalleled scale. Over eleven million land parcels were demarcated, and eight million land titles were issued to their rightful owners. Despite this, the land tenure system still faces challenges. The land administration and information system (LAIS) does not yet sufficiently address social aspects, such as incorporating informal transactions and safeguards for women, or reducing high costs of participating. Land disputes remain common, and pressure on the courts to resolve these conflicts need to be decreased. These challenges undermine the legitimacy and proper functioning of land governance. This situation is further hampered by the effects of climate change on the country Project objective To improve and ensure sustainability of land registration and management systems and their implementing institutions for enhanced perceived and actual tenure security for the people of Rwanda. Project strategies - Institutionalize a (financially) sustainable land administration information and management system. - Implement sustainable, climate-resilient land use planning at national level. Implement a more just decision-making process by local mediators. - Strengthen academic capacity to assist in the further development of a fair and just land governance system.
LAND-at-scale Mozambique Scaling community legal literacy, land rights certification and climate resilience
General
Poverty in Mozambique is concentrated in rural areas and thus associated with a high dependency on agriculture and natural resources, including land. Mozambique has a legal framework recognizing this dependency through a progressive Land Law. However, main obstacles to the proper implementation of the law include communities’ lack of formalized land tenure, limited knowledge regarding land rights, low participation in decision-making among community members, and a lack of capacity among local government officials. The situation is further hampered by a severe impacts from climate change. Project objective The main objective of the current intervention is to increase community legal awareness and strengthen security of land tenure rights, creating capacity at local level to implement and leverage the progressive provisions of the Mozambican legal framework. The programme will contribute to community preparation to intervene in an informed manner in the land sector and will also contribute to the delimitation of community and individual land-use rights based on good faith occupation and customary rights, and their integration into the formal land system. Project strategies To achieve these objectives, a large-scale campaign will be rolled out, across selected districts from all three regions of the national territory, with two main and interlinked interventions, namely: - Social preparation & legal literacy - Community land rights registration and certification
LAND-at-scale Chad- Land reform based on rapid evolution and present crisis
General
Chad is at the verge of an emerging land tenure crisis. As observed in many countries in Africa, formal and customary tenure systems overlap. Customary tenure systems, that generally prevail in rural areas, differ from region to region, with each its own needs and practices. Land conflicts are abundant, caused by degradation and transformation of land surfaces caused by climate change, as well as land investments by domestic investors with disputed legitimacy. Women, particularly, struggle in practice to obtain the same rights to land as men, even though country’s constitution enshrines gender equality. These land challenges play against a backdrop of a country in conflict. A land tenure crisis could lead to more disputes over land, weakened land productivity, uncontrolled urban development, and result in further social unrest of the country if not adequately addressed. Project objective The project aims to contribute to a more transparent and inclusive land administration system in Chad, especially for tenure insecure groups (women and youth), which creates security for communities to invest in sustainable income generating activities. Project strategies - Finalization of the Land Code: a review and rewrite of the content, combined with a multi-stakeholder validation workshop - Support to socio-economic land reform, with special attention for inclusion of women and youth, strengthening civil society organizations, capacity building on agricultural practices and dispute resolution mechanisms. - Improving the land registration system in N’Djamena by developing a blueprint of the current situation and roadmap towards the preferred future situation, together with the relevant government authorities in Chad.
LAND-at-scale Colombia- Land formalization through a Fit for Purpose approach in Indigenous and Afro-Colombian
General
In Colombia’s post-conflict context, access to land and tenure security are still a cause of many conflicts and inequalities. Especially Indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities are amongst the most vulnerable groups in Colombia. Their land tenure insecurity has a negative effect on the possibilities for livelihood improvements, and on the protection of natural resources within their territories. Project objective The project aims to contribute to filling the Multipurpose cadastre with information about land titles and natural resources of indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities, which is obtained in a fair, efficient and effective manner, and to create security for the communities to invest in sustainable income generating activities in those areas. Combining improved tenure security with income generating activities and protecting natural resources results in an integrated approach, tackling multiple issues at the same time. Project strategies - Improved tenure security through mapping 3 different communities using the Fit for Purpose method - Mapping possible income generating activities together with the communities and looking for external financing - Mapping natural resources together with the communities: how to protect or use them sustainably - Share this integrated approach with government, donors, financial institutions throughout the project in order to guarantee upscaling and to improve the Multi-purpose Cadastre
LAND-at-scale Uganda- Scaling up community-based land registration and land use planning in order to contribut
General
Uganda wants to transform from a predominantly low-income agricultural economy to a modern and prosperous country in 2040. Land is widely recognized as a pivotal element of Uganda’s economic and social transformation, as evidenced by the government ambition to improve tenure security and systematically title all land by 2040. For this purpose, a modern legal framework for land governance has been created. Until now, implementation of the existing law and policy to improve tenure security of customary land in a way that both accessible (low cost), context sensitive and flexible is limited, however. Project objective The project aims to contribute to the development of a structured and scalable approach towards improved tenure security and sustainable land use for men, women and youth on customary land, which is obtained using fit-for-purpose and participatory tools and approaches. The project aims to put inclusive, climate smart and sustainable land use planning into practice, combined with improving tenure security. Project strategies - Capacity building for customary leaders and communities, to apply a fit-for-purpose and participatory approach - Scaling up: prepare and implement a registration of customary land in the four project regions - Harnessing land: climate smart land use planning at subcounty level, including wetland use management - Learning and communicating: developing Standard Operational Procedures to be used for scaling up this approach in other regions
Looking back at the LAND-at-scale Exchange 2022: The importance of collective learning and reflections for land governance support programs
On 27-28 June 2022, RVO organized the first annual LAND-at-scale exchange, bringing together over fifty LAND-at-scale project partners, knowledge management partners, Committee members as well as representatives from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs for an in-depth introduction of all LAND-at-scale stakeholders and facilitate a learning exchange.