Article of the Month - February 2023 |
This month we would like to share with you a video recording of a keynote session of FIG Congress 2022 and the Article from Stig Enemark which he presented in this keynote session. |
In this recording that is offered to you in this "Video/Article of the Month Series" Stig Enemark and Paula Dijkstra speak about Land Governance in support of the 2030 Global Agenda.
The global sense of urgency and the pressure on land have showed an increase of the relevance of surveying and geo-information towards the achievement of the SDG's. Land governance is about the policies, processes and institutions by which land, property and natural resources are managed. Therefore, land governance plays a key role in achieving the SDGs where more than half of the goals are directly land related. In this regard, the global surveying profession holds an important position as the custodians of the people to land relationship. This session will unfold the concept of responsible land governance and the importance of including all land, people and land rights at a countrywide scale. Further, the session will align the concepts with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and how FIG supports the SDGs. The agenda provides us a roadmap towards a more sustainable world. Providing leadership as FIG, as professional and as a citizen on the SDGs will be of great added value. This session sets the scene how you can actively contribute to volunteering for the future for our profession, society and our planet at the same time.
Land governance covers all activities associated with the
management of land and natural resources that are required
to fulfil political and social objectives and achieve
sustainable development. This relates specifically to the
legal and institutional frameworks for the land sector. The
operational component of the land management concept is the
range of land administration functions that include the
areas of land tenure, land value, land use, and land
development. These functions are essential to ensure control
and management of the people to land relationship and the
economic and social outcomes emerging from it.
This
presentation analyses the global agenda in relation to the
land governance component and, thereby, provides an overall
understanding of the role of responsible land governance in
support of the SDGs and the wider global agenda. The
presentation emphasises the importance of providing secure
land rights at scale as a basis for developing an efficient
land market, effective land use management and, more
generally, economic development and social stability. It is
argued that the global land community has a key role to play
in this regard.
See Stig Enemarks Article below
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development provides us the
road towards a sustainable world. We are now in the decade
of action. There is a sense of urgency. We are the
generation to end extreme poverty and to address climate
change, injustice and gender inequality. We all have to take
action, individually, collectively, locally and globally.
The global sense of urgency and the pressure on land have
showed an increase of the relevance of surveying and
geo-information towards the achievement of the SDG's.
Providing leadership as FIG, as professional and as a
citizen on the SDGs will be of great added value.
This
session sets the scene how you can actively contribute to
volunteering for the future for our profession, society and
our planet at the same time.
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Prof. Stig Enemark - FIG Honorary President and Professor Emeritus of Land management at Aalborg University Denmark Stig holds a M.Sc. in Surveying, Planning, and Land Management (1966) and worked as a licensed surveyor in private practice for 12 years. He joined Aalborg University 1982 and served as Head of School of Surveying and Planning for 15 years. He is Past President and Honorary Member of the Danish Association of Chartered Surveyors. He is a well-known international expert and consultant in the areas of land administration, land management and spatial planning, and the related issues of education and capacity development. He has published books, reports and more than 400 articles and conference papers, and he has undertaken a range of land related consultancies in Eastern Europe, Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa. |
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Ms. Paula Dijkstra - Director of Kadaster International / Chair Task Force n FIG and the Sustainable Development Goals As Director of Kadaster International Paula is responsible for the coordination of Kadaster’s international activities and international cooperation projects. Kadaster International provides worldwide advisory services in the domain of land administration, e-governance, geo-information services and SDI. Paula is working for the international department since 2011. She obtained a Master degree in Social Geography and a grade in cadastral data acquisition and 3D modelling. In addition to the above Paula was co-conference director for the e-Working Week of the International Federation of Surveyors (FIG) hosted by the Netherlands and originally planned in 2020 (postponed to 2021 due to COVID-19). She is also chair of the FIG taskforce on the Sustainable Development Goals, as well as Working Group 7.2 on Fit For Purpose Land Administration Implementation. |
This article in .pdf-format (19 pages)
Land governance covers all activities associated with the management of land and natural resources that are required to fulfil political and social objectives and achieve sustainable development. This relates specifically to the legal and institutional frameworks for the land sector. The operational component of the land management concept is the range of land administration functions that include the areas of land tenure, land value, land use, and land development. These functions are essential to ensure control and management of the people to land relationship and the economic and social outcomes emerging from it.
This paper unfolds the concept of responsible land governance and analyses the land governance components in relation to the global agenda. The paper, thereby, provides an overall understanding of the role of responsible land governance in support of the SDGs and the wider global agenda. The paper emphasises the importance of providing secure land rights at scale as a basis for developing efficient land markets, effective land use management and, more generally, promoting economic development and social stability.
Finally, the paper looks at the challenges ahead in relation to implementing responsible and countrywide land governance infrastructures. This relates to addressing the institutional issues in terms of the country specific political economy and the various vested interests apparent especially in developing countries. It is argued that FIG and the global land community has a key role to play in this regard.
Land governance and management covers all activities associated with the management of land and natural resources that are required to fulfil political and social objectives and achieve sustainable development. This relates to policymaking and, more specifically, to the design of the legal and institutional frameworks for the land sector. The operational component of the land management concept is the range of land administration functions that include the areas of land tenure, land value, land use, and land development. All of these functions are essential to ensure control and management of the people to land relationship and the economic and social outcomes emerging from it.
Looking at the global agenda, it has changed over recent decades. In the 1990s the focus was on sustainable development; in the 2000s the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were adopted as the overarching agenda; and in the early 2010s there was increasingly a focus on climate change and related challenges such as natural disasters, food shortage and environmental degradation. In 2015 the MDGs were replaced by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (UN, 2015a) adopted by all the world´s leaders and setting the scene towards 2030. This 2030 global agenda is ambitious and calls for interventions at all levels of government, the private sector and civil society. Land governance play a key role in this regard in terms of setting the policies and the legal and institutional framework for managing the rights, restrictions and responsibilities in land facing the challenges of sustainable use of land and natural resources.
This paper starts out by introducing the land governance components organised in a hierarchy from land policies to the individual land parcels. The hierarchy illustrates the complexity of organizing policies, institutions, processes, and information for dealing with land in society. This is followed by a presentation of the 2030 global agenda with an identification of the land related goals and targets, how these are monitored and assessed on an annual basis. The role of land governance in support of the global agenda is then addressed within a range of core areas. This is followed by identification and discussion of some key challenges followed by some concluding remarks.
In general terms, land governance is about the policies, processes and institutions by which land, property and natural resources are managed (FIG/WB 2010). The term “land governance” is relatively new. It was introduced by FAO and The World Bank in the early 2000s as an extension of the concept of “land management” to also include the important aspects of governance and the political economy of land. It concerns the rules, processes and structures through which decisions are made about access to land and its use and development, the way the decisions are implemented and enforced, and the means through which competing interests in land are managed (FAO, 2009).
The term “governance” represents the process of governing. It is about the way in which society is managed and how the competing priorities and interests of different groups are reconciled. It includes the formal institutions of government, but also informal arrangements. Good governance means that government is well managed, inclusive, and results in desirable outcomes. This includes features such as accountability, political stability, effectiveness, regulatory equity, and rule of law and, of course, control of corruption.
The organisational structures for land governance and administration differ widely between countries and regions throughout the world and reflect the cultural and judicial setting of the country and jurisdiction. Furthermore, the judicial and institutional arrangements may change over time to better support implementation of land policies and good land governance. A simple entry point for understanding the land governance issues is presented below (adapted from Williamson et al., 2010).
This hierarchy of land issues and their relationships illustrates the complexity of organizing policies, institutions, processes, and information for dealing with land in any society. However, it also illustrates an orderly approach represented by the seven levels. This conceptual understanding also provides an overall guidance for building, maintaining, and improving land governance systems in any society, no matter their level of development.
Land policies can be considered as integrated into land governance. As stated by the World Bank: “Land policies are seen of fundamental importance to sustainable growth, good governance, and the well-being of and the economic opportunities open to rural and urban dwellers – particularly the poor” (Deininger, 2003). A national land policy is the set of aims and objectives determined by governments for dealing with land issues. Land policy is part of the national policy on promoting objectives, such as economic development, social justice and equity, and political stability. Land policies vary, but in most countries, they include poverty reduction, sustainable agriculture, sustainable settlement, economic development, and equity among various groups within the society. All stakeholders, including civil society, should be involved in the identification of issues and potential solutions. The outcomes from this process have far-reaching impacts on who can own and use land and for what development objectives (Enemark, 2019).
Similarly, land governance and land management are interrelated in the sense that land governance shapes the land management activities while these activities should inform land governance. Management, then, cannot be a substitute for governance. The principles and objectives should be in common while the means of achieving them may vary (Lettington, 2022).
Land governance covers all activities associated with the management of land and natural resources, which are required to fulfil political and social objectives and achieve sustainable development. This relates specifically to the legal and institutional framework for the land sector. The operational component of the land management concept is the range of land administration functions:
These four functions are essential to ensure control and management of physical space and the economic and social outcomes emerging from it. The relationship between people and land is of fundamental importance in every society and is evident in the form of property rights. This relationship has evolved over time in many different ways, from full state control, through communal forms of tenure, to the individual property rights.
The four functions are interrelated and provide an enabling infrastructure for implementing land policies and land management strategies in support of sustainable development. . Ultimately, the design of adequate systems of land tenure and land value should support an efficient land market, and the design of systems to deliver land use control and land development should lead to effective land use management. The combination of efficient land markets and effective land use management is then seen as a key component in delivering economic, social and environmental sustainable development (Williamson, et al., 2010).
Land information infrastructures, as a subset of the wider Spatial Data Infrastructures, are the data sets on the natural and built environment supporting the land administration and land management in support of good, effective and responsible land governance.
The land governance components are illustrated in Figure 1 showing the interaction between the various levels.
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Figure 1.The land governance components and their interaction.
All countries need to deal with the management of land. In the more developed parts of world, the systems for governing and administering land issues have evolved to an advanced level for coping with cultural and economic development. Looking at the less developed parts of the world, in many countries, and especially in the Sub-Saharan Africa region, the basic systems of land registration are still not in place. In these countries, more than 70 per cent of the land and people are outside the formal systems that tend to serve mainly the elites and the perspectives of human rights and sustainability are largely ignored (Enemark, et al., 2014). In such regions, there is a need to improve the land governance systems more generally to cope with current and future challenges, see also the Land Governance Assessment Framework (World Bank, 2012).
Land is a finite resource within a given jurisdiction whether it is a community or a country. Within any jurisdiction, there are a range of stakeholders and a range of different development objectives leading to competition and conflict over access to land and the use of the land resource.
Such conflicts and competitions may relate to neighbours disputing over location property boundaries, competition between various stakeholders over the possible use of the same piece of land for residential, commercial or industrial purposes, urban development versus protection of nature and farmland, or slum dwellers illegal occupying public or private land. Government projects may require purchase of private or community land, and indigenous communities and environmentalists may compete with timber companies and electrical enterprises over the use of forested lands and water resources. Local communities may be displaced from their land and homes because of violent conflicts, natural disasters or climate variability and, in their search for new land are likely to be in competition with already established communities.
These conflicting interests in land call for means of effective land governance in order to provide secure legal rights in land and to enable control of the use of land and natural resources. When land governance is weak, corruption is likely to flourish, and the systems mainly benefit the haves rather than the have-nots. The powerful can dominate the competition over scarce land resources and may illegally transfer state lands and common lands to themselves and their allies – or profit from land grabbing arrangements in favour of foreign investors.
By contrast, when land governance is effective, it can contribute to improvements in social equity, economic development, and environmental sustainability. Benefits arise from the responsible management of land whilst natural resources are better safeguarded and more equitably distributed. In cities, effective land management contributes to reduce social tensions and poverty whilst promoting economic growth. When good governance exists, decision-making is more transparent and participatory, the rule of law is applied equally to all, and most disputes are resolved before they degenerate into conflict (FAO, 2009).
Responsible land governance is seen as an extension to good land governance by adding the key aspect of including all land and people with the jurisdiction. This relates especially to the poor and women by ensuring that legal as well as legitimate land rights are officially recognised in the system. Responsible land governance supports the SDGs and incorporate the principles as outlined in the Voluntary Guideline on the responsible Governance of Tenure of Guidelines (VGGTs) (FAO, 2012 and 2022). Responsible land governance is then seen as accountable and effective, founded on publicity and civic engagement, and based on the rule of law through transparency and control of corruption (GLTN, 2019).
The UN declaration on
“Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”
(UN, 2015a) as adopted by all the world´s leaders is based on five key
statements as shown in Figure 2.
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Figure 2. Transforming our World - The 2030 Global Agenda: Key statements. Source: UN, 2015a-
The SDGs includes a universal set of 17 Goals and 169 targets that UN member states are committed to use to frame their agenda and policies over the next 15 years (2016-2030). The goals are action oriented, global in nature and universally applicable. Targets are defined as aspirational global targets, with each government setting its own national targets guided by the global level of ambition while considering national circumstances. The goals and targets integrate economic, social, and environmental aspects and recognise their interlinkages in achieving sustainable development in all its dimensions.
The SDGs, thereby, provide a framework around which governments, especially in developing countries, can develop policies and overseas aid programmes designed to alleviate poverty and improve the lives of the poor, as well as a rallying point for NGOs to hold them to account. In other words, the SDGs is a key driver for countries throughout the world – and especially developing countries – to develop adequate and accountable land policies and regulatory frameworks for meeting the goals.
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Figure 3. The Sustainable Development Goals
While the MDGs, in theory, applied to all countries, in reality they were considered targets for poor countries to achieve with support from the wealthier countries. In contrast, every country throughout the world will be expected to work towards achieving the SDGs. This relates to, e.g., Goal 10 aiming to “Reduce inequality within and among countries”. This challenge of reducing inequity has appeared in most developed countries over recent decades. The SDGs, in this way, seek to build on the MDGs and complete what they did not achieve. The SDGs also seek to realize the human rights of all and to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. They are integrated and indivisible and balance the three dimensions of sustainable development: the economic, social, and environmental (UN, 2015a).
The SDGs include seven goals with a significant land and land governance component mentioned in the targets, see figure 3. For example, Goal 1 calls for ending poverty in all its forms everywhere, and target 1.4 states that by 2030 all men and women will have equal rights to ownership and control over land and other forms of property. Similarly, the land component is referred to in targets of Goal 2 on ending hunger and Goal 5 on gender equity. Land and land use planning are key components in the targets of Goal 11 on achieving sustainable urbanisation. Land governance and management are included in targets of Goal 13 on climate action and Goal 15 on promoting sustainable use of land. Finally, (land) governance is a key component in most of the targets for achieving Goal 16 on promoting peace, justice and strong institutions.
The SDGs are a call for action by all countries to promote prosperity while protecting the planet. They recognize that ending poverty must go hand-in-hand with strategies for economic growth, also address societal needs, including education, health, social protection, and job creation, all within the frame of tackling climate change issues, biodiversity loss, and environmental protection. People to land relationships directly and indirectly influence all SDGs (UN-GGIM, 2020).
The SDGs are further supported by the wider global agenda such as the New Urban Agenda (NUA) (UN-Habitat, 2016), the Voluntary Guidelines of Responsible Governance of Tenure (VGGTs) (FAO, 2012 and 2022), the Paris Agreement on Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation (UN, 2015b), and, of course, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) (UN, 1948).
The goals and targets of the SDGs will be followed up and reviewed based on a global evaluation framework of about 240 indicators, e.g. for Goal 1 on “Ending Poverty” one target is to “Ensure that all men and women …have equal rights and control over land and other forms of property…”. An indicator for measuring this is “the proportion of total population with secure rights to land”. An annual progress report on achieving the SDGs is prepared by the UN, based on data produced by national statistical systems and information collected at the regional level (UN, 2022). The targets and indicators of the 17 SDGs and the connected metadata framework are explained in more details at the SDG indicator website, the metadata repository at: https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/indicators/indicators-list
This target and indicator framework is also underlined by the phrase: “If we can measure it – we can better it” (Gates, 2013). Experience shows that by monitoring and documenting the on-going progress governments can justify activities and costs – and attract donor funding towards meeting country specific targets. The success of the SDGs will depend on the ability of governments, businesses, and civil society to collect and manage data for decision making. In this regard the SDGs are ambitious and there is an urgent need to mobilise data collection to monitor progress, hold governments accountable and foster sustainable development. As stated in the MDGs report of 2014, this calls for a “data revolution” for sustainable development to empower people with information on the progress towards meeting the SDG targets (UN, 2014).
For example, in relation to the monitoring the achievement of the MDGs, the 2014 progress report showed that the extreme poverty rate had been halved and MDGs Goal 1 was thereby met at a global scale - but with huge regional deviations. Goal 1 was achieved mainly due to the contribution from China where, in 1978, the collective farms were dismantled and replaced by long-term leases to allocate land rights to farming households. This policy enforced an era of agricultural growth that transformed rural China and led to the largest reduction of poverty in history. The percentage of people living in extreme poverty declined from about 80% of the population in 1981 (the highest in the world at that time) to only 13% in 2008. In contrast, Sub-Saharan Africa has seen a considerable annual growth rate of above 5% over recent years, but the region has been unable to translate its recent robust growth into rapid poverty reduction (Byamugisha, 2013). This underpins the necessity of detailed monitoring at regional and local / country level.
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The annual SDGs reports monitor the progress in achieving the 17 Goals using the targets and indicators as explained above. The recent SDGs Report 2022 presents a comparison of the achievements before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. but it looks at some of the devastating initial impacts of the pandemic on specific goals and targets. For example, the report states that, even though the world was not fully on track to end poverty by 2030, the COVID-19 pandemic pushed over 70 million people into extreme poverty. |
Solutions to the overall global land issues relate to alleviation of poverty, social inclusion and stability, investments and economic development, and environmental protection and natural resource management. These land matters are now embedded in the SDGs and effective and democratised land governance play a key role in achieving this global vision. The role of land governance directly relates to some core areas such as:
Security of land rights (SDG 1 and VGGT). Secure tenure rights enable poor people to invest in their property and livelihood without the fear of eviction. There is increasing evidence of positive economic, social, and environmental effects of improved tenure security (GIZ, 2019). Secure land rights are also the basis for the function of an efficient land market, assessment, and collection of land tax, and is seen as an incentive to use land and resources in a more sustainable manner. More fundamentally, access to land and the ability to legally defend land rights directly affect the enjoyment of a wide range of human rights.
Poverty reduction (SDG 1). The incentives deriving from security of land rights are a key factor in poverty alleviation. While the importance of land tenure and access to land for agricultural production and for shelter and housing has long been clear, recent research goes beyond this recognition by emphasizing the significance of secure property rights over land as a precondition for sustainable pro-poor economic growth (Deininger, 2004). Good land governance plays a key role in driving this evolution. Furthermore, a change in status from informal to formal can improve the social status of the individual, family or household (GiZ, 2019).
Food security (SDG 2). By 2050, the world will need to feed 9 billion people. This will require an increase of 70 per cent in global agricultural production (World Bank, 2014). Good governance of land promotes food security at household, regional and national level. Especially for rural livelihoods, secure land rights is fundamental for access to credit and investments in long-term sustainable agricultural production (FAO, 2020). This again enables development of sustainable land use policies and control through the land governance institutions.
Gender equity (SDGs 5 and 10). Despite the general progress on women´s right, rights to land are not enjoyed equally in many parts of the world. This goes against international human rights and impacts negatively on households and the economy. This issue can only be addressed through improvements in the legal and regulation frameworks to build of inclusive land registration records. According to the VGGTs, states should ensure that women and girls have equal rights and access to land independent of their civil and marital status (FAO, 2012).
Investment and economic development (SDG 9). The land governance institutions, such as land registration, land valuation and taxation and land use planning and control, provide a basic access to credit, and investments towards social and economic development. Urban development, construction works, transport and energy infrastructures, and a range of public services depends on the corresponding reliable land governance institutions and spatial data infrastructures with a countrywide coverage.
Sustainable land use management and urban development (SDG 9 and NUA). The land governance institutions and connected regulations enable control of existing and future use of land as well as planning and implementation of urban development schemes. In the same way, the land governance institutions provide the key means for dealing with the urban-rural interrelationship and the urban development challenges as stated in SDGs Goal 11 and unfolded in the New Urban Agenda (UN-Habitat, 2016).
Climate change adaptation (SDG 13 and IPCC). This can be achieved to a large extent through sound land governance and administration by including the perspective of possible future climate change and modelling of any consequent natural disasters. One of the elements in achieving climate-resilient urban development and sustainable rural land use is the degree to which climate change adaptation and risk management are mainstreamed into two major components of land governance, namely: securing and safeguarding of land rights; and planning and control of land use (Mitchell et al., 2015).
Environmental protection and natural resource management (SDG 15). Land policies and land use regulations relate to a range of different sectors, such as agriculture, forestry, water supply, heritage, costal zones, etc., and enables sustainable control through permit procedures etc. The regulatory frameworks should then ensure environmental protection of urban and rural areas as well as sustainable management of natural resources.
Justice and responsible institutions (SDG 16). Building accountable and responsible institutions is a key objective - and a key challenge - within the land governance arena. This relates directly to the SGD 16 calling for “Promoting peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, providing access to justice for all and building effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels”.
Considering this central role of responsible land governance systems, it is safe to say, that the SDGs will never be met without having such responsible and inclusive systems in place. This goes especially for developing countries, where the systems are often incomplete, very fragmented, and serving mainly the elite. It is argued that building comprehensive systems covering all land and all people should be a key priority in developing countries, rather than just improving the existing systems with limited coverage.
Over recent year some promising major conceptual developments have appeared within the land governance arena. Technology development and the push from the global agenda are seen as key drivers for change in terms of providing the more comprehensive and consistent spatial data infrastructures. This includes the recent developments of UN-GGIM such as the Integrated Geospatial Information Framework (IGIF) (UN-GGIM, 2018) and the Framework for Effective Land Administration (FELA) (UN-GGIM, 2020). These, together with the recent FIG/GLTN based developments such as the Land Administration Domain Model (LADM) (Lemmen, C. et al., 2015) and the Fit-For-Purpose Land Administration (FFPLA) approach (Enemark, et al., 2014, 2018, 2021) provide tools, and capacity development opportunities for bringing many countries a significant step forward.
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The IGIF is a strategic guide to develop and strengthen national geospatial information management. It provides an integrative platform for all digital data that has a location dimension to it. The framework is anchored in nine strategic pathways in three main areas of influence: governance, technology, and people. The objective of these strategic pathways is to guide governments towards implementing integrated information systems in a way that will deliver a vision for sustainable social, economic, and environmental development. |
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The FELA is a guide for developing effective land administrative systems. The framework is fully aligned with the IGIF as an overarching policy guide supporting the achievement of the SGDs. The nine strategic pathways of IGIF framework are intended to guide the implementation of FELA, support the IGIF implementation more broadly, and ultimately achieve the SGDs and sustainable development. The main areas of influence of the IGIF equally apply for implementing FELA: governance, technology, and people. FELA is then making IGIF operational at country level. |
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The LADM is a recognized ISO standard for building the data model and provides a standardised global vocabulary for the modelling of land administration. As an international standard it can stimulate the development of software applications and may accelerate the implementation of land administration systems that support sustainability objectives. The Social Tenure Domain Model (STDM) is integrated in the LADM. |
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The FFPLA concept outlines a pragmatic and realistic approach for developing countries that can provide security of tenure for all at a country wide scale within a short timeframe and at affordable costs. The FFPLA Guide presents the concept, provides the connected key principles and a generic set of guidelines to be applied in developing countries for building the basic spatial, legal and institutional frameworks of inclusive land administration systems. |
However, despite these major developments, and especially in developing countries, a major challenge remains in relation to building appropriate and inclusive legal and institutional frameworks to underpin sustainable and nationwide land governance concepts. This challenge relates to a large extent to the understanding of the nature of institutions and the role the political economy within the societies, as well as the need for developing the necessary capacity for building and maintaining such country wide land governance systems. These issues are further discussed below.
Many developed countries have strong land institutions and laws that protect the citizens’ relationship with land and provide land administration services to secure and often guarantee land rights. These services directly support land markets that underpin modern economies. In these countries, security of tenure is taken for granted. However, an often-cited educated estimate indicates that for 70 per cent of the world´s population this is not the case (McLaren, 2015) and in the Sub-Sahara region often 90 per cent of land and people are outside the formal systems. The majority of these are the poor and the most vulnerable in society and, without any level of security of tenure, they constantly live in threat of eviction.
Most developing countries are struggling to find remedies for their many land problems that are causing land conflicts, reducing economic development, and preventing their countries reaching their true potential. Existing investments in land administration and management solutions have been piecemeal and have not delivered the required transformational changes and improvements at scale. The solutions have not helped the neediest; the poor and disadvantaged with no security of tenure. In fact, the beneficiaries of this unsustainable management of land have been the rich, elite and organizations involved in land grabbing. Conventional solutions are not effective within developing countries, and it is time to rethink the approaches. Solutions are required that can deliver security of tenure for all, can be quickly developed, within political expectations, and are affordable and scalable.
A key challenge relates to the issue of institutional change. Such change may be constrained by many factors such a lack of political will, lack of financial evidence to justify change, conflicting interests between various groups in society, and vested interests of key professions and other key stakeholders.
In this regard, it is important to pay attention to the country specific institutions as well as the role of the political economy in society. According to (North, 1991) institutions are humanly devised constraints that structure political, economic, and social interaction. They consist of both informal constraints (sanctions, taboos, customs, traditions, and codes conduct) and formal rules (constitutions, laws, property rights). Throughout history institutions have been devised by human beings to create order and reduce uncertainty in exchange. In short “Institutions are the rules of the game”. The political economy is the study of how the economy and political systems are linked. It is about how nations organise the production and use of wealth. In short, it is about how a country – the public’s household – is managed or governed, considering both political and economic factors.
In most developing countries, the introduction of responsible and inclusive land governance systems is about changing these rules of the game and adjusting the political economy of the societies. It is therefore not surprising that this process of change is often met by considerable resistance from groups, interests, and stakeholders.
For example, by introducing new flexible and fit for purpose approaches to building inclusive land administration systems, a range of current land administration functions normally undertaken by specific land professionals may become obsolete. Similarly, related activities of the land agencies will change, and new procedures will be applied. Therefore, such new transformative approaches are often seen as disruptive. In the longer perspective, however, this kind of change will imply a change in the political economy and the way wealth is produced and distributed within society.
Groups of land professionals, such as lawyers, surveyors and planners are highly educated and act as custodians of existing systems. It is therefore no surprise that their professional codes support these systems, and there are many examples of resistance towards change that will challenge their monopolistic position. Similarly, the national land agencies will often defend the existing system and try to keep business as usual, thereby guarding their role and position as experts and the importance of existing regulations and administration. To overcome these barriers, requires a political focus on the benefits to society to be achieved by implementing a new system, e.g., effective engagement through seminars and open discussions with all relevant stakeholders involved, including civil society organisations to understand the longer term benefits of this change.
In this regard, it may be worth recalling a famous quote from medieval times stated by the man who has often been called the father of modern political philosophy and political science:
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“It should be borne in mind that there is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage than creation of a new system. For the initiator has the enmity of all who would benefit from the preservation of the old institutions and merely lukewarm defenders in those who would benefit from the new ones” (Machiavelli, The Prince, Ch. 6, 1513) |
The business model to support the change in land governance arrangements needs to reflect current Government policy priorities. These essentially define the needs of the country and activities that align with these priorities are likely to attract funding from both private and public sectors. So, for example, security of tenure projects can be justified through integration into wider policy intervention programs, such as climate change mitigation and adaptation, digital transformation, building resilience, strengthening of infrastructure, and property tax revenue generation. In this way, the projects are directly aligned with the policy priorities of government, and have a higher likelihood of obtaining funding, while security of tenure is seen as a biproduct of the program rather than the main objective.
The design of intervention programs in land governance normally only involves only a small number of stakeholders in the land sector and is heavily influenced by technology drivers. This approach subsequently delivers narrow based solutions that are often resisted by other stakeholders or do not deliver a wider set of benefits to society. Therefore, prior to committing to a program design, extensive political analysis should be completed, and the understanding of the local context be better understood through the use of multi-stakeholder pilot projects.
There is now an emerging agreement within the development community that capacity development is the engine of human development. Human, institutional, and societal capacity remain critical for designing and implementing strategies towards achieving development objectives including the SDGs.
Capacity development refers to the process through which individuals, organizations and societies obtain, strengthen, and maintain the capabilities to set and achieve their own development objectives over time (UNDP, 2009). Capacity development, therefore, must be seen in a wider context of providing the ability of organisations and individuals to perform functions effectively, efficiently, and sustainable. This includes the requirement to address capacity needs not only at the personal level, but also at institutional and even more broadly at societal levels. Capacity development does not imply that there is no capacity in existence; it also includes retaining and strengthening existing capacities of people and institutions to perform their tasks and deliver services.
Responsible and fit-for-purpose land administration systems are the operational component of land governance in support of the global agenda. When building such systems in developing countries, the quest for capacity development is fundamental. However: “Don´t start what you can´t sustain”. This phrase is particularly relevant for implementing land administration systems at countrywide level. Once established, the systems must be maintained and updated from day one; otherwise, the efforts and investments in building the systems are easily wasted. The necessary capacity to manage and maintain the systems, therefore, must be developed up front to ensure efficient implementation and effective on-going maintenance and management.
There is consensus that governing the people to land relationship is at the heart of the global agenda. Therefore, in developing countries, there is an urgent need to build simple and inclusive land administration systems using a flexible and affordable approach to secure all rights in land and enable control of the use of all land. Considering the four major developments mentioned above, it is argued that the focus should be on building simple but complete systems that can then be improved and upgraded over time according to available financial resources.
When considering the resources and capacities required for building such simple and inclusive systems and the connected spatial, legal, and institutional frameworks in developing countries, the conventional western style concepts may well be seen as the end target but not as the point of entry. When assessing the technology and investment choices, the focus should be on serving the purpose of the systems namely providing security of tenure for all and enabling control of the use of all land, rather than aiming at high-end technology solutions. Such simple systems should meet the needs of society today and can be incrementally improved over time. Building such spatial, legal, and institutional frameworks will establish the link between people and land. This will enable the management and monitoring of improvements in meeting aims and objectives of adopted land policies as well as achieving the SDGs.
The GLTN publication “Fit-For-Purpose (FFP) Land Administration – Guiding Principles for Country Implementation” (Enemark, et al., 2016) outlines a pragmatic and realistic approach for developing countries that can provide security of tenure for across a country within a short timeframe and at affordable costs. The Guide presents the concept, provides the connected key principles and a generic set of guidelines to be applied in developing countries for building basic and inclusive land administration systems.
The phrase “Fit-For- Purpose” is widely used as a quality label for government policies or interventions. The phrase is also commonly used for any intervention or activity that is appropriate, and of a necessary standard, for its intended use. So, the label indicates that this (FFP) approach is appropriate and of a necessary standard for the purpose … namely to provide security of tenure for all and enable control of the use of all land, rather than blindly complying with top-end technological solutions and rigid regulations for accuracy. The recent publication “FFPLA – Providing Secure land Rights at Scale” (Enemark, et al., 2021) provides an insight of the experiences and results from applying a FFPLA approach in various countries throughout the world as shown in figure 4 below.
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Figure 4. Applying the FFPLA approach in countries throughout the world
The 2030 Global Agenda provides a range of goals and targets that can never be achieved without having good land governance and well-functioning countrywide land administration systems in place. The SDGs provide a framework around which governments, especially in developing countries, can develop policies and encourage overseas aid programmes designed to alleviate poverty and improve the lives of the poor. The SDGs also represent a rallying point for NGOs to hold governments to account. In other words, the SDGs are a key driver for countries throughout the world – and especially developing countries – to develop adequate and accountable land policies and regulatory land governance frameworks for poverty reduction, food security, gender and social equity, and sustainable management of urban and rural land use and natural resources.
Responsible land governance and management should be seen as a key means in support of the global agenda. If a hypothetical map of the world were generated using the Gross Domestic Product as the scale for territorial size, the so-called western regions North America, Western Europe, South Korea and Japan would “balloon” while other regions such as Africa and Central Asia would almost disappear (UNEP, 2007). The global agenda is very much about bringing this kind of map back to scale through poverty reduction, improving education and health, facilitating economic development, encouraging good governance, and ensuring sustainability. The means of land governance and the contributions of land professionals have a key role to play in this regard.
Stig Enemark is FIG Honorary President (President 2007-2010) and Professor Emeritus of Land management at Aalborg University, Denmark. He holds a M.Sc. in Surveying, Planning, and Land Management (1966) and worked as a licensed surveyor in private practice for 12 years. He joined Aalborg University 1982 and served as Head of School of Surveying and Planning for 15 years. He is Past President and Honorary Member of the Danish Association of Chartered Surveyors. He is a well-known international expert and consultant in the areas of land administration, land management and spatial planning, and the related issues of education and capacity development. He has published books, reports and more than 400 articles and conference papers, and he has undertaken a range of land related consultancies in Eastern Europe, Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa. For a full list of publication see https://vbn.aau.dk/en/persons/100037/publications/
Stig Enemark
Aalborg University, Department of Planning
Rendsburggade 14, 9000 Aalborg, DENMARK
Web site:
https://vbn.aau.dk/en/persons/100037
https://scholar.google.dk/citations?user=lvIsEPkAAAAJ&hl=en
