Experiences and Development Impacts of Securing Land Rights at Scale in Developing Countries: Case Studies of China and Vietnam

Abstract

This paper reviews experiences and development impacts of a selected number of developing countries in Asia and Africa that have used emerging land registration approaches to rapidly secure land rights at scale. Rapid and scalable registration is essential to eliminate a major backlog of the world’s unregistered land, which stands at about 70 percent. The objective of the review, based on secondary data, is to draw lessons that can help accelerate land registration across many countries. While the focus is on China and Vietnam, the findings are buttressed by those from previous reviews in Ethiopia and Rwanda. The registration approaches used in these four countries were found to be cost-reducing, fast, inclusive and scalable enough to secure land rights for all within one generation. They also had significant positive impacts on land tenure security and investment. In addition, they indirectly along with other economic reforms contributed to rapid economic growth and a reduction in extreme poverty. The experience from these Asian and African countries offers important lessons including the need for strong political commitment and to develop flexible legal and spatial frameworks that fit the purpose of land registration, instead of the rigid technical standards set by land professionals.

Fit for Purpose Land Administration: Country Implementation Strategy for Addressing Uganda’s Land Tenure Security Problems

“…The review was further informed by regional experiences borrowed from Rwanda and Ethiopia. Rwanda had implemented a country-wide project and issued titles for about 10.4 million parcels within a period of less than four years at a cost of six to eight dollars per parcel [17] while Ethiopia had used Fit for Purpose Land Administration approach to implement land tenure security projects for some parts of the country [19]. The international experience was derived from review of published material about success stories on FFPLA implementation in many countries.…”

“…Demarcation work would start after payment of a nominal fee of 10,000 Uganda shillings (2.5 US cents) and filling an application form. Data capture was planned to follow simple field procedures, borrowing from regional and international experiences [17,31,32]. The project used SOLA Open Tenure (see Figure 3), previously customized for a similar project in Kasese district.…”

“…The concept includes guiding principles for building the three frameworks in a flexible and participatory way, that is responsive to the country context. Flexibility is a key component in terms of using aerial imagery and visible boundary rather than complying with costly and high accuracy regulations [17], and by including both legal and legitimate tenure forms rather than just ownership titles. By introducing participatory processes of land recordation at community level, the implementation can be carried out in parallel throughout the country and the system can be maintained by decentralized institutions.…”

Fit-for-Purpose Land Administration—Providing Secure Land Rights at Scale

“…The authors conclude that efforts are still needed to shorten updating procedures, introduce data-sharing platforms, ensure financial and technical sustainability, and reduce the number of involved institutions. Byamugisha [27] details, for the first time, the journeys that China and Vietnam embraced to register all land rights within their countries. This formidable task was triggered when the countries decollectivized agricultural production and allocated rural land to farming households in the 1980s and 1990s; about 1.5 billion rural arable land parcels in China and about 70 million in Vietnam.…”

Determinants of the Land Registration Information System Operational Success: Empirical Evidence from Ethiopia

“…The SDGs and other recent global initiatives have renewed and increased the need to improve land tenure to address a multitude of development challenges [3]. Secure land tenure has regularly been prioritized by policymakers to ensure long-term land-based investment, agricultural productivity, as well as to address changing climate risks, biodiversity loss, poverty reduction, food security, and spur sustainable growth [3][4][5][6].…”