Land Titling System

"In most developing countries, land is not only a notable means of generating a livelihood but often the key instrument for investing, accumulating, and transferring wealth between generations. Thus, the institutional and legal framework in which access to land is regulated, property rights are defined, and ownership conflicts are resolved, have broad implications in the country’s pursuit for growth and poverty reduction.

Typically, an efficient land market allows the optimal use of land, and well-defined property rights will help overcome credit market imperfections. However, the Philippine land market has not been efficiently functioning (e.g. problems on fake titles and boundary disputes among others).

At present, the Philippine land administration system is handled by multiple agencies and governed by multiple laws resulting to different standards for land valuation, overlapping land titling processes and so many opportunities for graft and corruption. Inefficiencies in the system is due to outdated land legislation and administrative processes which further lead to high cost of doing business involving real estate properties.
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"The land administration system in the Philippines can be aptly described into two words: multiple and complex. The whole system has been governed by multiple laws, regulations, processes and standards, and has been managed by multiple institutions with limited collaboration. These inherent flaws have been largely attributed to the dual process of land titling and registration—administrative and judicial. This time-consuming and expensive process has not encouraged a “culture of registration” hence a large share of the country’s real estate sector remained undocumented.

The inefficiency in the land administration system has become a disincentive to investment in the land market because of the high transaction costs in securing, registering and transferring property rights. Moreover, the complicated land institutions and processes have further strained limited public sector budget due to unnecessary duplications in management and administration support, and land information and records.

It is imperative that Government is able to balance the competing demands between the increasing need for economic activities and the finite land resources. In so doing, it needs to implement key reforms in the land market that are geared towards the establishment of a single land administration agency that would harmonize -- all land related laws and functions, and where possible, adopt administrative rather than judicial approaches for formally recognizing rights in land.
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The main thrust of this paper is that titling is inept at safeguarding women's land rights on customary tenure. Intentionally or unintentionally, titling is unable to uphold favorable pre-existing claims and 'rights' of women on customary tenure, that are already socially recognized by traditional norms. These are often lost, modified, or erased as customary tenure gains formality. Neither the replacement theorists nor the adaptation or the hybrid theories favors women's land rights, as none anticipate the existence of embedded and functional women's role-related, legitimate social 'rights or claims as part of the bundle of rights under customary tenure. It is, therefore, illusionary to expect titling to advance women's land rights, since none of its processes or tools are cognizant of this distinct category of rights on customary. Instead, the titling process formalizes inequity in land rights, by creating new rights for men at the expense of women by worsening existing vulnerabilities of and creating 'new additional conditions' that intensify the loss of rights for women, hence deteriorating tenure relations that previously held limited favor for women on customary tenure. Review of seven pilot projects shows, that women's land rights are best negotiated at individual households with partners within a family or homestead, even though agreements to restructure such rights are often reached between partners at this stage, they easily crumble under peer pressure from males in extended families and clans and intimidation or threats meted out to women. Innovation, awareness creation, exchange, and learning ameliorate the situation. However, the challenge is the majority of the titling projects do not anticipate the embedded nature of social rights in land accorded to women under customary, hence an absence of methods and tools to capture them. Accepting that form (non-absolute) and function (use for household welfare) is the basis for the definition of tenure rights for women in a socio-cultural and ecological mode, is part of the solution for a more inclusive titling process on customary tenure.

This is the second in a series of land studies for northern Uganda, whose core objective
is to inform the Plan for Recovery and Development of Northern Uganda (PRDP) and
the National Land Policy. It builds on the work of the first phase conducted in Teso
region to present a more quantitative analysis of trends on disputes and claims on land
before displacement, during displacement and emerging trends or occurrences on
return for Acholi and Lango sub-regions.
The key findings in the Teso study are that there is a high level of distrust towards the
Central Government’s intentions toward land; customary tenure has evolved and
adapted to changing circumstances but remains to be seen as a legitimate form of
tenure; there was not a high prevalence of land disputes; the statutory and customary
institutional framework for land administration and justice has been severely weakened;
and vulnerable groups such as women and children have been marginalized during the
return process. However, the Teso region has been one of the most secure regions
during the conflict and has experienced very short periods of displacement and as such
does not provide a good marker for the situation in the rest of northern Uganda. This is
exemplified by the fact that though land conflict prevalence was extremely low in Teso
region, it is high in the Lango and Acholi regions.
The study is premised on the fact that the issue of land in return (restitution and
resettlement) processes has not been adequately dealt with in the National Land Policy
and various policies regarding IDP return in Northern Uganda. Land is a critical element
in peace building and economic reconstruction in post- conflict situations; relevant
issues must be understood and given appropriate priority for stabilization. The PRDP
should prioritise the protection of land rights and re-establishment of production
relations on land to bridge the poverty gap, which has been widening since 1997,
between war-affected areas (northern Uganda) and the rest of the country.

Normalization of the administration of land rights has been promoted as a pre-requisite for economic development. Perceived benefits include increased tenure security and improved access to credit, thereby providing the incentive and ability for farmers to invest in making improvements to the land. Formal administration is proposed as a means to facilitate a land market, allowing land to move towards its "highest and best use", thus helping farmers become more productive and consequently improved their lives.

Sub-Sahara Africa is characterized with land ownership which bestows no particular wealth on the holder because substantial portion of land is transacted in an informal market. Manual system of land titling registration is not only time consuming, prone to corruption and cost intensive but also robs the land-owners the full enjoyment of the potential value of their properties and erodes the government revenue generation through tax avoidance as reveals by this paper. Adoption of GIS/LIS tools in land titling registration will not only bring effectiveness in land administration and management but will go a long way in ensuring the reaping of maximum benefit from land by individual owners and boosting the real estate revenue base of the various tiers of government. This paper focuses on the operation of Abuja Geographic Information System AGIS and other major stakeholders while utilizes extensively the World Bank data on Doing Business. For easy presentation, the paper is divided into five sections covering introduction, literature review, data presentation/analysis, recommendations and conclusions. The paper recommends the establishment of National Land Commission and reviewing of Land Use Act as major ways for the effective operation of GIS/LIS in our land administration system in order to achieve urgent economic transformation being needed in Nigeria.

Recent economic and political changes have fueled uncertainties in land access in many parts of the world.  Land property has become increasingly central to forging new social identities and modes of belonging, as well as inspiring new kinds of competition and conflict. This report studies a form of economic transaction whose regulation has been inconsistent and problematic. That is the land mortgage, a form of agreement with a long history since its ancient beginnings.  Most of the existing scholarly literature on the mortgage comes from economists and legal specialists, writing understandably from the perspectives of their own disciplinary traditions.  This report and the related journal special issue that is in development incorporates the much needed assessments from a wider range of disciplines in the social sciences and humanities, drawing upon historical experiences, cultural meanings, and locally informed perspectives.
The Boston University Working Group on Land Mortgage, organized by Parker Shipton and Daivi Rodima-Taylor, studies the novel potentials and challenges, and hazards that surround land mortgage, to achieve a human-centered view of expanding rural financialization. This Report is based on materials and discussions that were first presented at a Boston University Symposium “Mortgage across Cultures: Land, Finance, and Epistemology” in April 2016, with international and interdisciplinary scholarly participation. The papers explore the social and cultural meanings of pledging and mortgaging, and the relationships of mortgage to existing property and inheritance institutions, local credit initiatives and patterns of indebtedness, and ongoing land tenure reforms such as land titling or restitution. Special attention is devoted to mortgage in the settings of conflict-related mobility and recent post-socialist and post-authoritarian transitions - ones in which scholarly literature on the topic still remains scarce. Report contributors include Sara Berry, David Seipp, Kristine Juul, Anand Swamy, Lotte Meinert, Mette Kusk, Stefan Dorondel, Marioara Rusu, Georgia Hartman, Daivi Rodima-Taylor and Parker Shipton.

This  paper  compares  the  Federal  Property  uses  in  Pará  from  two  cases,  Belém,  capital  of State of Pará and Salinópolis, in Pará’s coastal zone, with which it illustrates a duality of alternatives.    On    the    one    hand,    the    authoritarian    territorial    organization,    whose arrangement of objects obey the upper hidden shares to agents acting on a local scale, the level  of  production  relations;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  possibility  of  a  more  democratic management of land resources of the Federal Property. To this end, it is necessary to clarify the  key  concepts  for  the  theoretical  interpretation,  and  the  historical  context  in  which  are these  possibilities  given  to  the  production  of  space  at  the  local  level,  the  relations  of
Revista Tocantinense de GeografiaAraguaínav. 11, n. 24mai.-Agost/2022Página 50production.  The  link  in  the  mediation  between  the  two  forms  of  management  of  the heritage of the Union (inherited from the Empire and the Crown) is in changing the form of labor  control.  The  objective  of  the  article  is  to  elaborate,  from  the  two  cases,  a  historical and  ontological  distinction  between  an  order  built  in  an  authoritarian  way,  and  another based  on  the  democratic  management  of  resources  in  the  same  object:  the  lands  of  the Patrimony  of  the  Union  in  the  state  of  Pará.  The  methodological  procedures  adopted involve bibliographic analysis and document analysis. The results of the discussion point out the distinctions in the two forms of ordering and the consequences of these distinctions for the organization of the geographic space.Keywords: Federal Property; Territorial Planning; Resource Management.

In the oil palm-based cropping system on the Adja Plateau, land titling plays an important role. Landowners argue that oil palm fallow (dekan) restores soil fertility, but in the long-term it is also an instrument in the struggle for control over land. A land-titling programme in the study area allowed an analysis of the relationship between titling and soil fertility management that showed two different institutional effects with socio-technical consequences. Titling increased land security for landowners and, although this security initially reduced access to land for tenants, a subsequent introduction of witnessed paper-based contracts enhanced tenants' access to land and improved their security of tenure. Improved titling and more secure tenure reduced conflicts over land and opened possibilities for agricultural intensification. This change was associated with a shift from long-term oil palm fallow to shorter-term landmanagement practices where tenants and landowners increasingly invested in land through rotations between maize and cowpea (rather than maize mono-cropping) and the use of mineral fertilizers, without increased use of household waste. The paper suggests that sustainable agricultural intensification requires institutional changes, based on a mixture of customary and formal rules, in both landownership and rental agreements to access land.

Ethiopia has implemented one of the largest, fastest and least expensive land registration and certification reforms in Africa. While there is evidence that this 'first-stage' land registration has had positive effects in terms of increased investment, land productivity and land rental market activities, the government is now piloting another round of land registration and certification that involves technically advanced land survey methods and computer registration. This 'second-stage' land registration differs from the registration system employed in the first round that used field markings in conjunction with neighbors' recollections to identify plot borders. We use panel data from 600 households in southern Ethiopia to investigate household perceptions of and demand for such a new registration and certification. Our study revealed relatively low demand and willingness-to-pay (WTP) for second-stage certificates. The WTP also decreases significantly from 2007 to 2012. Our findings indicate that farmers do not believe that the second-stage certificate enhances tenure security relative to the first-stage certificate except in instances in which first-stage certification was poorly implemented. The demand for second-stage certificates appears to come primarily from governmental authorities, as it can provide a better basis for land administration and produce accessible public documentation of land-related affairs.

Ethiopia has implemented one of the largest, fastest and least expensive land registration and certification reforms in Africa. While there is evidence that this 'first-stage' land registration has had positive effects in terms of increased investment, land productivity and land rental market activities, the government is now piloting another round of land registration and certification that involves technically advanced land survey methods and computer registration. This 'second-stage' land registration differs from the registration system employed in the first round that used field markings in conjunction with neighbors' recollections to identify plot borders. We use panel data from 600 households in southern Ethiopia to investigate household perceptions of and demand for such a new registration and certification. Our study revealed relatively low demand and willingness-to-pay (WTP) for second-stage certificates. The WTP also decreases significantly from 2007 to 2012. Our findings indicate that farmers do not believe that the second-stage certificate enhances tenure security relative to the first-stage certificate except in instances in which first-stage certification was poorly implemented. The demand for second-stage certificates appears to come primarily from governmental authorities, as it can provide a better basis for land administration and produce accessible public documentation of land-related affairs.

In this paper, the context within which the National Land Policy ascribes to tackle gender issues and especially provide for entrenchment, opportunity, and strengthening of women’s land rights is analyzed. In the first part acknowledgment of influencing context conditions that refine gender issues are detailed these include; the nature of women’s rights, position of women given their transient rights, the consequences of gender inequality on land, and the effect of dispute resolution on land matters. The economic efficiency and equity theory together with the human rights discourse have provided a firm foundation for negotiating and demanding for women’s rights in national policy, which has either had to make choice between options or promote concurrent ideologies to accommodate evidence-based demands to tackle two key issues; access to land and control of land (including its outputs) through adaptation of tenure and legal dualism, making a choice between representation, participant or professionalism in land management and purchase or inheritance under customary or registered tenure. This paper concludes by outlining the key implications of gender
for PSIA data collection and ex-post analysis, as well as implications for systematic
demarcation projects.

This paper was presented to provide attorneys and related professionals with a solid understanding of, and practice tips related to, curing title defects in the condition of title of a property involved in a real estate transaction such as a sale, lease, exchange or financing.

Resumen: este artículo analiza lo que llamamos un tercer escenario de resistencia y adaptación, el cual puede configurarse cuando se implementa una política pública de tierras. Particularmente, examina el encuentro entre el Programa de Formalización de la Propiedad Rural (PFPR), diseñado y estructurado por el Gobierno central colombiano, y las luchas políticas e identitarias de las comunidades de campesinos y campesinos negros y/o afrodescendientes organizados en el Alto Cauca, una de las zonas donde fue implementado el programa. Empleamos una metodología cualitativa que incluyó la revisión de documentos de política pública, así como trabajo de campo realizado a lo largo de tres visitas, a Santander de Quilichao, Buenos Aires y Jamundí, durante las cuales se hicieron entrevistas, grupos focales y un sondeo. Concluimos que: 1) las políticas de formalización también deben pensarse desde las dimensiones política y cultural de los territorios que pretenden regular; 2) las políticas públicas son reinterpretadas y resignificadas tanto por quienes las implementan como por las comunidades a las que van dirigidas. En este caso, estas últimas disputan las nociones normativas sobre lo campesino que la política contiene, y 3) las apuestas políticas del campesinado de la región están relacionadas, por un lado, con luchas identitarias, territoriales, por el acceso a la tierra y a recursos productivos y, por el otro, con el hecho de que las visiones inconmensurables del territorio no se dan entre las comunidades rurales, sino entre estas y el proyecto político neoliberal.  La singularidad de este trabajo radica en que retoma las teorías poscoloniales sobre hibridación, para mostrar el escenario que surge en el Alto Cauca y su potencial para renovar/cambiar las relaciones y prácticas concernientes a la política pública de formalización en el territorio.

Palabras clave: Alto Cauca, campesinos, hibridación, neoliberalismo, políticas públicas, titulación de tierras.

Let’s Get Formalized!: Peasant Disputes in the Upper Cauca

Abstract: This article analyzes what we call a third scenario of resistance and adaptation, which can take shape when a public land policy is implemented. In particular, it examines the encounter between the Program for the Formalization of Rural Property (PFPR), designed and structured by the Colombian central government, and the political and identity struggles of the communities of black and/or Afro-descendant peasants organized in the Upper Cauca, one of the areas where the program was implemented. We used a qualitative methodology that included a review of public policy documents, as well as field work conducted over the course of three visits to Santander de Quilichao, Buenos Aires and Jamundí, which comprised interviews, focus groups, and a survey. We concluded that: 1) formalization policies must also be understood from the political and cultural dimensions of the territories they are intended to regulate; 2) public policies are reinterpreted and resignified both by those who implement them and by the communities they are intended for. In this case, the latter contest the normative notions contained in the policy regarding the “peasantry.” and 3) the political stakes of the region's peasantry are related, on the one hand, to territorial identity struggles for access to land and productive resources and, on the other, to the fact that the immeasurable visions of territory do not exist among rural communities, but rather between them and the neoliberal political project. The singularity of this work lies in the fact that it resumes the post-colonial theories on hybridization, to reveal the scenario that emerges in the Upper Cauca and its potential to renew/change the relations and practices concerning the public policy of formalization in the territory.

Keywords: hybridization, land titling, neoliberalism, peasants, public policy, Upper Cauca.

Vamos formalizar!: disputas do camponês no Alto Cauca
Resumo: este artigo analisa o que chamamos “terceiro cenário” de resistência e adaptação, que pode ser configurado quando uma política pública de terras é implementada. Em particular, examina o encontro entre o Programa de Formalização da Propriedade Rural, desenhado e estruturado pelo governo central colombiano, e as lutas políticas e identitárias das comunidades de camponeses e camponeses negros ou afrodescendentes organizados no Alto Cauca, Colômbia, uma das áreas onde o programa foi implementado. Utilizamos uma metodologia qualitativa que incluiu a revisão de documentos de política pública, bem como trabalho de campo realizado ao longo de três visitas a Santander de Quilichao, Buenos Aires e Jamundí, durante as quais foram feitos entrevistas, grupos focais e sondagem. Concluímos que: 1) as políticas de formalização também devem ser pensadas a partir das dimensões política e cultural dos territórios que pretendem regular; 2) as políticas públicas são reinterpretadas e ressignificadas tanto por quem as implementa como pelas comunidades às quais vão dirigidas. Nesse caso, estas últimas disputam as noções normativas que a política traz sobre o camponês; 3) as apostas políticas do campesinato da região estão relacionadas, por um lado, com lutas identitárias territoriais pelo acesso à terra e a recursos produtivos; por outro, com o fato de as visões incomensuráveis do território não acontecerem entre as comunidades rurais, mas sim entre estas e o projeto político neoliberal. A singularidade deste trabalho está na retomada das teorias pós-coloniais sobre hibridação, para mostrar o cenário que surge no Alto Cauca e seu potencial para renovar/mudar as relações e práticas concernentes à política pública de formalização no território.

Palavras-chave: Alto Cauca, camponeses, hibridação, neoliberalismo, políticas públicas, titulação de terras.

The possession of a reqistered title to land is a basic
requirement to prove the ownership of any piece or parcel
of land. Squatter settlers hardly' possess any marketable
title in the Port Harcourt waterfronts. This paper traces the
titles given to dwellers of the water front settlement and
argues that if these settlements which had become the
permanent abode of many poor families, need to be
upgraded, then the money for the inhabitants' contribution
to the upgrading can only be procured if the squatter
settlement dwellers possess a marketable title to land. This
title can only be possible if a registration system is adopted
as a first step in upgrading the settlements. The paper
suggests that squatter settlement dwellers can only market
their title if such titles are first registered.

Key Words: Squatter settlements, Upgrading temporary occupation license, Registered title, Transferability

: Les trois cas d’études en Inde, en Ethiopie et en Mauritanie ont permis de voir comment est appréhendé un même cadre référentiel qui pose la sécurisation foncière au coeur de la lutte contre la pauvreté. Plusieurs types de villes (petites, secondaires, capitales) et formes d’urbain (zone centrale, quartiers périurbains, urbain diffus) ont permis de souligner quelques uns des enjeux que représente la titrisation dans les Suds. Le contexte urbain joue fortement. L’impact des politiques de titrement foncier dépend réellement de la taille de la ville et des formes urbaines. L’urbanisation généralisée et rapide dans les trois pays étudiés, longtemps considérés comme étant à dominante rurale, implique l’adaptation et la création de nouveaux régimes fonciers. Dans nos différents cas d’étude, l’accès au sol urbain fait émerger de nouveaux besoins en termes de réglementation foncière, de nouveaux types de reconnaissance, mais aussi et surtout de nouvelles pratiques de sécurisation se tissent entre les habitants et les autorités et entre habitants. La présente étude a fait ressortir l’importance de la circulation à l’échelle internationale de politiques urbaines et « bonnes pratiques », pensées depuis Washington par les Institutions internationales, et réappropriées de façon tout à fait originale localement. La comparaison des trois cas a mis en lumière l’importance des pratiques habitantes, qui, en Ethiopie, en Inde et en Mauritanie, exploitent et construisent des opportunités offertes par les normes juridiques relatives à l’accès à la propriété, plus qu’elles arrivent à en bénéficier pleinement et simplement. Bien souvent, les réformes appuyées par les bailleurs de fond ne font que se surimposer à des juridictions foncières déjà complexes, souvent coûteuses à respecter pour les habitants qui optent pour des pratiques plus informelles. La réforme sur le papier n’est que rarement suivie par la réforme en action. Rapport de recherche présenté dans le cadre de l’appel à projets: "La sécurisation du droit de propriété dans les pays en voie de développement" - Mission de recherche Droit et Justice - 2014.

The continuum of rights model developed by UN-Habitat describes different forms of relationships that mankind has with land. These rights range from the informal to formal continuum. It is the less formal rights that are of major concern especially in the developing world as they are in most cases neither officially registered nor documented. This brings forth various land administration problems to include difficulty in managing natural disasters and land resources. The absence of land registration in customary tenure areas has resulted in research in land titling as a method to move informal tenure arrangements to the formal domains and hence with the assumption that land titling improves land tenure security. Whether or not land titling is working has varied opinions in academic literature. The aim of this study is to determine factors influencing the misalignment between land titling, land tenure security and the improvement of the quality of life of communities. The second aim ...

In their widely read discussion paper, the FAO, IFAD, UNCTAD and World Bank propose systematic property rights formalization – “the identification of rights holders, the legal recognition of rights and uses, and their demarcation and registration” – as a central first step in addressing the problem of irresponsible agricultural investment. This paper examines the case of Cambodia, one of at least a dozen countries where systematic land titling and large-scale land grabbing have proceeded in parallel in recent years. Cambodia’s experience exemplifies the challenges of what I call the “formalization fix”, and highlights the geography of land titling (and property formalization more generally) as a question that, despite substantial debate in Cambodia, has yet to receive adequate attention internationally. Examining three dimensions of Cambodia’s less-than-successful “formalization fix” efforts – (i) the spatial separation of systematic land titling and agribusiness concessions; (ii) the fact that property formalization can also be a means of land grabbing; and (iii) the political arena of efforts to legitimize “state land” – this paper questions the formalization fix as a policy solution, argues that the problem of unmapped state land needs to be addressed head on, and calls for greater geographical transparency in property formalization efforts in the global South.

This is a powerpoint presentation that was delivered during a sectoral conference on land sector reform on July 2010 as a possible input to the incoming 'new' government of President Benigno Aquino III of the Philippines.  The recommendations remains valid six (6) years into this administration and the issues continues to deteriorate and solutions remain urgently needed.