Land Tenure

Land tenure and agrarian reform have re-emerged on the development agenda. Uncertain land tenure rights and conditions are widely recognized as a major constraint to both increased production and conservation of soil and biodiversity. There is also a growing awareness of the need to improve land tenure institutions in many countries, but challenges are great. There is a large task of ensuring legal and social rights for traditional "owners" and users of areas with various forms of communal tenure. The fact that areas under customary tenure are often in fragile arid, mountainous or forest ecosystems has added a special sense of urgency to this issue. Furthermore, tenure security does not by itself ensure sustainable land management by the land user, as shown by the mixed results of some land reforms. The problem is not merely providing tenure security, but also providing users with the capacity to use their land tenure rights in ways that enhance both sustainability and rural development.

Since tenurial security is essential for ensuring the sustainable livelihoods of the majority of rural producers, one of FAO's efforts is to assist Member Governments in formulating projects aimed at developing improved land administration policies at both the local and national level. Specific technical areas emphasized in projects are land registration and cadastre, land valuation and taxation, common property resource management, and legal settlement. Land tenure is also often a major component of projects dealing with marginal and fragile rural resources and environmental degradation.

• Formulation of a Land Tenure Policy to Improve Access to Land and Natural Resources (TCP)
  

• Apoyo a la elaboración e implementación de propuestas para la viabilización de asentamientos campesinos en áreas de reforma agraria (TCP)
  

USEFUL FAO LINKS:

• Sustainable Development Department "SD Dimensions - Land Tenure"
  
• Legal Office
  
• Policy Assistance Division
  
• Biological Diversity