Presentation of the Challenge Paper Land Tenure Reform and the Drylands

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Presentation of the Challenge Paper Land Tenure
Reform and the Drylands

• Eric Patrick
• UNDP Drylands Development Centre

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History of Paper

• Global Drylands Imperative Challenge common
  perceptions, particularly amongst policy makers
• Key drylands issues
• Poverty in the drylands,
• Sustainable development in the drylands
• Vulnerability Adaptation to climate change in
  the drylands,
• Biodiversity and the drylands
• Pastoralism and mobility in the drylands
• Land Tenure Reform in the drylands
• Available at www.undp.org/drylands

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Drylands Land Tenure Reform CP

• Synthesis of Regional Studies
• UNDP Side Event CCD COP6
• Book form
• Peer-review through workshop represent the
  consensus of your discussions
• Improved, translated, web disseminated
• Source document for audience-specific products
  for advocacy cap building

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Overview

• Background concepts re risk management in
  drylands in LDCs
• Structure of Paper
• Challenges for LT reform in the drylands
• LT, drylands ecology risk management
• Traditional vs Modern LT worldviews
• Why LT reform is important for drylands
  development
• Policy Lessons
• Conclusions

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Value of land as a function of degree of aridity
and and choice of land use / livelihood system
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Drylands land use in LDCs is in an institutional
nether-zone between traditional risk management
systems and incipient modernization
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Drylands in LDCs at the interface of market
state failure implications commercial law
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Structure of Paper

• Section 1 Introduction to the challenges of LT
  in the drylands (pgs 1 5)
• Section 2 Why LT reform is important for
  drylands development (pgs 5 7)
• Section 3 Specificities of LT in the drylands
  mismatch with modern LT concepts (pgs 7 9)
• Sections 4 5 Policy lessons from LT reform in
  the drylands (pgs 9 19)
• Section 6 LT reform challenges revisited (pgs 19
  21)
• Section 7 Conclusions (Ongoing Challenges)

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LT reform in the drylands as six
challenges for land tenure policy practice

• Challenge 1 How can we ensure that LT reform
  processes are truly participatory?
• Challenge 2 What institutional changes are
  required to ensure that the law is effective in
  granting tenure security?
• Challenge 3 How can national legislative
  development processes reconcile the gaps
  overlaps between traditional and modern systems
  regulating access to and use of land and its
  resources?

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Challenges (cont)

• Challenge 4 How can potential conflict over land
  its resources in the drylands be minimized?
• Challenge 5 How can the rights of marginalized
  groups to land its resources be promoted and
  protected?
• Challenge 6 How can land tenure systems account
  for the needs desires of various actors
  (including the State) while still ensuring
  environmental sustainability?

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S. 3 Land tenure, drylands ecology
traditional risk management

• About 40 earths surface ASAL a
  disproportionately high of rural poor
• Low vegetation cover thin topsoil high
  rainfall intensity strong winds high
  potential for degradation, slow rate of humus
  formation
• Therefore sustainable management critical
• Traditional systems generally highly efficient
  wrt returns to labour or capital, generally low
  density, flexible allowing manage relationship
  between demand (animal) and supply (green flush
  varying in space time)
• Implied flexible institutions in terms of
  regulation of access to land and its resources
• Sustainable exploitation of areas of reliable dry
  season resources

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Section 3 (cont)

• Aridity gradient, Land use Institutions
• Arid Shallow Groundwater oases, complex
  water rights, nodes for livestock and trade
  routes
• Arid w/o Shallow GW highly mobile systems,
  highly flexible arrangements reciprocal access,
  opportunistic farming highly specialized risk
  management
• Semi-Arid Semi-mobile systems and/or
  opportunistic farming or highly adapted farming
  (Sahel, India) and/or high population densities
  providing sufficient labour for SWC markets ie
  N Nigeria intensification
• Challenge Paper focuses on latter two plus
  industrial agriculture in former Soviet Block

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Concepts underlying many traditional drylands
land use tenure systems

• Ecological necessity for flexibility,
  adaptability diversity worldview reflected in
  LT
• Access via membership of group (claim via
  identity, constructed), based on relationships,
  reciprocity, widely accepted though can be
  contested, may be generational, typically
  unwritten, evolutionary, overlapping arrangements
  (usufruct, tribal, religious etc)
• Multiple users of same resources at different
  times and/or in different ways, often based on
  barter ie manure for crop stubble (much of the
  Sahel)
• Conflict resolution through direct negotiation,
  compensation and/or appeal to a respected
  individual

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Concepts underlying modern LT worldview

• Ownership access (right of disposal)
• Indicated by written title, validated and
  enforced by state, pertains to an individual
• Evolved environment reliable rainfall value is
  in land (no need for mobility) nuclear units
  production
• Exchange via monetized markets, land as
  collateral for borrowing capital to apply to
  production, objective maximize return per unit
  area
• Conflict resolution through appeal to
  independent representative of the State,
  ensuring that the principles of the law of the
  land apply equally to all citizens

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Sections 2 3 Why LT reform is critical for
drylands development

• Process of modernization and globalization since
  colonial period resulted in clash of worldviews
  delayed in drylands (Crown land)
• Elements of traditional community educated,
  connected to urban economy authorities may
  exploit identity-based claims for resource
  capture of dry season common reserves under
  individual title via agents State
• Overpopulation in higher rainfall areas leads to
  inmigrations of land users with different
  techniques, technologies and value systems often
  conflict State enforces right of the hoe
• Colonial and disease control borders have
  undermined the viability of highly mobile risk
  management systems

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Current status of drylands LT

• Policies based economic theories assumed to have
  universal validity supported titling in name
  head of household with right of disposal
  typically resulting in landlessness for
  marginalized groups (uneducated, women, youth,
  poor)
• Recognition by drylands users that breakdown of
  traditional mechanism of regulating land use has
  created a Tragedy of the Commons but often no
  short-term alternative to mobile systems,
  requiring mutual access
• Kaijado Sub-division on paper but drought years
  functionally reverts traditional system
• Some areas past the point of no return due to
  breakdown in social values which allow collective
  action

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Section 4 Policy Lessons

• Modern legal systems are struggling to understand
  support evolving customary LT regimes
• Landscape-sensitive approaches are a necessity
  for effective LT reform
• LT security is difficult in uncoordinated
  institutional environments
• Collective private LT reforms can undermine
  communal cooperation

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Section 4 Policy Lessons (cont)

• Collective and private LT reforms can undermine
  communal cooperation
• Privatizing pastoralism can lead to unregulated
  resource use
• Conflict in drylands limits options for LT reform
  (catch 22?)
• Water development in drylands can change land use
  and bring conflict
• LT reform requires effective legal systems

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Section 5 Summary of Policy Lessons

• Legal pluralism hybrid systems are common
• There does not need to be a Tragedy of the
  Commons
• Managing fragile environments requires a holistic
  strategy
• Tenure does not guarantee credit (market failure)
• LT security requires more than titles

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Sections 6 7 Conclusions

• Commit to transparency and public participation
  in LT
• Where appropriate, intervene in land markets to
  ensure that distribution of public lands is fair,
  while supporting the development of effective
  accessible land information systems
• Commit to developing systems of LT which respect
  local customary traditions

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Sections 6 7 Conclusions (cont)

• Officially recognize that land its resources in
  drylands may have multiple users
• Ensure marginalized groups are benefiting from
  land distribution programs where legal means
  are accompanied by awareness-raising
• Promote collaboration amongst all actors