Transferring our knowledge and systems: tenure formalisation

Land administration systems are key infrastructure for national growth. They deliver macroeconomic growth, allow greater market integration, provide security of tenure and investments, and increase the capacity to deliver welfare. However, land administration systems supporting these activities are complicated and limited. While advanced tools and principles may be borrowed by countries building local land markets, every situation requires innovative solutions in response to the unique and dynamic land administration environment. Project designs must capture a wide range of people to land relationships and different socio-environmental circumstances. An investigation of different people to land and natural resource arrangements was conducted in a development scenario. Case study investigations took place in three rural villages in Cambodia undergoing different stages of land administration project implementation. These studies revealed a wide set of indispensable informal tenure arrangements outside the design scope for providing formal tenure security. From 1990 to now, land projects design emphasis has moved from technological to institutional criteria. Further design change is still required, especially to deliver sustainability and social development. In particular land administration systems used in development scenarios must approach formalization of land tenure with more innovative approaches. This may also require an expansion of tenure security options beyond those currently included in formal systems. Formalised Western skills may be advantageous for delivering some services, but they must be complimented by a holistic understanding of local culture and capacity.Sep 14-1