Land Governance

Reliable access to land is a crucial factor when it comes to protecting people’s economic, social and cultural livelihoods. To this end, GIZ supports binding ownership, tenure and land-use rights as well as sustainable spatial and land-use planning in its partner countries.

The existence of many people depends directly on the land on which they live and farm. But land is a limited resource and demand is rising. Land conflicts arise because it is usually not clearly regulated who owns the land and who may use it. The World Bank estimates that 70 percent of the world’s population cannot formally register land ownership. In Africa, only ten percent of the land area is registered. Informality often prevails in the cities as well. In many countries, the use of land is regulated according to local customary law. According to surveys by the PRINDEX initiative, one billion people worldwide fear that they will have to leave their homes or land within five years because they do not have secure land rights.

Many people’s livelihoods depend directly on the land they live on and farm. However, land is a limited resource, and demand is increasing. Land conflicts arise because in most cases there is no clear picture in law of who owns land and who is authorised to use it. Around 90 per cent of agricultural land in Africa is not formally registered. In cities, too, the situation is often characterised by informal ownership and tenure. In many countries, land use is governed by local customary law. According to surveys by the PRINDEX initiative, one billion people worldwide fear that they will have to leave their homes or land within five years because they have no secure land rights.

At the same time, national and international corporations are buying up large areas of land, often displacing the people who live there. Women, socially marginalised groups and indigenous populations are particularly affected. This deprives them of the means to produce food for themselves and others and to generate an income. Access to land must be organised in a way that promotes social equity and respects the rights of individuals and groups. In order to establish the right conditions for investment and for a sustainable and productive rural economy with appropriate environmental and climate protections, there must be legal certainty, and land users must be able to plan for the long term.

On behalf of the German Government, GIZ supports the efforts of its partner countries to strengthen land governance and create greater legal certainty, particularly for women and indigenous communities. GIZ works to achieve equal recognition for different forms of land rights, especially traditional land rights. The measures implemented by GIZ help to reduce poverty, promote gender equality and resolve conflicts.

• Fair access to land
  GIZ works to achieve fair access to land and protected land rights so that smallholder farmers can enjoy secure livelihoods and food supplies.
• Advice and civic empowerment
  GIZ advises its partners on legislation and how to establish land administration systems, such as cadastral offices and local land registers. At national and local level, GIZ works to bring about fair legal conditions and encourages citizens to get involved in policymaking.
• Women’s rights
  In line with feminist development policy, GIZ works to achieve gender equality by advising its partners and national actors and promoting women’s rights.
• Investment framework
  GIZ supports the efforts of partner countries to establish the right frameworks so that investments in land increase productivity and create jobs, incomes and better infrastructure.
• Digitalisation and open data
  IT systems, such as geo-information systems, are an important building block in the documentation of land rights. They increase transparency, improve local authority data management and make it easier for landowners to use the documents that set out their land rights.