FAO CD ROMS on Land Tenure

This interactive CD-Rom is meant to contribute to clarifying the debate on land tenure as well as to making the field interventions more efficient thanks to the presentation of an unambiguous terminology. It can serve as a reference document for researchers, field experts and decision-makers. It has been prepared in Chinese, English, French and Spanish in order to cover the socio-cultural differences in land tenure matters according to the linguistic contexts in which they are found.

In the framework of the project FAO/MDA TCP/BRA/3101, is now available in Portuguese on the CD-ROM: Capacitação para o desenvolvimento em uma Perspectiva Territorial.Portuguese copies of the CD-rom can be requested by contacting the following persons: Gustavo Chianca gchianca@fao.org.br or Paolo Groppo paolo.groppo@fao.org

This resource CD contains various texts and case studies in English, French and Spanish that document and analyze a variety of legal empowerment experiences and actions aiming at securing the land rights of the poor. Its objective is to identify lessons and best practices that can lead to more effective processes of legal empowerment. The documents are divided in three sections: the first one presents the conceptual framework; the second one gathers case studies from Africa, Asia and Latin America; the third one includes the report of an international workshop organized in Accra, in March 2008, by FAO, IIED and the Law Faculty of the University of Ghana. The workshop report, jointly published by FAO and IIED, presents the work experiences of legal service organizations from different parts of Africa.

The CD-ROM presents a collection of materials where demarcation of lands is viewed, in the context of participatory land delimitation, as a participatory process which links social legitimacy and legal validity, with the objective of reinforcing land tenure security of rural communities. This allows recognition and promotes guarantee of rights of access, use and management of lands of rural communities, and provides individual and/or collective property titles. As the collection illustrates, the process of land demarcation and land titling is an integral part of local development. To realize such development fully, communities need a range of complementary support actions to accompany the land tenure security improvements resulting from land delimitation. Communities should participate in the planning of this local development to ensure sustainable management of territories and protection of natural resources, to promote local cultures, to reinforce the notion of rights for vulnerable groups and to consolidate local institutions in charge of development projects. Participation of local populations in such decision-making, promotion of productive activities and income generation, and creation of an environment that favours dialogue between different actors and stakeholders, helps prevent land tenure conflicts and can promote their resolution.

The CD-ROM provides useful reference tools for practitioners of land tenure conflict management. The material includes an analysis of the main difficulties and bottleneck areas encountered by practitioners in the field. Questionnaires were sent to more than 42 countries and practitioners responded by sharing their experiences and practices. Also included is a set of case studies in 13 countries throughout Africa, Asia and Latin America. These case studies identify the most important aspects of land conflict and its management depending on the context and key actors. The collection is rounded out with a number of issue papers that address specific aspects of land tenure dispute resolution.