Feed the Future Tanzania Land Tenure Assistance (LTA) seeks to clarify and document land ownership, increase local understanding of land use and land rights, and support land use. This monthly report covers project activities undertaken for the period September 1-30, 2016.
Feed the Future Tanzania Land Tenure Assistance (LTA) seeks to clarify and document land ownership, increase local understanding of land use and land rights, and support land use. This monthly report covers project activities undertaken for the period October 1-31, 2016.
Feed the Future Tanzania Land Tenure Assistance (LTA) seeks to clarify and document land ownership, increase local understanding of land use and land rights, and support land use. This monthly report covers project activities undertaken for the period December 1-31, 2016.
Chemonics International presents this annual report under the USAID Burundi Policy Reform Program. Chemonics, along with its partners, Blue Law International, The International Resources Group (IRG), Partners for Democratic Change (PDC), and The State University of New York/Center for International Development (SUNY), was awarded the Burundi Policy Reform contract on September 30, 2007. This Year 1 annual report covers the period from October 1, 2007 – September 30, 2008.
This past year has been critical for Burundi’s efforts to build and sustain peace. The Burundian government is adjusting to ministerial changes as it strives to strike ethnic and party balance, deal with the demands of a reignited civil society and media, and move towards regional economic integration. There are several critical social and economic policy issues to be resolved in order to secure Burundi’s footing as a stable, democratic country. Over the past year, the Burundi Policy Reform Program has made important contributions to help the government strengthen its social contract with the citizens of Burundi by improving the dialogue and processes for policy reform and building the capacity of government to be more responsive and accountable.
The project faced many challenges along the way in Year 1; yet, we were able to meet and in many cases exceed project targets. Just to name a few important project accomplishments, revision of the land code is in its final stages; government and civil society have had numerous meetings to discuss critical issues of social equity; and the capacity of government, civil society, and the media to promote transparency and anti-corruption has been strengthened.
Burundi Policy Reform works very closely with the Ministry of Good Governance, which serves are the project’s official collaborating ministry. In addition, the project coordinates with many other ministries related to project activities.
Collaboration with other donors has been very important to the success of the Burundi Policy Reform Program’s Year 1 activities. A key consideration of project work planning and implementation activities was to avoid duplication of efforts with other donors and to facilitate synergies where appropriate and effective. This was particularly important in the land sector where many other donors were also intervening. The project worked with the European Union and Swiss Cooperation to ensure that our efforts would have the greatest impact in this sector.
Year 1 activities have been implemented by the Chemonics’ team, including field staff and consultants, some of whom have been provided by the project’s four international subcontractors. The field team’s Year 1 organizational chart is provided in Annex A.
Burundi Policy Reform activities in Year 1 fall under five U.S. foreign assistance elements: conflict mitigation, public sector executive function, anti-corruption reforms, civic participation, and media freedom and freedom of information. The annual report begins with a summary of the project’s achievement of its U.S. foreign assistance framework targets. The report is subsequently organized according to foreign assistance elements and presents project achievements, prospects for long-term impact, gender analysis, and success stories and lessons learned for each element. There are several annexes to the report, which include the organizational chart, a detailed monitoring and evaluation report, a project financial report, and a selection of important project technical reports from the year.
This annual report presents the results of the project’s work during Year 2. This work was accomplished through the efforts of the project team, a number of local and international consultants, as well as a range of civil society organizations and ministries, including the Ministry of Good Governance, the project’s ministry of reference.
This report includes an overview, sections on each of the four components plus the supplementary work done on land, an indicator table measuring the project’s performance according to indicators for each component, and summary financial information. The annexes contain the monitoring and evaluation report, as well as reports and report extracts of possible interest.
A change order effective October 1, 2008 introduced a new scope of work for Year 2, which included earmarks on water, women’s leadership, women in development, and victims of torture, as well as activities related to elections. The project presented a work plan on October 31 and Modification 3 signed on November 20 set out the final version of the new scope of work, which prescribed specific tasks and expected results for each component. The work plan was revised following discussions with USAID and approved on January 8, 2009.
This annual report presents the results of the Burundi Policy Reform Program’s work during Year 4. As in previous years, the work was accomplished through efforts of the project team, several national and international consultants, as well as a range of civil society organizations, media organizations, and ministries, including the Ministry of Good Governance, the project’s ministry of reference. Following this overview, this report covers:
Year 4’s timeline includes some noteworthy points regarding the scope of work:
The purpose of AgroInvest is to provide technical assistance to accelerate and broaden economic recovery in Ukraine and increase the country’s contribution to global food security efforts. AgroInvest is achieving this objective by supporting a stable, market-oriented agricultural policy environment, stimulating access to financial services for small and medium producers (SMPs), and facilitating a more effective market infrastructure for SMPs.
The scope of work identifies three main components, refined into six tasks, as follows:
AgroInvest is a five-year project, extending to an estimated completion date of January 24, 2016. The scope of this project encompasses the following U.S. Foreign Assistance Framework Program Areas: 4.2 Trade and Investment, 4.5 Agriculture, 4.6 Private Sector Competitiveness, and 4.7 Economic Opportunity.
In January-March 2013, the AgroInvest project team continued technical implementation activities in the project focus areas. Key activities and accomplishments during this period included the following:
The Bolivia Land Titling Program (BLTP) helped Bolivia’s National Agrarian Reform Institute and its Property Registry System to develop a low-cost model to title and register more than 470,000 hectares containing more than 25,000 properties. The activity improved security of property rights and to expanded individual access to land markets and the full benefits of land assets. The project developed and validated a massive low-cost titling process — the results of which are accessible on the Internet — that can be applied throughout the country. Land titling fostered by the project helps farmers receive loans and encourages them to abandon illicit crops, while strengthening government institutions at all levels.
In this section we report on the specific achievements and activities during the quarter for each of the four strategic objectives. The project has four strategic objectives: 1) Develop and Strengthen INRA’s Institutional Capacity; 2) Develop and Strengthen DDRR’s Institutional Capacity; 3) Develop and Implement an Outreach Dissemination Program; and 4) Develop and Strengthen the Municipalities’ Capacity
INRA Cochabamba was unable to meet the quarter’s numerical targets due to a lack of clear definition of areas of responsibility with BKP, widespread conflict over disputed property boundaries in the Indigenous Territories (Territories Comunitarios de Origen or TCO), and incomplete and/or deficient documentation. The targets for the FARA were amended early in the quarter when it became apparent INRA would be unable to meet them.
Of the six steps, each requiring a different set of activities, the original and amended goals were exceeded only in step 4: Final Resolution. Changes introduced in this step have speeded up and simplified the procedure. The standard procedure was for INRA Nacional to send a title back to Cochabamba because either it lacked proper documentation or the documentation failed to meet the requirements which were unclear or misinterpreted by the staff. This major bottleneck was addressed through the technical assistance provided by BLTP, which facilitated a workshop for 72 INRA technicians and BPK staff to standardize and clarify the documentation requirements. The workshop also concluded with the determination that INRA La Paz officers will travel to Cochabamba to carry out the reviews and avoid lengthy delays by shipping documents back and forth.
The second reason for delaying the issuance of titles in this quarter was the change in the design of the coat of arms of Bolivia which is printed on the legal paper used for the titling documentation and the title itself. The need to re-issue the documentation and titles has delayed the processing of titles nationally.
As a direct consequence of the problems mentioned above, only 197 of the planned 700 titles were issued during the quarter. While this was a disappointing number, it was important achievement for the GOB. The President himself delivered the titles to community leaders in a ceremony held in the “Prefectura” of Cochabamba where he highlighted the assistance of USAID and the EU in the titling of properties.
After intense negotiation during the reporting period an agreement was signed between INRA Nacional, INRA Cochabamba and the BPK consortium identifying 15,000 hectares in new areas where INRA is responsible for the entire regularization process. The 15,000 hectares were for INRA to fulfill its original mandate to work in 100,000 hectares. Work began in late August and fell short of the original targets. However, considering that an entire new operation had to be put together and that field work did not start until August, the progress made is important, especially because it involved the implementation of a new community relations methodology developed with BLTP leadership and support.
The importance of good relations with the community from the start can not be emphasized enough. Intentional or unintentional mistreatment of community members by “saneamiento” technicians invariably leads to conflict and delays or stops the process. To prevent this, BLT has developed a strategy, a plan, and the instruments to improve “saneamiento” technicians’ capacity to work effectively with groups of clients and to speed up the first steps of the titling process.
After stalling for months, PRAEDAC finally made available to INRA information on the status of the work BPK is doing. When the project was designed, the assumption was made that BPK, responsible for completing four of the seven steps in the titling process for 465,000 hectares, would generate a steady flow of titling documentation for INRA to process, and that by the end of the BLT project around 25,000 titles would have been issued and registered. The reality is that from the original 465,000 hectares, BKP has only initiated work in 168,000 hectares. Furthermore, only 2,473 out of the 168,000 hectares, have reached step 4 of the process. See table 3 below for the status of BKP’s work. As a result, and given the pace at which BKP is performing, it is impossible that enough titles can complete the first six steps needed to justify the BLT project beyond the first semester of next year.
INRA, with the support of BLTP, has begun a quality control process of the documentation BKP is producing in Villa Tunari to minimize and try to eliminate delays due to sending the documents back for correction after they have been submitted to INRA.
This new activity and modality is the result of a first experience where INRA rejected the documentation of 12 out of 156 polygons presented in September. This situation highlighted the lack of coordination and understanding between the institutions involved in the regularization process, and illustrates the types of delays that are likely to occur as more documentation is handed over to INRA for further processing.
The agreement to open an INRA office in Villa Tunari, to review the documentation before it is presented, was reached in a meeting between the Vice Ministry for Alternative Development, INRA, PRAEDAC and USAID organized and facilitated by the BLTP project.
Satisfactory and strategic progress was made with INRA Nacional during the quarter. The second FARA covering September to November was signed. Under this FARA, 10 additional employees were incorporated making it a total of 17 BLT supported central office staff to process the titling documentation through the last 2 steps. The 17 are assigned to the National “Saneamiento” Directorate, Conflict Resolution and Standardization Unit, the Titling Unit and the Judicial Certification Unit.
To alleviate two other bottlenecks, the project is supporting an employee in the Agrarian Superintendence (Superintendencia Agraria) and another one in the President’s Office. The Agrarian Superintendence role in the process is limited to setting the regularization price per hectare, an unnecessary step since the law stipulates the cost of 10 cents per hectare. However, until the law is changed, this requirement must be fulfilled. This step that used to take up to 45 days or more has been cut to 21 days by the additional staff member, an improvement but not a solution. The job of the professional in the President’s office is to release the Final Determinations (Resoluciones finales) and to prepare the title for the
President’s signature.
We anticipate that next bottle neck to be addressed will be the current practice that the President must sign every title by hand and in person. As the volume of titles increases, it is hard to imagine that the President can afford the time he will need to sign titles.
On September 28 and 29, BLT facilitated what turned out to be the first meeting of all GOB institutions involved with the titling process. At that time,INRA, Derechos Reales and Tribunal Agrario held a two days workshop to try to coordinate their actions and to expedite the process. Several decisions were made that, if implemented, will improve the process. They include:
INRA and TAN reached an understanding on various aspects of the law and titling procedures that should simplify and facilitate and speed up the titling process. These include:
A ceremony was held during the second week of July to deliver to DDRR Sacaba, the equipment it needs to modernize its operations and, very importantly, the communications link between the offices of Sacaba and Cochabamba to store and transmit titling data electronically. As a result, INRA and DDRR are expected to fully automate transmission of data through the use of the software (Temis and Geotemis) provided by BLT. The system was used immediately to register the first 197 property titles completed and granted by the President on September 14.
The second FARA covering BLTP support for DDRR from August to October was signed. The FARA maintains the agreed upon level of support.
The development of the overall communications and extension plan is behind schedule. It will be completed by October and implementation will start immediately. The plan is based on a series of surveys, focus group analysis, and assessments. We subcontracted IMPRODES to conduct the surveys and focus group analysis, consultant Ruth Villegas to carry out the assessment on the role of women, Carlos Arroyo to carry out an analysis of the media in the Chapare and Marcelo Guardia to profile the media target populations.
The results of the surveys are quite revealing and include the following:
The significance of the findings above need to be emphasized because they show that contrary to accepted wisdom, the main mechanism for obtaining land in the Chapare today is by purchasing it. The same survey 20 years ago would probably have shown that the majority of the farmers would have obtained their land through settlement/colonization mechanisms, or simply occupation of fiscal and vacant land.
Additionally, the survey found that:
USAID/Bolivia and the VMDA have yet to define the conditions and manner in which this project will work with Municipalities in the region. The recent agreement between the GOB and the Agrarian Syndicates of the Chapare allowing each family to grow up to 1,600 square meters of coca offers an opportunity to achieve total land titling quickly. The timing could not be better for this project to help achieve total success in land titling.
For this to happen, a number of pieces have to fall in place:
Obviously, INRA even with the support it is getting from this project and others, will not be able to instantly process thousands of titles, should the demand materialize. However, even if it were possible to attend everyone right away, the process itself takes time, more time than the allocation of the “cato de coca” will take. The ability to respond to increased demand quickly and efficiently will be critical in titling all properties in the region. If there is no quick and efficient response by INRA, the demand for titling will quickly dissipate as informal on-the-ground mechanisms are devised by the syndicates to register land and put together some kind of cadastre. If a steady stream of titles is not forthcoming, the linkages between the land title, the municipal cadastre, and the “cato de coca” will be broken, and along with it much of the incentive and interest of having a land title.
The Bolivia Land Titling Program (BLTP) helped Bolivia’s National Agrarian Reform Institute and its Property Registry System to develop a low-cost model to title and register more than 470,000 hectares containing more than 25,000 properties. The activity improved security of property rights and to expanded individual access to land markets and the full benefits of land assets. The project developed and validated a massive low-cost titling process — the results of which are accessible on the Internet — that can be applied throughout the country. Land titling fostered by the project helps farmers receive loans and encourages them to abandon illicit crops, while strengthening government institutions at all levels.
In this section we report on the specific achievements and activities during the quarter for each of the four strategic objectives. The project has four strategic objectives: 1) Develop and Strengthen INRA’s Institutional Capacity; 2) Develop and Strengthen DDRR’s Institutional Capacity; 3) Develop and Implement an Outreach Dissemination Program; and 4) Develop and Strengthen the Municipalities’ Capacity
The third FARA, which specifies the goals of each activity by month, was signed and implemented during this quarter. The emphasis on accountability for concrete results and the policy of using three month FARA’s to pressure INRA to deliver are producing the expected changes in the work culture of INRA. These changes, however, are not being implemented easily or enthusiastically. In fact, there is still considerable resistance and
hostility towards BLTP.
During the quarter the number of Cochabamba INRA employees supported by BLTP increased from 38 to 42 primarily to accommodate the demands of opening an office in Villa Tunari.
As previously explained the FARA’s contain specific goals for each month of the quarter.
To provide context, plans I and IIa cover 86,200 hectares and contain 4022 properties. The area is divided into 91 polygons with an average of 947 properties per polygon.
The table above shows that INRA Cochabamba exceeded all its targets in the steps under its direct control, barring the Public Presentation of Results. The Public Presentation of Results was delayed because INRA La Paz failed to obtain the required price certification on time, and because all activities were suspended during the holidays. The table also makes it clear; once again, that INRA La Paz is proving to be a major bottleneck.
Accomplishments in the final three steps fell short of the planned results.
By the end of the quarter an additional 218 titles had been signed by the President but not yet delivered, 280 were expecting his signature, and 42 were ready to be sent to the President’s office. This totals 540 titles that can be delivered early in 2005. One major accomplishment was to persuade INRA La Paz to delegate two steps in the titling process to the regional departmental offices: 1) the authority to directly request land price certification to the Agrarian Superintendence, and 2) the authority to issue the technical and legal certificates needed for the public presentation of results. Delegating these two relatively simple steps has reduced the time needed to accomplish them from months to less than three weeks.
Plan IIb is a recent addition to the INRA/BLTP workload to raise the number of titles to 5,000 and the total area to 100,000 hectares as specified in the contract and in the agreements with INRA. The area identified contains 1,025 properties divided into 24 polygons and covers an extension of 14,534 hectares. The area is densely populated with smaller properties, as there are only an average of 43 properties per polygon in contrast to the 943 in plans I and IIa.
Considering that work began in late August, the progress made is record setting, chiefly due to the innovations introduced by the BLTP Project aimed at speeding up the entire process. A scheduled 995 hectares ready for public presentation had to be postponed because of INRA’s suspension of activities on December 15.
As planned, BLTP was tasked to help INRA process the documentation of some 25,000 titles produced by PRAEDAC/BPK and support INRA in the whole process of some 5,000 titles.
The lack of progress by PRAEDAC/BPK negatively affects BLTP’s potential progress and has contributed to a strained relationship with PRAEDAC/BPK.
Some progress was made during the quarter, but the final definition of areas and tasks assigned to each project needs to be reached as soon as possible.
An amendment to the three month FARA with INRA La Paz was signed in November 2004 extending its period until January 2005. Through this FARA, BLTP is financing 14 staff members for titling of properties in the tropics.
An important accomplishment this quarter was to persuade a reluctant national office to decentralize the execution of two simple but time consuming steps in the titling process to its departmental offices: the direct solicitation of land prices to the Agrarian Superintendence and the issuance of the final certification needed to issue the title.
In order to train INRA to more efficiently use its resources and improve coordination between donor assistance, the national director encouraged INRA to undergo a reengineering assessment. The projected completion date of this important assessment is February 15th, 2005.
By the end of this quarter a six month FARA (scheduled to start in January 2005) was completed. This is the second FARA and it includes detailed activities and indicators as well as clear titling targets per quarter. The FARA holds INRA La Paz accountable for specific results, which represents an unprecedented level of accountability for INRA La Paz. This milestone hopefully is a first step to shifting the work culture emphasizing process over results, to that of one emphasizing results over process.
DDRR currently has the capacity to process large number of titles. However, until INRA starts producing significant numbers of titles, BLTP support is limited to maintaining the installed capacity. For this reason the second FARA with DDRR was extended until the end of the year without major modifications.
BLT’s community outreach program was implemented successfully in Plan II facilitating the incorporation of new polygons into the land regularization process in record time and with a minimum of difficulties.
The first steps of a mass communication campaign were launched with three radio jingles in Quechua and Spanish announcing the opening of the INRA offices in Villa Tunari. The jingles highlighted how INRA could lower the cost and accelerate the titling process, while also emphasizing the role of women in the land regularization process and their property rights.
The Vice Ministry of Alternative Development did not issue the expected guidelines to work with Municipalities. Consequently, the project did not initiate any activities other than maintaining informal relations with some municipal leaders.
It should be noted that as expected, MAS won the elections in all Chapare municipalities. The new municipal authorities will take office around mid-January.
The Bolivia Land Titling Program (BLTP) helped Bolivia’s National Agrarian Reform Institute and its Property Registry System to develop a low-cost model to title and register more than 470,000 hectares containing more than 25,000 properties. The activity improved security of property rights and to expanded individual access to land markets and the full benefits of land assets. The project developed and validated a massive low-cost titling process — the results of which are accessible on the Internet — that can be applied throughout the country. Land titling fostered by the project helps farmers receive loans and encourages them to abandon illicit crops, while strengthening government institutions at all levels.
In this section we report on the specific achievements and activities during the quarter for each of the four strategic objectives. The project has four strategic objectives: 1) Develop and Strengthen INRA’s Institutional Capacity; 2) Develop and Strengthen DDRR’s Institutional Capacity; 3) Develop and Implement an Outreach Dissemination Program; and 4) Develop and Strengthen the Municipalities’ Capacity
A new FARA for six months, developed from previous experience, was signed with INRA Nacional. This FARA contains performance indicators that will facilitate and encourage performance monitoring and allow BLTP to stop payment when results are not delivered according to schedule.
Consultant Dr. Mario Rodriguez completed his assignment with presentations to INRA’s executive Director and USAID, setting forth a comprehensive set of instruments for the reengineering of INRA, including a Job Description Manual, Organization and Functions Manual, Job Valuation Manual, Comparative Summary of Salaries and INRA’s Job and Positions Evaluation.
The fourth FARA, which specifies the goals of each activity by month, was signed with INRA Cochabamba during the quarter. The agreement is for a one year period. The FARA continues to emphasize results. The emphasis on accountability for concrete results and the policy of using quarterly revisions to pressure INRA to deliver are strating to produce agreed results and the expected changes in INRA’s work culture.
BLTP provided INRA Cochabamba with all the necessary resources, both human and physical including the installation of an office to start operations in Villa Tunari. This office is the operations base to work in the new areas and also a major step by INRA to establish presence in the Tropics. The office started operation in mid-January.
As previously explained the FARA contains specific goals for each month of the quarter.
The reasons for not achieving 100 percent in each case illustrate how vulnerable the process is to minor disruptions: The first two activities were delayed because the Agrarian Superintendence Office moved from La Paz to Santa Cruz. The third activity target could not be accomplished because the President did not sign the Final Resolutions. This is a bottleneck that goes beyond the project control and continues to delay and sometimes stop the titling process.
Plan IIb covers an area of over 12,000 hectares and contains 1,027 properties. The area was added to BLT’s work load so that the target of 5,000 properties and 100,00 hectares could be met.
Failing to meet the last three targets in the table was due primarily to the move of the Agrarian Superintendence to Santa Cruz and the disruption that this caused in routine procedures. The public presentation of Results could not be made because the Agrarian Superintendence did not issue the land price certificates.
During the quarter, the BLTP organized and implemented three workshops for INRA staff: 1) conflict resolution, 2) extension best practices, and 3) use of Total Station to measure land more accurately and quickly. During the three events a total of 70 participants, mostly INRA staff from the national and regional offices benefited from the workshops.
One important step in building INRA’s institutional capacity was the delegation of several functions by the National Office to the Cochabamba Departmental Office. The Departmental office was given the authority to deal directly with the Agrarian Superintendence to obtain land prices. This development speeds up the titling process by cutting down the time it took to go through the Nacional office to obtain the land price determinations required by law
DDRR currently has the capacity to process large number of titles. However, until INRA starts producing significant numbers of titles, BLTP support is limited to maintaining the installed capacity. For this reason the second FARA with DDRR was extended until the end of the year without major modifications.
During the quarter, the DDRR office processed and registered 261 titles in a record 4 days demonstrating its enhanced capacity to rapidly and efficiently handle large volumes of titles.
The communication strategy was modified to adapt to the changes in the distribution of tasks among the donors and the fact that BLTP is now working in new areas, areas that have traditionally been opposed to titling for political reasons. BLTP/INRA communications are key, directed to communities and local organizations and are mostly interpersonal in nature through an expert group of local extensionists, due to the high political sensitivities in the region.
No activities were undertaken in under this objective. The contract was modified to reflect that fact under the current legal an institutional framework municipality has neither interest nor incentive to set up a rural cadastre, simply because they can not collect taxes from the majority of the rural property owners.
BLTP work in this area will be limited to carrying out an assessment of the legal, institutional and policy frameworks that govern for municipal cadastres and make recommendations.