Document Type: Progress Reports

During this quarter ERC activities focused on four main activities: presenting research findings and developing new research articles designed for journal publication (and presentation at the Annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty) that are based on data collected for baseline surveys; supporting communications efforts, including a webinar/panel discussion on Women, Land and Food; managing the LTRM Office’s Massive Open On-line Course on LTPR; and continuing to support pilot activities in Burkina Faso and Tanzania. In addition, this quarter ERC supported LTRM Office efforts exploring the possibility of creating a third pilot project focused on responsible land-based investment.

These efforts, along with the other activities conducted under ERC, align with and support the goals identified by the LTRM Office as important for this Task Order:

• Supporting continued thought leadership;
• Creating new public goods related to the evidence base for land tenure and resource governance programming;
• Expanding and improving Office communications efforts;
• Expanding training using new platforms and approaches; and
• Scaling pilot activities.

Under Task 1, ERC submitted a draft endline report in Y3 Q2 for review; findings from this report were presented to the USAID Mission in Ethiopia and to a small group of stakeholders.  ERC has, subsequently, received comments and will revise the draft and resubmit the report in Y3 Q4.

Under Task 2, most work focused on developing eight research articles that are designed to be submitted to academic journals and for presentation at conferences. However, ERC also presented research findings at two conferences:  the American Evaluation Association (AEA) meetings in Chicago and the FLARE Conference. USAID’s Associate Administrator, Eric Postel, shared an overview email about the AEA meetings and presentations with senior Agency personnel. The Property Rights and Artisanal Diamond Development (PRADD) baseline report and data sets were submitted for review. Data cleaning continued for the Community-based Forest Management Project (CFP) impact evaluation. The IE Design Report was finalized for the LAND/Afar project and community listing work began.

Under Task 3, ERC planned and facilitated a webinar/panel discussion on “Women, Land and Food,” that was moderated by USAID’s Charles North and included USAID’s Senior Coordinator for Gender Equality Susan Markham, along with Chris Jochnick, CEO of Landesa and Dr. Lauren Persha of UNC Chapel Hill and Cloudburst. In addition, ERC developed three “Ask the Expert” features and one guest commentary. We drafted and published a commentary on “Why Land Matters for the SDGs” to support efforts to keep a land indicator under Goal 1: Ending Poverty.

Under Task 4, ERC managed USAID’s Massive Open On-Line Course (MOOC) on Land Tenure and Property Rights this quarter. The MOOC ran successfully with 2,000 registrants who came from over 60 countries, 200 of whom completed the course. Many participants took part in discussion forums, which allowed them to ask questions and share insights, personal experiences and best practices with each other and with MOOC lecturers.

Finally, during this quarter, the MAST project launched activities in the second pilot village: Itagutwa. Village leaders and villagers received training on Tanzania’s land laws and on women’s land rights. Local youth were trained as Trusted Intermediaries and they mapped over 1,000 village parcels.  ERC supported the production of a conflict assessment for MAST’s third pilot village: Idodi. Concerns were raised this quarter about the conduct of land use planning processes and ERC also faced some delays in starting up activities in Itagutwa. As a result, the timeline for completing the pilot has shifted back several months.  In Burkina Faso, the National Land Observatory (NLO) continued to make progress towards ensuring transparency in the land sector.  NLO staff have been active in operationalizing the organization’s 5-year work plan and have initiated data collection, communications, and outreach activities to stakeholders, donors, and government bodies.

During this quarter the project continued to expand field activities, support joint LTRM/Bureau for Food Security (BFS) efforts related to land tenure and agriculture, improve approaches to data collection, and strengthen collaboration and communication across the STARR partners’ network.

Under Tasks 1 and 2 ERC worked closely with the LTRM Office to implement field data collection and improve survey and interview instruments.  We have developed a robust review process for survey instruments that involves internal and external review, which is then incorporated into documents. We have developed flexible processes that allow for rigorous impact evaluations even under challenging conditions, such as the PRADD II Impact Evaluation (IE) in Guinea where the Ebola outbreak required a shift from in-person training and electronic data collection to remote training and paper-based data collection. However, working closely with Tetra Tech (TT), the implementing partner for PRADD II, we were able to address safety and health concerns and complete data collection.

By the end of the quarter, baseline data collection was completed for TGCC, LAND, PRADD II and CLPP.  ERC had completed planning for and developed or revised survey instruments for the endline data collection for ELAP/ELTAP and had also developed survey instruments for the complex Community Forestry Program (CFP) in Zambia. We began discussions with the LTRM Office about how best to publicly share this data to meet USAID open data requirements and to meet the needs of researchers and others who will help build an evidence for the value of land tenure interventions and programs.  Finally, we held a conference call with STARR partners to discuss impact evaluation and share experiences and lessons learned between implementing partner TT and Cloudburst.

This quarter activities under Tasks 3 and 4 continued to highlight STARR project work by featuring implementing partner projects on the USAID Land Tenure Portal, in presentations (Mercedes Sticklers’ presentation for the African Union’s Land Policy Conference) and through engagement with the new land tenure Community of Practice (which discussed the USAID program in Ethiopia implemented by TT and USAID programs in Columbia implemented by Chemonics). Our editorial calendar process helped STARR partners coordinate media outreach and messaging around land tenure and we continued to focus on expanding and leveraging the LTRM Office’s social media presence to drive more viewers to the USAID Land Tenure Portal.

We continued to support joint LTRM/BFS efforts. This quarter we developed a video for internal USAID promotion announcing a new joint statement on land tenure and agricultural productivity that features E3 Bureau Assistant Administrator Charles North and Tjada McKenna of BFS. We revised the operational guidelines for responsible land-based investments and supported the LTRM Office at the CFS plenary meetings where the Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems were endorsed.

ERC made good progress this quarter towards the goal of building capacity within the USG to understand and address land tenure issues.  We filmed another module of the 14-module Land Tenure and Property Rights Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) and coordinated with 10 other presenters to help them develop materials.  As noted above, we launched the Land Tenure Community of Practice (CoP) for USG staff, and we conducted a specialized LTPR training for USAID Mission staff in Haiti. These three activities support the ERC goal of deepening the pool of USG talent that can address land tenure and property rights issues.

Activities under Task 5 have also moved beyond start-up phases. The Mobile Technology Pilot, which has been renamed the Mobile Application for Strengthening Tenure (MAST) project finalized contracting with the technology developer, technology development started and we negotiated with a strong local implementing partner to conduct capacity building and legal awareness raising in our pilot village.  We also collaborated with the impact evaluator for this project, MSI.  This project is generating interest from the Government of Tanzania and may help the Government achieve ambitious goals related to mapping and registering rural land rights under its Big Results Now program.

The second pilot project, the Land Governance Partnership in Burkina Faso, presents a number of challenges.  ERC consultants and staff provided remote support to the National Land Observatory staff, whose primary activities during this quarter were largely administrative and logistically-oriented. A significant amount of NLO staff time was dedicated to completion of administrative formalities and moving into and preparing a permanent office. NLO development was hindered due to the political turmoil in Burkina Faso which resulted in the delay of onsite ERC support to the NLO. Fortunately, the ERC task lead, Kent Elbow was able to return in December to work directly with the NLO staff. Significant progress towards further defining the 5-year plan for the NLO was realized during the visit. Initial concepts for the Transparency Initiative were also presented to USAID during this quarter.

This initial quarterly report is being submitted two months after contract award to put ERC on the standard USG fiscal year quarter schedule.  During the quarter the primary activity focus was ERC mobilization and ongoing communications and knowledge management activities.

• Three of five key personnel and supporting staff were hired in the first month of implementation. Two key personnel declined to accept their positions. Cloudburst will submit replacements for USAID approval in the second quarter.
• ERC met with the LTD to conduct initial contract brief and work plan meetings. Cloudburst transitioned to ERC the communications staff and activities under the previous KMTSS communications support project and continue to provide website development and maintenance, communications content generation, and knowledge management services.
• All staff have been provided with office space and computer equipment, and have been oriented to Cloudburst human resources and management systems.
• On the last day of the quarter, the draft Annual Work Plan for year one was submitted.

Priority year one activities that are already underway include:

• Subtask 1.A Ethiopia land certification impact evaluation
• Subtask 2.C Impact of REDD+ projects on tenure and property rights
• Subtask 3.A  Manage, update, and improve the USAID LTPR website
• Subtask 3.B Ongoing Communication Support
• Subtask 4.B Conduct Washington DC LTPR training
• Subtask 5.A Implement mobile technology in land administration pilot activity

During this quarter ERC continued work on IE baseline reports, drafted new pre-analysis plans and accompanying data collection tools, prepared the new USAID LandLinks website for launch, planned activities for the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) 2.0 (to launch in January 2017), completed one pilot project, supported the National Land Observatory (Observatoire National du Foncier, ONF) as it adapts the Mobile Application to Secure Tenure (MAST) for use in Burkina Faso, and received and reviewed concept papers from participants in the Responsible Land-Based Investment pilot project (Pilot 3). This represents progress in line with ERC’s Year 4 work plan (May 2016-April 2017).

Under Task 2, ERC submitted a draft policy brief on mutually beneficial contracting in large-scale land acquisitions (LSLA). ERC continued work on three ongoing evaluations, and launched activities for a new IE of the Sustainable Ecosystems Advanced (SEA) project in Indonesia. A Baseline Report was submitted for the Land Administration to Nurture Development (LAND) Afar IE, the Tenure and Global Climate Change (TGCC) IE draft Pre-Analysis Plan was submitted, and TGCC IE endline survey instruments were updated. For the Community Land Protection Program (CLPP) performance evaluation, endline instruments were revised, pre-analysis planning occurred, and ERC supported a brief trip to Liberia. For the SEA project, ERC conducted a scoping trip to Indonesia and drafted a Concept Note detailing potential design options and proposed implementation processes for the evaluation.

Under Task 3, ERC continued to work closely with sub-contractor Bixal to re-design the USAID Land Tenure internet portal to improve content organization, functionality and user experience in preparation for launch of the new site. ERC also continued to craft strategic communications goals and procedures as part of the Year 4 work planning process. Throughout the quarter ERC supported efforts to develop a series of new fact sheets and to update country profiles. These will be promoted through focused activities and campaigns in the next quarter. In line with Year 4 work planning ERC supported a well-attended webinar on the topic of “Legitimate Land Rights.” Finally, ERC also supported ad hoc requests to develop a Gender Analysis for the Urban Team at USAID and began initial research into a new project on Gender-Based Violence and Land Tenure.

Activities under Task 4 were relatively light this quarter but will ramp up next quarter as ERC prepares to launch MOOC 2.0. During the quarter ERC worked with USAID’s Geospatial Analysts Ioana Bouvier and Silvia Petrova to develop an outline and learning objectives for a new Geospatial module. ERC also worked with Dr. Cynthia Caron to develop an outline for a new module on Customary Tenure. Finally, ERC completed planning to film and edit new modules and also reviewed course readings, reviewed module questions, and answers to develop quizzed and added questions as needed, and produced a new FAQ document for MOOC 2.0.

Under Task 5, ERC closed out MAST pilot project by supporting efforts at the District Land Office (DLO) in Iringa, Tanzania to print and record land rights documents for Kitayawa (village 3) and by providing materials to assist with a transition to the Feed the Future Land Tenure Activity (LTA) project. Also during this quarter, ERC conducted a TDY to analyze how best to support the Government of Burkina Faso and the ONF in a new project that will adapt and implement the MAST technology. Finally, ERC conducted a co-creation workshop with Pilot 3 participants and supported the development of Concept Papers that were reviewed in September by a panel of Independent Scientific Experts.

During this quarter ERC activities focused on four main activities: completing the draft endline report for the ELTAP/ELAP project; developing materials and planning for the next phase of the LAND IE in Afar, preparing for and launching the new Massive Open Online Course in Land Tenure and Property Rights and expanding ERC pilot projects in Tanzania and Burkina Faso.

These efforts, along with the other activities conducted under ERC, align with and support the goals identified by the LTRM Office as important for this Task Order:

• Supporting continued thought leadership;
• Creating new public goods related to the evidence base for land tenure and resource governance programming;
• Expanding and improving Office communications efforts;
• Expanding training using new platforms and approaches; and
• Scaling pilot activities.

Under Task 1, a very robust data analysis was conducted to ensure that impacts identified for second-level land certification in Ethiopia, which was supported by USAID, were well supported by the evidence available. The draft endline report was submitted towards the end of the quarter for LTRM Office review. These findings will be shared with stakeholders at a meeting in Addis Ababa in October 2015. Under Task 2, data cleaning continued on several IE activities while the baseline report for LAND Oromia was completed. ERC continued work on the PRADD baseline report and began more intensive planning and preparation for the next phase of the LAND IE work which is to be conducted in the Afar Region.

In addition to this work, ERC began planning for and working on a set of journal articles that build on the impact evaluations with a goal of sharing results with a wider academic and policy audience. These papers, if accepted, will also be presented at the 2016 Annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty.

Activities under Task 3 continued to focus on broadening impact and outreach for LTRM Office communications efforts and materials. During the quarter ERC supported an “AskAg” discussion on land tenure, produced a photo essay to highlight the human face of the Mobile Application to Secure Tenure (MAST) project, shared an “Ask the Expert” video with IFAD land tenure expert Harold Liversage and produced social media content related to the new SDGs.

ERC was excited to launch the Massive Open On-Line Course (MOOC) on Land Tenure and Property Rights during this quarter. The MOOC opened on September 14th and will run through the end of December. Demand for this product proved far greater than anticipated among a general audience with over 1,600 participants registered by the end of quarter. This suggests both a pent up demand for information on this important issue and that USAID may play an important role providing a new public good: clear and accessible information about land tenure and property rights in the context of the developing world.

Finally, during this quarter, the MAST pilot achieved a major goal by delivering Certificates of Customary Rights of Occupancy (CCROs) for 914 parcels to villagers in Ilalasimba Tanzania. This provided a proof of concept for the idea that land rights may be efficiently crowdsourced by local people with support and capacity building provided by donors. Preparations and planning for the next phase of MAST, as well as work to improve the technology infrastructure, took place during this quarter. In Burkina Faso, the National Land Observatory (NLO) continued to make progress towards ensuring transparency in the land sector. NLO staff have been active in operationalizing the organizations 5-year work plan and have initiated data collection, communications, and outreach activities to stakeholders, donors, and government bodies.

During this quarter and across tasks, the project expanded field activities, strengthened collaboration across the STARR partners’ network, and supported joint efforts across offices within theBureau for Economic Growth, Education, and Environment (E3) and with the Bureau for Food Security (BFS).

In the impact evaluation work, we continued to collaborate with the LTRM Office to improve the survey and interview instruments we use and the processes involved in carrying out the six different impact evaluations managed under Tasks 1 and 2 of the ERC Task Order. For example, ERC shared impact evaluation (IE) documents for the Property Rights and Artisanal Diamond Development II project (PRADD II) and the Ethiopia Land Administration to Nurture Development project (LAND) with STARR partners and worked with the LTRM Office to oversee a significant, substantive review of the Ethiopia Strengthening Land Tenure and Administration Program and Ethiopia Land Administration Program (ELTAP/ELAP) endline survey documents. ERC successfully completed baseline data collection for the Tenure and Global Climate Change project (TGCC) IE in Zambia and worked closely with the LTRM and the Global Climate Change (GCC) Offices to plan for the upcoming IE of the Community-based Forest Management Program (CFP), also in Zambia. Data collection for the Community Land Protection Program (CLPP) in Liberia was completed and we plan to share qualitative data in the upcoming quarter for both CLPP and for TGCC IEs. Sharing this data publicly will help promote a goal of ERC: to address knowledge gaps and support research related to land tenure questions and concerns by providing more information to researchers and other external audiences about the programs and projects that USAID supports.

Efforts under Tasks 3 and 4 raised the profile of the LTRM Office, strengthened information and knowledge exchanges among STARR partners in order to communicate and amplify a shared message, supported the office’s international policy efforts, and enhanced the capabilities of USAID staff to engage on land tenure issues. This quarter, ERC worked with USAID Missions and STARR implementing partners to highlight new research on women’s land rights in Rwanda, the innovative use of technology to map diamond mining sites in Guinea, and USAID’s leadership in developing internationally recognized Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems (RAI). A new editorial calendar process developed this quarter helps STARR Partners coordinate media outreach and messaging around land tenure and an increased social media presence helps drive more viewers that are interested in USAID Land Tenure Portal. ERC supported LTRM staff at international negotiations on the RAI in Rome and, in response to new requests, produced a briefer on the linkages between LTPR and Food Security, messaging around implementation resources for a joint E3/BFS Statement on land governance and food security, and drafted and edited practical guidance for responsible investors in agriculture. In addition, ERC filmed the first module of a new Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on land tenure and property rights, planned a Land Tenure Community of Practice (CoP) for USG staff, and planned a specialized LTPR training for USAID Mission staff in Haiti. These three activities support a key goal of ERC: to build up a cadre of land tenure experts within the USG.

Activities under Task 5 are now in early start-up phase for two pilots. The Mobile Technology Pilot (MTP), will use mobile technology to effectively and efficiently gather and validate information about local land rights. The project completed the collaborative process of developing a flexible User Specifications Report to guide the development of a mobile application and a cloud-based database of land rights information. ERC worked closely with project implementers to design a technology platform for the MTP that might be adaptable for use in the PRADD II and LAND projects. At the same time, the pilot village in Tanzania for the MTP, Ilalasimba, acquired its Certificate of Village Land and started land use planning efforts. When this process is complete the Ilalasimba residents and ERC staff will raise of legal rights to land under Tanzanian law, and then test the technology platform.

The second pilot project, the Land Governance Partnership in Burkina Faso, will strengthen efforts to improve land governance and increase transparency in land transactions, consistent with the Voluntary Guidelines for the Responsible Governance of the Tenure of Land, Fisheries, and Forests (VGGT). This will be accomplished through technical and financial assistance to the new National Land Observatory (NLO). Presently, the NLO with support from ERC is developing its annual work plan, communications strategy, and business plan.

In terms of staffing, Ms. Jessica Nabongo joined Cloudburst Consulting Group as a Senior Analyst and will be support ERC communications efforts under Task 3.

This quarterly report covers July 1 – September 30, 2013. During this period, the ERC team focused on planning, developing and implementing activities in support of the project’s goals of generating evidenced-based knowledge through research and evaluations; communicating lessons learned, best practices and USAID thought leadership; training and capacity building among USAID and USG staff and partners to identify and address LTPR-related issues, and piloting innovative approaches to strengthen LTPR.  Highlights of the quarter include:

Task 1: Evaluations

ERC staff – Cloudburst’s Daniel Monchuk and MSI’s David Callihan – conducted a scoping mission to Ethiopia to inform the design and strategy of the impact evaluation (IE) of USAID land certification programs in Ethiopia, which is currently being developed and will be carried out next year. This scoping mission also provided assistance on project design and implementation to the recently launched Land and Rural Development (LAND) program.

Task 2: Research

The research subtasks on large-scale land acquisitions (LSLA) and Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) are still in the design phase. Research activities adjusted in focus from desk and literature review activities towards developing a research agenda involving identification of sites of interest and designing and implementing a methodology to collect data in a highly rigorous and structured manner to inform key research questions. We have begun reaching out to Missions and implementing partners to identify sites for implementing the research agenda.

Task 3: Communications

The three major communications activities for the quarter were a month-long Land Matters campaign, the development of the Global Donor Land Governance Program Database and Map, and a beta version of a STARR Document Approval Tracking System (DATS). Through ERC, USAID sponsored Devex’s Land Matters campaign. The campaign provided an opportunity to promote USAID’s research, projects, and thought leadership in land tenure and property rights to a broader audience focused on economic development, gender, governance, and other topics.

This quarter, ERC finalized the development of the new Land Governance Program Database and Map, a USAID-led data collection and visualization project to bring together information on the land and resource governance programs from 12 different donors and development agencies.  Lastly, ERC launched the beta version of DATS, a web-based project management tool.

Task 4: Training

ERC and LTD staff worked to prepare for the LTPR Issues and Best Practices training, which will provide up to 40 USG foreign assistance practitioners training that strengthens their knowledge and skills in addressing LTPR challenges in their portfolios. We developed a training agenda, which includes learning objectives, course structure, and module topics for the training and we selected appropriate technical experts to lead each module.

ERC staff also worked closely with LTD in preparation for USAID’s participation in the 40th session of the UN Committee on World Food Security (CFS) – one of the most important events of the year for USAID to influence ideas and practice in land and resource governance and to share lessons learned and best practices in addressing LTPR issues, particularly in regard to implementing the Voluntary Guidelines (VGs).

Task 5: Pilots

ERC and LTD staff developed a work plan for mobile technology pilot project, which provides a roadmap for initiating an integrated pilot project that tests innovative data collection methods and low-cost, readily available technology to document property rights.

Management

The ERC Year 1 work plan was approved during this quarter. Cloudburst also continued to finalize key personnel and supporting staff. Lauren Kuritz took over as Communications Specialist and assumed leadership of Task 3: Communications. Jeremy Green took over leadership of Task 4: Training. A graduate student, Rahul Menon, was brought on as a consultant to support ERC research activities. Recruitment activities are ongoing for an International Operations and Finance Manager, an Evaluation Specialist, a Task 5 Project Manager, and a Junior Analyst to primarily support Task 3. We hope to fill all of these positions in the next quarter.

January-March 2017 was an active period for ERC, with several project evaluations underway, a robust communications and training effort executed, and the completion of one pilot project and the startup or continuation of two others.

During the quarter ERC also began work planning for the fifth and final year of the contract (May 2017-April 2018).

Under Task 2, ERC launched the midline for the Community Land Protection Program (CLPP) performance evaluation (PE) in Liberia, completed two papers that were presented at the 2017 World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty, and completed the Land Administration to Nurture Development Project (LAND) Afar IE Baseline Report, as well as LAND Afar baseline data package for public posting. Also under Task 2, ERC began exploratory analysis and literature reviews for two Year 4 research products, including a paper focused on women’s empowerment and a collaborative research paper on credit and land rental markets with E3/LU.  Finally, ERC continued a series of preparation steps for the upcoming Tenure and Global Climate Change (TGCC) IE endline, which is scheduled for launch in June 2017.

Under Task 3, ERC communications this quarter focused on two primary events: the second launch of the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) in January; and the World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty in March. In addition to providing communications support around these activities, ERC also sent out a quarterly newsletter in January and conducted an extensive QA/QC effort for the recently launched LandLinks website.

Under Task 4, training activities this quarter primarily focused on the launch of the second iteration of the USAID Land Tenure and Property Rights Massive Open Online Course (MOOC).  ERC finalized new modules and launched the MOOC over the quarter.

Finally, under Task 5, during the quarter ERC’s support for the core operations of the National Land Observatory of Burkina Faso (ONF) ended, though the ONF subcontract to implement the Mobile Application to Secure Tenure (MAST) pilot project was extended for two additional months.  The highlight of MAST was completion of the validation period for the land rights mapped under the pilot, and the award of the first land certificates at a public ceremony on February 27.  For Pilot 3, ERC launched field activities for the Responsible Land Based Investment pilot project in Mozambique.

Much of ERC’s work during this quarter of Year 3 focused on preparing research and communications materials which were presented at the 2016 Annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty (WBC). This included developing and finalizing four papers, supporting three master classes, staffing the main USAID booth and supporting the USAID MAST booth at the Innovation Fair. In addition, ERC began data collection for the Ethiopia Land Administration to Nurture Development project (LAND) IE in the Afar region. A webinar on Land Rights and Technology was held in February with over 300 in-person and on-line participants. Other efforts focused on continuing support to ERC’s two pilot projects: the Mobile Application to Secure Tenure (MAST) project in Tanzania and the National Land Observatory (NLO) in Burkina Faso. During this quarter ERC supported E3/Land as it issued a Call for Expressions of Interest (EOI) to engage in the co-creation of Public-Private Partnerships to support Responsible Land-Based Investments.

Through these, and other activities, ERC helps E3/Land to achieve the goals identified as important for this Task Order:

• Supporting continued thought leadership;
• Creating new public goods related to the evidence base for land tenure and resource governance programming;
• Expanding and improving communications efforts;
• Expanding training using new platforms and approaches; and
• Scaling pilot activities.

Under Task 1, ERC worked to incorporate comments from external reviewers and completed revisions to the Ethiopia Strengthening Land Tenure and Administration Program (ELTAP) / Ethiopia Land Administration Program (ELAP) IE Endline Report. A final, ready-for-public-consumption version of the report will be submitted early in the next quarter. Endline dataset packages were submitted for DDL clearance and public posting and a 2-page briefer was produced. Task 1 activities will come to a close next quarter.

Under Task 2, ERC made significant progress on baseline report drafting and on developing data packages for DDL clearance and public posting. ERC submitted the Community-based Forest Management Program (CFP) IE Baseline Report and dataset package for review. The Community Land Protection Program (CLPP) Baseline Report was also submitted for review. The LAND/Oromia IE Baseline Report and data package for public posting were finalized. ERC made good progress on finalizing the Property Rights and Artisanal Diamond Development II (PRADD) IE Baseline Report and data package for public posting; these will be submitted in early Year 4. DDL metadata submissions were prepared for LAND/Oromia and LAND/Afar. In addition, the LAND/Afar IE baseline data collection was successfully launched. Finally, ERC presented four research papers during the 2016 WBC, in addition to developing two Master Classes on IEs.

Under Task 3, ERC efforts focused on three events: the Land Rights and Technology event/webinar which was held in February; the USAID Environment Officers’ Conference in February, and the WBC in March. ERC also began the process of updating the USAID Land Tenure Portal (www.usaidlandtenure.net); continued with updates to 10 country profiles; finalized a new Issue Brief on Energy Infrastructure, and engaged in a social media campaign for International Women’s Day.

Under Task 4, ERC’s training activities focused on evaluating the results of the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on LTPR that concluded on January 2 and on supporting E3/Land’s participation in the 2016 WBC.

Finally, during this quarter, ERC continue to support E3/Land’s two on-going pilot projects:  MAST in Tanzania and the NLO. ERC staff traveled to Tanzania to review progress in pilot village 2 (Itagutwa), to support the kick-off meeting of the new Land Tenure Assistance activity (LTA) and to supervise communications efforts that captured photographs and video from Itagutwa. Outreach and training in pilot village 3 (Kitawaya) was also started.

ERC staff and USAID staff both visited the NLO during this quarter. These visits enabled the teams to review NLO accomplishments and progress to date; identify program and technical needs; provide technical training on database management and analysis; identify activities for implementation under the Land Transparency Initiative, and review options to use mobile technology solutions in the country. The NLO also published the fourth edition of its newsletter, Zoom sur le frontier.

Finally, ERC provided support to E3/Land as it released a Call for Expression of Interest (EOI) for a Public-Private Partnership to support Responsible Land-Based Investment. Responses were collected and materials prepared for Contracting Officer (CO) approval of the proposed approach.

Activities this quarter focused on analyzing and presenting the growing body of data that the ERC project is collecting, refining messages and improving the communications products that the LTRM Office uses to highlight its diverse work.  ERC also continued to emphasize collaboration and communication across the STARR partner network.

Under Task 1, ERC worked with the LTRM Office and with USAID/Ethiopia to launch endline data collection for the Ethiopia Land Administration Program (ELAP) and Ethiopia Strengthening Land Tenure and Administration Program (ELTAP).  We trained a local data collection firm and developed a set of survey instruments that effectively align with the original baseline instruments. We supplemented module material to the endline instruments in order to gather additional information about the impacts of second-level land certification in Ethiopia.

Our research, under Task 2 culminated in presenting four papers for the 2015 Annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty (hereafter World Bank Land Conference) in collaboration with the LTRM Office.  These four papers covered work conducted in Liberia, Ethiopia, and Zambia. We also contributed to the development of a survey paper that looked across projects to identify and discuss issues of interest. During this quarter survey instruments for the Community Forest Project in Zambia were finalized and data collectors were trained.  In addition, we began research for two additional IEs: Ethiopia Land Administration to Nurture Development project (LAND) in the Afar region and Tenure and Global Climate Change project (TGCC) in Burma.

This quarter, activities under Task 3 focused on refining messaging related to what the LTRM Office does and communicating that message in a more targeted manner for increased impact. We also assisted with efforts to improve Office branding.  ERC supported two events this quarter:  a webinar on Land Tenure and Disasters and the World Bank Land Conference. To highlight the LTRM Office’s work at the latter event ERC produced a series of new products that included: a short animated video, an infographic, a photo gallery, a brochure for the Mobile Application to Strengthen Tenure (MAST) project, an informational postcard, and materials for two master classes on IE. We also began planning to make the growing body of materials associated with LTRM Office IEs accessible to researchers, students and others around the world through a data hub on the Portal.

Under Task 4, ERC continued to film modules for a new Massive Open Online Course on Land Tenure and Property Rights. ERC also continued to support the land tenure Community of Practice (which discussed the USAID programming in Rwanda). We developed a concept note for an Evidence Summit to share results of research on USAID-funded land programs in Ethiopia and supported the LTRM Office at the World Bank Land Conference.

Activities under Task 5 continue to move forward. The MAST project field tested technology in Pilot Village #1, began the process of building legal awareness of land rights, provided training to local leaders, and collaborated with evaluation firm Management Systems International (MSI) to prepare for the performance and IE of this pilot activity. This project continues to generate interest from the Government of Tanzania (GoT) and may help the Government achieve ambitious goals related to mapping and registering rural land rights under its Big Results Now program.

The second pilot project, the Land Governance Partnership in Burkina Faso, presents a number of challenges.  ERC consultants and staff continue to provide remote support to the National Land Observatory (NLO) staff. During this quarter, the NLO completed recruitment of its staff.  Most significantly, the NLO convened a workshop with key NLO stakeholders to define its’ five-year work plan.