Land titling is a form of

land reform Land reform (also known as agrarian reform) involves the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership, land use, and land transfers. The reforms may be initiated by governments, by interested groups, or by revolution. Lan ...

in which private individuals and families are given formal

property rights The right to property, or the right to own property (cf. ownership), is often classified as a human right for natural persons regarding their Possession (law), possessions. A general recognition of a right to private property is found more rarely ...

for land which they have previously occupied informally or used on the basis of customary land tenure. Proponents argue that providing formal titles increases security of

land tenure In Common law#History, common law systems, land tenure, from the French verb "" means "to hold", is the legal regime in which land "owned" by an individual is possessed by someone else who is said to "hold" the land, based on an agreement betw ...

, supports development of markets in land, and allows better access to credit (using land titles as collateral). Peruvian economist

Hernando de Soto Polar Hernando de Soto Polar (commonly known Hernando de Soto ; born June 2, 1941) is a Peruvian economist known for his work on the informal economy and on the importance of business and property rights. His work on the developing world has earned h ...

is the most well-known advocate of the approach, but it has a long history. Recently, "inspired by these ideas, and fostered by international development agencies, land titling programs have been launched throughout developing and transition economies as part of poverty alleviation efforts."Sebastian Galiani and Ernesto Schargrodsky (2010), "Property rights for the poor: Effects of land titling", ''Journal of Public Economics'', Volume 94, Issues 9-10, October 2010, Pages 700-729 The goals of poverty alleviation and urban management, however, can lead to conflicts in the design of land titling programs. According to the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

, in "Why Secure Land Rights Matter" (2017): Research in China by

Landesa Landesa Rural Development Institute is a nonprofit organization that works with governments and local organizations to obtain legal Land law, land rights for poor families. Since 1967, Landesa has helped more than 180 million poor families in 5 ...

and others has found that more than 40% of farmers lack written documentation to confirm their land rights, and that local governments can frequently take away or sell off their land rights. Where policy reforms have been implemented, the organizations report, farmers invest in and benefit from their land, and they estimate that secure land rights represent the equivalent of $1.2 trillion in farmers' hands. UN Habitat launched a "Global Campaign for Secure Tenure". Evidence on the effectiveness of land titling for

poverty reduction Poverty reduction, poverty relief, or poverty alleviation is a set of measures, both economic and humanitarian, that are intended to permanently lift people out of poverty. Measures, like those promoted by Henry George in his economics classi ...

and

economic development In economics, economic development (or economic and social development) is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and object ...

is mixed, with the key issue being the impact of titling on the security of

, which varies. Particularly where customary land is involved, the introduction of formal

land registration Land registration is any of various systems by which matters concerning ownership, Possession (law), possession, or other rights in Real estate, land are formally recorded (usually with a government agency or department) to provide evidence of ti ...

may have unpredictable effects, with the efficiency and marketisation of existing forms of land tenure underestimated, and the costs of formal registration underestimated and the security of formal land title overestimated. In many countries, recipients of formal title have later found that their titles did not give them the expected security in the face of market or state requirements to obtain their land. Some studies have found positive outcomes, albeit less strong than expected; one recent study on land titling in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

found that "entitling the poor increases their investment both in the houses and in the

human capital Human capital or human assets is a concept used by economists to designate personal attributes considered useful in the production process. It encompasses employee knowledge, skills, know-how, good health, and education. Human capital has a subs ...

of their children." The way in which land titling is carried out may raise gender issues. While titling was expected to promote long term investments and ensure the transfer of land from less efficient to more efficient users, studies assessing the impact of tenure reform in Africa often found few significant effects of privatisation on production and, in some cases, even negative effects (Bruce and Migot Adholla 1994). The impacts of privatisation of pastoral rangelands on production have been particularly contentious (Rutten 1992, Peters 1994, Pinckney and Kimuyu 1994, Archambault 2007) Joint titling successes happen, though most have not been complete successes, even when significant reforms have taken place. Despite Tanzanian legislation providing women the right to land and implementing default joint-titling, there has been little work on the ground to ensure this is implemented. In India, even with political support for joint-titling policy, institutional backing from local land authority's is needed to make progress. As each reform is important for establishing joint-titling regimes, they are worth considering independently, even if they ultimately failed Matthew Collin, 2013, Joint-titling of land and housing - Examples, causes and consequences, ECONOMIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR PROFESSIONAL EVIDENCE AND APPLIED KNOWLEDGE SERVICES, https://partnerplatform.org/file2.axd/1ad5a995-3b36-42a1-ac2e-e0962a24927c/EPS%20PEAKS%20helpdesk%20response%20-%20Joint%20titling.pdf

References

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External links

"Global Campaign for Secure Tenure"
UN Habitat Land reform Privatization