A Sociolegal Analysis of Formal Land Tenure Systems

A Sociolegal Analysis of Formal Land Tenure Systems

Author: Bernardo Ribeiro de Almeida

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2022-03-24

Total Pages: 219

ISBN-13: 1000563405

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This sociolegal study focuses on the political, legal and institutional problems and dilemmas of regulating land tenure. By studying the development of the Timorese formal land tenure system, this book engages in the larger debate about the role of state systems in addressing and aggravating social problems such as insecurity, poverty, inequality, destruction of nature, and cultural and social estrangement. Land tenure issues in Timor-Leste are complex and deeply shaped by the nation’s history. Taking an insider’s perspective based on the author’s experience in Timorese state administration, and through the investigation of five analytical themes –political environment, lawmaking, legal framework, institutional framework, and social relationships and practices– this book studies the development of the Timorese formal land tenure system from independence in 2002 to 2018. It shows how political, legal, and administrative decisions on land administration are made, what and who influences them, which problems and dilemmas emerge, and how the formal system works in practice. The result is a portrait of a young nation grappling with the enormous task of creating a land tenure system that can address the needs of its citizens in the wake of centuries of socio-political tumult and huge fluctuations in resources. The book concludes by highlighting the importance of lawmaking and how abuses of power can be curbed by adequate administrative processes and laws. Finally, it argues that land administration is primarily a political matter. The political dimension of technical solutions must be considered if we aim to achieve fairer formal land tenure systems. The pertinence of the topics covered, the multi-disciplinary perspective, and the research methodology followed make this book appealing to a variety of readers, including international organizations, practitioners, academics and students engaged in land administration, post-colonial and -conflict issues, lawmaking, rule of law, public administration and issues of access and exclusion.


Land Tenure Journal 2016/01

Land Tenure Journal 2016/01

Author: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.

Published: 2018-10-08

Total Pages: 158

ISBN-13: 9250098871

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This issue of the Land Tenure Journal includes a geographically and technically diverse range of papers covering Europe, Africa, and Asia. They cover a variety of different situations where land tenure plays a key role in improving food security and reducing poverty: from land consolidation as an alternative to compulsory land acquisition in Germany; to rural land markets and land concentration in Romania; to the impact of secured land rights on crop productivity in Pakistan; to customary land associations and sustainability issues in Papua New Guinea; to addressing land conflicts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) through a Green Negotiated Territorial Development approach.


Scrutinizing the status quo: Rural transformation and land tenure security in Nigeria

Scrutinizing the status quo: Rural transformation and land tenure security in Nigeria

Author: Ghebru, Hosaena

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2017-08-04

Total Pages: 27

ISBN-13:

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Despite growing consensus on the socio-economic benefits emanating from enhanced land tenure security, issues related to how best to measure it and what constitute universal indicators of tenure (in)security are poorly understood. As a result, issues of what drives tenure security are poorly understood and inconclusive. This study, thus, examines the drivers of perceived tenure insecurity in Nigeria using the Nigeria LSMS-Panel General Household Survey of 2012/13. The determinants of perceive tenure insecurity are assessed across two indicators: private (idiosyncratic) tenure risk and collective (covariate) tenure security risk. The analysis shows that perceived risks of private land dispute are higher for female-headed households, households with lower social/political connectedness, and for land parcels acquired via the traditional/customary system, in contrast to having been purchased. Private tenure risk/insecurity is also higher in communities with vibrant land market and for households that are located close to urban centers, while the opposite is the case in communities with relative ease of land access. On the other hand, collective tenure risk is lower in communities with improved economic status. Finally, signifying the need to account for intra-household dimensions in implementing land reform interventions, results from a more disaggregated analysis show that tenure security is relatively higher on female-managed plots of female-headed households, while the opposite is the case for female-managed plots of male-headed households.


Tenure rights and obligations

Tenure rights and obligations

Author: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.

Published: 2021-07-13

Total Pages: 54

ISBN-13: 9251345775

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This study explores the limits to rights – and the interplay of rights and obligations – in land and natural resource governance. Drawing on legal developments from diverse thematic and geographic contexts, it aims to provide conceptual foundations for legal interventions to support the implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure (VGGT). Three clarifications are in order. First, an obligation can have both moral and legal dimensions; this study is primarily concerned with legal obligations. Second, the study takes a holistic approach to natural resource governance but focuses on land and surface resources. Third, while the study engages with the text of the VGGT, it also examines selected developments in national law – including constitutional, property, and natural resource law – and international law, particularly on human rights, the environment, and foreign investment. The study does not aim to provide a comprehensive discussion of these issues. Instead, it aims to outline the issues and encourage readers’ further reflection and debate.


Cadastre: Principles and Practice

Cadastre: Principles and Practice

Author: Roger Fisher & Jennifer Whittal

Publisher: authors with the assistance of SAGI (https://www.sagi.co.za/product/cadastre-principles-and-practice/)

Published: 2020-02-25

Total Pages: 863

ISBN-13: 0620828781

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Keywords: history, surveying, land tenure, land rights, cadastre, cadastral, professionalism, law, land administration, land policy, land boundaries, river, bank, high water mark, high-water mark, estuary, ICMA, mineral rights, international law, maritime zone, marine spatial planning, diagram, general plan, lease, sectional title, case law Explaining the principles of cadastral law and interpretation in practice, this is the first publication of its kind in over 45 years. It as a comprehensive text for aspiring and practicing professional land surveyors, those in the real property business, and those involved in land administration. Written for the South African practice environment, it will also be of interest to an international audience. The authors’ approach is progressive with the intent to inspire development to meet the needs of our society for secure land tenure for all. A broad range of topics are included: historical roots of tenure in the ancient world, the early development of the cadastre in South Africa, and development of the land surveying profession and professionalism. This provides context to the discussion on land law, tenure and rights; on legal institutions, on land administration, as well as government policies and reform imperatives. Defining property boundaries of rights in space is a particular challenge of the cadastral land surveyor. The chapters on the definition of beacons and boundaries cover a broad range of onshore and offshore application environments. They span the extent of ownership and limited real rights within the sovereign area of the Republic of South Africa. These environments include the air, the land surface and subterrestrial; coastal waters, and the sea bed. Particular attention is paid to complex river and coastal property boundaries. Case law is a key driver for changes in legislation and is also highly directive in terms of practice. The final chapter of the book is dedicated to a themed exploration of case law relating to beacons, boundaries, evidence, rights and restrictions. Cadastre: Principles and Practice will be an important addition to your professional bookshelf. Order it here: https://www.sagi.co.za/product/cadastre-principles-and-practice/


Land Ownership and Land Use Development

Land Ownership and Land Use Development

Author: Erwin Hepperle

Publisher: vdf Hochschulverlag AG

Published: 2017-01-10

Total Pages: 371

ISBN-13: 3728138037

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Across Europe, land is constantly the subject of enormous and widely varied pressures. The land we have is shrinking in area due to numerous reasons, including those that are directly related to climate change and migration. In fact all disciplines that have responsibilities for the husbandry use, management, and administration of the land are forced to address the problems of how to plan and how to utilise this increasingly valuable resource. The papers contained within this book emerge from two symposia held in 2014 and 2015, which now have been arranged along four general themes reflecting the multi-disciplinary nature of the disciplines concerned with land. The first part is dedicated to the interpretation of key terms in their context and the dissimilar conceptual approaches in the governance of different states. It is followed by papers that identify the process of decision-taking: how to organize and co-operate. One large section addresses the identification of land pattern changes and the reason for it. The papers in the final cluster deal with the general theme of strategies and measures used to steer future evolution in land policies. The publication addresses various needs that have to be balanced: the tasks of living space in the face of societal and demographic changes, infrastructure supply, challenges of an increasingly urbanised region, food production, ‘green energy’, natural hazards, habitats and cultural landscapes protection.


Global Environment Outlook - GEO-6: Healthy Planet, Healthy People

Global Environment Outlook - GEO-6: Healthy Planet, Healthy People

Author: UN Environment

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2019-06-06

Total Pages: 744

ISBN-13: 1108707661

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Published to coincide with the Fourth United Nations Environmental Assembly, UN Environment's sixth Global Environment Outlook calls on decision makers to take bold and urgent action to address pressing environmental issues in order to protect the planet and human health. By bringing together hundreds of scientists, peer reviewers and collaborating institutions and partners, the GEO reports build on sound scientific knowledge to provide governments, local authorities, businesses and individual citizens with the information needed to guide societies to a truly sustainable world by 2050. GEO-6 outlines the current state of the environment, illustrates possible future environmental trends and analyses the effectiveness of policies. This flagship report shows how governments can put us on the path to a truly sustainable future - emphasising that urgent and inclusive action is needed to achieve a healthy planet with healthy people. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.


Power / Knowledge / Land

Power / Knowledge / Land

Author: Laura German

Publisher: University of Michigan Press

Published: 2022-10-10

Total Pages: 349

ISBN-13: 047205533X

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The 2008 outcry over the "global land grab" made headlines around the world, and has led to sustained interest among both academics and the international development establishment. In Power/Knowledge/Land, author Laura German profiles the consolidation of a global knowledge regime surrounding land and its governance within international development circles following the outcry over "global land grabs," and the growing enrollment of previously antagonistic actors within it. Drawing theoretical insights from ontological anthropology and decolonial theory and deploying pioneering analytical techniques inspired by the politics of knowledge, German reveals the inner mechanics of a global knowledge regime that has enabled the longstanding project of commodifying customary land to be advanced by capturing the energies of socially progressive forces. By bringing theories of change from the emergent land governance orthodoxy into dialogue with the ethnographic evidence from across the African continent and beyond, concepts masquerading as universal and self-evident truths are provincialized, and their role in commodifying customary land and entrenching colonial futurities put on display. In doing so, the volume brings wider academic debates surrounding productive forms of power into the heart of the land grab debate, while enhancing their accessibility to a wider audience. Power/Knowledge/Land takes current scholarly debates surrounding land grabs beyond their theoretical moorings in critical agrarian studies, political economy and globalization into contemporary debates surrounding the politics of knowledge--from decolonial theory to ontological anthropology, thereby enabling new dynamics of the phenomenon to be revealed. German also takes a deep look at global knowledge brokers and dynamics in international development, complementing a large body of scholarship on the political economy of land grabs and their situated agrarian dynamics. The book deploys a pioneering epistemology integrating deconstructionist tools of discourse analysis with comparative study and systematic qualitative reviews to hold dominant knowledge and truth claims surrounding theories of change in international development circles against the ethnographic evidence--from situated property relations and ontologies of land, to the impacts of land governance interventions. This helps to reveal the Western and modernist biases in the narratives that have been advanced about women, custom, and security, revealing how the coloniality of knowledge underpins political economies of land.