Can lessons be learnt from improving tenure security in informal settlements?

Abstract

The implementation of `Western¿ land administration systems (the classical approach) often failed in Sub-Saharan Africa for several reasons. And when (partly) successful, it did not benefit the poor. Recently more attention is given to the inclusion of customary and informal tenure in land administration. This is referred to as the innovative approach, which should be able to protect informal rights in a land administration programme.
Recent land policy reforms in Sub-Saharan Africa implemented innovative tools in order to,
amongst others, improve tenure security for the poor. In addition, in many cases bottom-up
initiatives to improve tenure security have been undertaken. Tools are for example occupancy licenses, customary leases, certificates, etc. In this way a continuum of land tenure rights, as e.g. presented by UN-Habitat (2004a), can be distinguished and recorded. The continuum is redesigned as a continuum of tenure to analyse the relationships between the existing tenure situation in an area in combination with the applied methods of tenure regularization.
Examples of improvements on tenure security in informal settlements in Ghana, Namibia and Tanzania are described, based on literature study. They are analysed in the continuum of tenure and rated for the actual outcome of the improvement (which can even be negative). A similar method has already been applied to assess the innovative tools for improvement of tenure security in the rural areas of Mozambique, Uganda and Zambia (Van Asperen & Zevenbergen, 2006).
The effectiveness of the different approaches is further discussed; lessons can be learned from these approaches. In addition, trends are observed which should be taken into account for future research and policy development.