Secure land and property rights for all are essential to reducing poverty because they underpin economic development and social inclusion. Secure land tenure and property rights enable people in urban and rural areas to invest in improved homes and livelihoods. Although many countries have completely restructured their legal and regulatory framework related to land and they have tried to harmonize modern statutory law with customary ones, millions of people around the world still have insecure land tenure and property rights.
This report addresses and assesses the issue of tenure security in several countries where government, civil society, the private sector and development cooperation initiatives have been implemented for decades. The selected case studies from fifteen (15) countries (Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Uganda, Zambia, Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, The Philippines, Thailand, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Guatemala) ensure not only ageographic balance but they also represent countries with different socio-economic and land-related histories and that have followed different pathways. The studies’ key findings underline the still precariousstate of tenure security in many countries.