Is title registration really the panacea for defective land administration in developing countries

Most literature on land registration will pay quite some attention to the difference between deeds and title registrations. This is especially the case in Anglo-Saxon literature, where the latter type of land registration is highly praised and considered far superior. Consequently deeds registration is often held in such low esteem, that many project-proposals and papers do not really take the existence of such a system into serious consideration when trying to improve land administration practices in a developing country. Immediate introduction of title registration is usually prescribed as the overall solution to the problems. But when the problems that need to be solved are carefully considered and appropriate solutions are formulated, gradual improvement and upgrading of the present deeds registration will often stand a better change of success. Unlike the often painted black-and-white picture of title versus deeds, the classification of land registration types is multidimensional, and each option on every axis has advantages and disadvantages. An example of the very limited success of introducing title registration can be found in Ghana. After 10 years only 9000 titles have been registered, and the already cumbersome procedures for granting and conveyancing, have been extended with extra steps (often including an extra survey). Many other problems have remained unsolved.