Providing secure land rights at scale: experiences, innovations and lessons learned on implementing fit-for-purpose solutions

Land administration systems provide a country with an infrastructure for the implementation of land policies and land management strategies in support of sustainable development. In many developed countries, these systems are well developed and they provide a kind of backbone in society in support of efficient land markets and effective land-use management. However, in most developing countries, up to 90 per cent of the land and people are outside the formal systems that serve mainly the elite.
The majority of these people outside the system are the poor and the most vulnerable. This lack of secure tenure creates significant instabilities and inequalities in society and severely limits citizens’ ability to participate in social and economic development. It also undermines better land use and environmental stewardship and deters responsible private investment due to the associated land risk.
Attempts to introduce conventional (western style) land administration solutions to close the security of tenure gap have lacked success. New innovative solutions are required to build affordable, pro-poor, scalable and sustainable systems to identify the way all land is occupied and used. The Fit-For-Purpose (FFP) approach to land administration has emerged as an opportunity for developing countries in this regard. It offers a viable, practical solution to quickly and affordably provide security of tenure for all and to enable control of the use of all land.
This paper provides an insight collated from 26 articles provided for a Special Issue of the Land Journal focused on FFP Land Administration (FFPLA). One group of the articles discusses conceptual, legal and institutional issues for building FFPLA systems that provide secure tenure for all using an attainable, affordable, participatory and flexible approach. The other group of the articles focuses on case studies from about 20 countries throughout the world, providing evidence and lessons learned from the FFP implementation process. The paper ends up by presenting some key trends and recommendations for designing, implementing and maintaining FFP solutions at scale.