Scaling up pro-poor land recordation: Findings and consequences of three peri-urban cases from sub-Saharan Africa

Scaling up promotion of land rights and improved access to land for the poor, women and other vulnerable groups has been at the core of the global land community’s agenda. The pro-poor land recordation tool (PPLRT) offers an alternative approach to both conventional and emergent responsible land tools, which can be implemented on its own and in combination with other tools. It has recently been tested for various types of rural contexts. This article further develops the PPLRT based on literature review on peri-urban challenges and three documented peri-urban cases in sub-Saharan African cities. It recommends refinement of three design elements, especially related to peri-urban characteristics of rapid changes in landholdership, land fragmentation and asymmetry of actors in conflict resolution. Further research needs to include other continents, contexts with land appropriation, and attend to topics of local weighting of evidence, impacts of pro-poor land recordation, and contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals and the New Urban Agenda.