TOWARDS A HARMONISED SET OF LAND INDICATORS: Preliminary Action Plan

1. TOWARDS A HARMONISED SET OF LAND INDICATORS:  Preliminary Action Plan Julian Quan, Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich, UK UNECA, Addis Ababa 3rd May 2007 (adapted from a presentation at the World Bank, November 2006) Commissioned by the World Bank in consultation with the Millennium Challenge Corporation

2. Summary and objectives Review existing use of indicators by international agencies Common land policy principles and issues for measurement Derivation of a shortlist of potential indicators Data collection issues Outline Action Plan and next steps

3. Existing efforts to measure conditions and progress at country level World Bank Doing Business Survey Collection of factual information on access to land, tenure and land administration procedures covering urban commercial property only; publishes key indicators, but collects wider supportive data set; intended to inform and spur policy change IFAD Expert assessment of land access for poor and vulnerable, tenure security, functioning of markets, and common property management, covering rural land; used as part of IFAD’s Performance Based Allocation System Plus - under development UN Habitat Household survey and expert assessment tenure security for urban residential property, oriented towards monitoring progress towards MDG 7 target 11; piloted on a limited basis USAID / Inter American Alliance for Real Property Rights Blueprint: Framework of standards and indicators for assessment of property rights, land markets and land administration systems in the Americas; data not currently collected ILC / CAPRi – developing indicators on secure access to CPRs

4. Main land policy principles and themes in international development Land tenure security Land access and distribution Efficient and accessible land markets Facilitating business investment Effective land administration systems Land governance

5. Land tenure security Land rights are embedded in a diversity of socially sanctioned rules and institutions Levels of security provided by different forms of tenure: content, duration, transferability, exclusivity and enforceability of rights Legal protection for customary / informal rights / occupation in good faith Availability and extent of registered and documented rights Incidence of land disputes / conflict and availability of mechanisms for resolution Security of rights to Common Property Resources Rights of specific groups: women, indigenous and minority groups Occurrence of evictions without due legal process and arbitrary loss of land rights Perceptions of security

6. Land access and distribution Equity, productivity and economic growth; inter-group inequalities and social justice, Levels of landlessness and inequality in land distribution Legal provisions, programmes and mechanisms for specific groups Time, costs and steps to register land rights; urban / rural dwellers / investors Access to natural resources and CPRs; Frameworks for negotiation and management

7. Land markets Means of land access and distribution but also of concentration and loss of land rights Transferability of property and use rights; development of and restrictions on rental and sales markets; Accessibility of markets to the poor Use of land as collateral / development of mortgage markets Availability of clear, flexible and secure forms of contract, with protection for both parties Effectiveness of procedures for registering transactions: costs and time to register transactions

8. Land and business investment Issues of enterprise start up, access to capital, incentives to invest, inward and foreign investment Availability of land and security of rights to business investors Access, transaction and registration procedures: costs, time, steps, transparency (WB DBS),

9. Land administration Equity, accessibility, efficiency and enforceability Time and costs for registration and regularisation Proportion of land holdings registered Up to date / completeness / inclusiveness of registry and cadastre Difficulties, incompatibilities, delays within the system Rent-seeking and corruption Capacity issues, locations, density

10. Land Governance Use of land for political influence; privileged access for the elite Accessibility and effectiveness of land administration system accessible to all users and tenure categories? Efficiency, effectiveness, bias, corruption and rent seeking and accountability in land administration Management of public land Governance of the Commons Extent of land disputes and mechanisms for resolution Transparent and public land policy processes

11. Inter-related policy goals: towards a simple set of indicators Treat secure land access for business investors as part of tenure security for all Land markets are a means of land access so treat indicators of effective land markets as indicators of access Gender, vulnerable and minority groups covered under security and access, though also relevant to governance Indicators of effective land administration systems relate to access, security and most importantly, governance

12. Three simple categories for land policy indicators Tenure security Land access Governance of land resources

13. What is to be measured? Adequacy of land policy – in supporting economic development and poverty reduction Institutional performance – land administration and other institutions for delivery Outcomes and contextual situation for land and property rights (and development impacts)

14. Suggested Framework

15. Criteria for workable indicators Match with common policy goals Feasibility, ease and cost of data collection Actionability Comparability Intelligibility / resonance (for policy makers / users

16. Types of data and collection methods 1. Factual Data: Objective information that can be obtained from a single source; needs to be cross-checked and verified Requires research and routine data collection / reporting Limited in scope 2. Expert Assessment: Subjective scoring by experts along various criteria Must be designed so that different experts would report similar scores – clear guidelines and choice of questions Necessary because some aspects of land issues cannot be directly quantified 3. Statistical data: respondent surveys: Most direct and accurate way to measure outcomes and contexts, especially perceptions, experiences Add to existing household surveys or censuses, or mount new exercises; costly to implement and replicate

17. Tenure security indicators Does the legal framework provide for formally registered property rights available to all without discrimination? (USAID / IARPR) What proportion of households hold secure rights that are registered and secure ? (based on HABITAT and USAID Does the most commonly available form of tenure guarantee [a minimum standard of] secure rights? 4. Proportion of female headed households with documented land rights Incidence of evictions without due legal process / compensation (UN Habitat) Proportion of indigenous groups / other specific groups with collective land claims holding land title Are there clear and equitable arrangements for secure tenure and negotiating access rights for CPRs ? (IFAD) How far are CPRs identified in the cadastre and subject to secure and negotiated tenure and management arrangements?

18. Indicators for access to land 8. Are there specific programmes to remedy problems of landlessness and inequitable land access for poor and vulnerable groups, adequate for the types and levels of landlessness (IFAD) 9. Costs, time and steps to register property (WB DBS; USAID / IARPR) 10. Are rental and / or sales markets accessible to all? (IFAD) (and are there policy restrictions on the free operation of land markets)

19. Indicators of land governance 12. Accessibility of land of administration system to all 13. Are there adequate safeguards against corruption and rent seeking in land administration systems? 14. Is public / government land managed effectively in the public interest? 15. Proportion of land claims subject to unresolved disputes 16. Is there an open public process of public debate to improve the effectiveness of land policy within the wider governance framework?

20. How will a harmonised set of land indicators be used? Current absence of a common action programme: who compiles information? Who acts on it? Diverse objectives: fund allocation / qualification, link to MDGs, business development and focus on CPRs Focus on indicators may help to promote joint action Adapting existing systems while preserving their integrity and objectives Use of harmonized indicators at regional and country levels?

21. Building on existing data collection Some of the relevant data is already collected Some new data collection required for aspects of issues not falling under IFAD’s or DBS existing mandates, some aspects that factual data cannot capture Need to develop guidelines for expert assessment processes to generate comparable and resonant indicators based as far as possible on objective data and rigorous assessment systems More questions could be added to Doing Business Survey, which could also be extended to include a similar effort in rural areas IFAD’s existing process could potentially be formalized so that an expanded expert assessment could produce more rigorous and comparable information for a harmonized system Explore options to generate relevant data with other players: UN Habitat, USAID, ILC / CAPRi Requires long term improvements in quality of LIS / land agency data reporting plus effective use of household surveys

22. Outline of an action plan: next steps Validate short list of indicators / clarify data collection issues and options Technical engagement with stakeholders’ existing systems – identify options for development and coordination Develop and propose guidelines for assessment systems and improved routine data collection and reporting Discuss and consider regional and rural –urban contextual scope

23. Medium term action plan Process to develop shared ownership Institutional arrangements for coordination, data sharing and compilation, moderation of country assessments Complementary data collection and research: developing the system over time; strengthening empirical measurement systems; time series data; longitudinal research, tracking changes and outcomes Links with country and regional processes e.g. AU / ECA translation into programmes of actions

24. A common programme of work to support development of the land indicator framework Development of common reporting standards for land administration systems Development of existing global and regional demographic survey instruments to support the indicator framework Research and monitoring of access and security for the Commons and protection and protection and management of customary rights Research and monitoring of secure urban land and housing tenure for the poor Regional programmes to strengthen land policy and land administration (e.g. AU / UNECA for Africa, UNECE in Eastern Europe and work initiated through the IAARPR / USAID in Latin America)

25. Developing a reliable expert analysis and reporting system Requires a well designed expert survey / reporting instrument, plus management of and support to expert assessment processes on a country basis. This should: be piloted to establish and improve its reliability and cost effectiveness have links with regional / sub-regional agencies interested in strengthening good practice and reporting standards on land at country level make use of existing assessment systems and data sets where these exist at country level

26. Piloting development of the indicator framework for Africa Opportunity of the AU / ECA / AfDB land policy framework Importance of governance issues in land administration and management of public land and land conflicts; the role of land in economic development /transformation including through agriculture; need for broad based land policy processes based on public debate and consultation Assess how national /regional / UN supported data collection and statistical systems could contribute Need to develop an expert assessment system: potential to open, expand and add rigour to the IFAD system Incorporation of land policy in NEPAD African Peer Review Programme