Women and vulnerable groups across Africa face persistent barriers to securing legal land titles due to cultural norms, high costs, limited credit access, and unclear land-administration processes. Without formal rights, they are less able to invest in climate-resilient agriculture or participate in economic development. Medici Land addresses these challenges through systematic land titling programs that integrate technology, community engagement, and gender-inclusive practices. MLG trains female data collectors, conducts participatory verification, and works closely with governments to ensure transparent, multi-step adjudication and approval. Results in Zambia show significant gains in women’s land ownership, with female or joint ownership rising from 22% to 58% in some districts. Remaining barriers particularly the inability to pay title fees still prevent many from securing final rights. Addressing this gap would unlock economic opportunities, expand financial inclusion, and strengthen climate resilience across Africa.

The inheritance is the first cause of co-ownership in Morocco. The needs to exploit land and to have financial incomes pushes to claim separation between co-owners. Faced with this situation, ending co-ownership remains the solution to resolving disputes arising from inheritance. The Judicial resolution is chosen by co-owners to end this situation. This study aims to analyse how the share solution and distribution method resulting from judicial resolution process of inheritance land disputes in registered land, allows co-owners to meet their economic needs and overcome legal and social constraints in the Gharb region of Morocco. The methodological approach consists on a documentary analysis, data collection and analysis of 114 cases of inheritance land disputes during the period 2023-2024 and the collection of expert opinions. The judicial resolution much with economic needs of financial income in 96% and in 12 % of cases the legal restrictions limited the fragmentation of land.

In Ethiopia we assume 50 million land parcels are existed in the high land part of the country of which above 32 million of them have registered and certified with cadastral maps in Second-level Land Certification (SLLC). The National Rural Land Information system (NRLAIS) is one of the largest governance focused information system and the largest LIS in Ethiopia.(lunched in January 2018) the focus is on support administration of rural land holdings through digital record keeping and computerized process of land holding related transactions. From 32 million certified parcels already managed to have about 31 million land records in the cadastral data base from 1000 districts in the country we able to roll out the system in to 516 Districts due to shortage of resources. The study shows the importance of land transaction using second level land certification on economic empowerment and livelihood improvement in the rural land holders particularly women.

Women in Senegal constitute 70% of the agricultural labor force yet own less than 7% of farmland, a disparity that heightens their vulnerability to the impacts of climate change. Using administrative data from 2010–2023, satellite imagery (Landsat 8 and Sentinel-2), and field evidence from 89 participants across Fatick, Tambacounda, and Matam, this study quantifies how institutional and ecological factors interact to constrain women’s land rights. Results show that over 72% of land allocations still occur under customary systems, with only 18% formally documented for women. Spatial analysis reveals that 64% of women’s plots lie in degraded or saline zones, where vegetation cover declined by 23% over the past decade. Conversely, regions with gender-inclusive land commissions record 28% higher documentation rates and 22% fewer disputes. The findings underscore that gender-responsive governance and climate-informed land-use planning are critical to Senegal’s National Land Policy (2026–2035).

The Nexus Pilot Project in Ethiopia’s Lake Chamo watershed examined how legal recognition of communal land tenure can support forest landscape restoration and strengthen local governance. Implemented between 2020 and 2023, the pilot certified more than 1,500 hectares of communal forest across five kebeles and established legally registered forest user cooperatives to manage these areas. Using a retrospective case study approach, the analysis draws on project documentation, participatory mapping, legal records, and field observations. Results show reduced encroachment, early signs of vegetation recovery, and improved cooperation between communities and local administrations. The findings align with global evidence on the links between tenure security, environmental stewardship, and procedural justice. The case demonstrates how participatory communal land titling can operationalize national land laws, reinforce local governance, and contribute to broader agendas of equity, climate resilience, and reparative land policy. It provides a practical, scalable model for communal tenure reform in African contexts.

The relationship between Investor State Dispute Settlement (“ISDS”) and the indigenous peoples’ land rights has been turning abstruse over the years, raising critical questions about the adequacy of ISDS mechanisms in safeguarding those rights. Foreign investment projects, often pursued in the name of development, have frequently been reported to infringe upon indigenous peoples’ land rights and other fundamental freedoms. The paper examines the extent to which the decisions of ISDS tribunals impact indigenous peoples’ land rights in Asian and Africa countries, critically questioning whether and how the perspectives of indigenous peoples are incorporated into the resolution of international investment disputes. The research methodology applied is a combination of doctrinal and qualitative methodologies to analyse the existing texts and legal instruments on international investment disputes in Asia and Africa and explore the real-world examples on various relevant ISDS decisions made in Asian and African countries.

One key rationale for implementing public works programs (PWPs) is that the assets they create can yield lasting benefits, yet evidence on such “asset channel” effects remain limited. This paper examines how assets generated through Malawi’s Climate-Smart Enhanced Public Works Program (CS-PWP), implemented by the government with World Bank support, strengthen household resilience to climate shocks such as droughts and floods. Using a case study approach, the analysis combines primary qualitative data collected in 2024 with site visits and quantitative asset quality assessments. Findings show that well-designed CS-PWPs create durable, community-maintained assets that enhance households’ ability to cope with and adapt to climate risks. Land-based assets in particular provide multiple benefits at both household and community levels, while forest-based interventions show promise for delivering similar long-term gains, though additional research is needed to confirm their sustained impacts. Strengthening design and implementation through participatory planning is critical to program effectiveness.

On-farm conservation of agrobiodiversity paves way for natural evolution and adaptation which produces novel genes for breeding hardy varieties and new traits for improved farm resilience under climate change. By evaluating climate change perception and determinants of perception of 280 smallholder farmers cultivating paddy landraces in the climate vulnerable district of Palghar in India, the present study reveals the effect of collective response to climate change and land governance by farmers on agrobiodiversity conservation, agricultural resilience, food and livelihood security, and poverty mitigation. Further, it shows the role of strong social networks and local institutions in raising climate awareness, shaping climate change perception and influencing adaptation. Given the heterogeneity of climate effects, farming systems and farmer experiences, policies for agrobiodiversity conservation and climate resilience should factor in regional differences, local land governance systems and institutions, be aligned with farmers’ perception of climate change, and thus be informed by field-based evidence.

This study evaluates the Rural Cadastre (CTR) in Brazil from the perspective of the FELA Strategic Pathways, focusing on overcoming challenges to effective land administration. Although Brazil has a legal framework and robust but isolated systems, significant gaps persist. A modernization project led by INCRA applies LADM, Fit-For-Purpose principles, and the SDGs, resulting in an advanced prototype. However, FELA adoption remains limited due to weak coordination, low interoperability, and institutional fragmentation. FELA, adopted by UN-GGIM in 2020, provides leadership, standards, and nine strategic pathways. The study analyzes how implementing the CTR can strengthen FELA by integrating formal and informal rights and simplifying processes. It also examines organizational barriers and proposes evaluating the CTR’s impact on governance, policy, data, interoperability, engagement, and financial sustainability within the FELA framework, advancing the transition from technical achievements to strategic effectiveness.

Money laundering and the financing of terrorism are two of the most serious threats to the credibility, stability and security of the world’s financial markets. With an ever more interlinked world, financial crimes can be cross-border and travel quickly, using legal gaps, lax regulation and tenebrous business structures. Consequently, preventing money laundering and its associated crimes has increasingly become an international problem necessitating coordinated effort among governments, financial institutions, supervisory bodies, and non-financial actors. Among these actors, property and land registries play a critical yet sometimes underestimated role in detecting and preventing illicit activities linked to real estate transactions. Countries such as Spain has a strong regulation on money laundering policies. It is important to highlight the role that the “Colegio de Registradores” play in terms of prevention, helping judicial authorities to fight against money laundering through “CRAB” (Anti-money laundering registry center).

Ethiopia has implemented one of Africa’s largest digital land administration systems through the National Rural Land Administration Information System (NRLAIS), now it operational in over 500 woredas with over 32 million registered parcels and over 10 million landholders. This study examines how Ethiopia achieved national-scale deployment using a Fit-for-Purpose approach, LADM-compliant data structures, and open-source technologies within a decentralized governance framework. The analysis draws on administrative data, spatial datasets, synchronization logs, and system performance indicators to assess impacts on service delivery, data quality, and institutional coordination. Findings show that NRLAIS significantly improves transparency, reduces transaction time, strengthens data integrity, and expands inclusion through offline-first tools. The Ethiopian experience demonstrates that large-scale digital land systems can be successfully implemented in resource-constrained settings and provides globally relevant lessons for building sustainable, scalable, and interoperable land information systems.

Typically measured as housing cost over income. Many factors influence housing affordability, but without doubt the limited supply determines the high sale and rental prices. The lack of availability of housing in the market arises not only from its material scarcity, but also from the use of existing housing for purposes other than meeting the need for permanent housing or a home. This is the case of housing , being used or exploited for tourism purposes. This paper will set out how Spain, through the Property and Moveable Assets Register, controls the use of dwellings intended for short-term rentals, assigning them a registration number ,once the Registrar has verified that they meet the legal requirements, without which they cannot be marketed on the platforms dedicated to this purpose.

This paper examines whether land rights formalization enhances the effectiveness of reforestation programs. Specifically, we ask whether securing a land certificate (i) improves tree growth on reforested plots and (ii) affects associated socioeconomic outcomes. We study the Programme de Lutte Anti-Érosive (PLAE), a smallholder forest restoration initiative implemented in northern and northwestern Madagascar between 2014 and 2019. Using primary household survey data combined with geospatial data, we employ a quasi-experimental strategy that leverages variation in the presence of overlapping historical colonial and post-colonial land titles, which continue to impede land formalization today. We find that successful land certification significantly increases tree growth, both in self-reported and remotely sensed data. Certification also increases reported tree theft but has no detectable effect on perceived overall tenure security, charcoal-related income, or broader welfare outcomes. These findings highlight both the potential and the limitations of land rights formalization in weak institutional and market environments.

Using a Mundlak-Chamberlain control function approach to address selection bias, this study examines how land rental market participation by tenant households in Nigeria affects crop commercialization. In addition, a seemingly unrelated regression model also was used to estimate impacts on household income sources and composition. Results show younger household heads are more likely to rent-in land, enhancing youth access. Land renting increases marketed output, promoting smallholder commercialization by reallocating land to efficient users. Households with farms over 2 ha boost output by US$46. Welfare outcomes include higher farm and crop incomes but reduced livestock and wage earnings, as resources shift toward crop production. Findings underscore land rental markets' role in agricultural transformation, resource allocation, and income strategies. Policies should facilitate land transfers from unproductive to efficient farmers and offer affordable financing to enhance commercialization and household welfare.

Secure land tenure supports efficient farmland markets, yet how formalization shapes market outcomes remains understudied. This study holds that land certification reduces legal risks and transaction costs, driving farmland rental changes. China’s certification strengthens property rights, making risk‑averse tenants more willing to rent and enabling landlords to charge a risk premium, boosting both rental activity and prices. Using 2008–2017 household panel data and a staggered difference-in-differences approach, we find certification increases rental area by 2.5% and rents by 5.9%. Mediation analysis identifies fewer land disputes as the key channel. Effects are larger for risk-averse households and less developed markets, highlighting uneven benefits and the need for context-specific land policies.

This project sought to re-engineer Zimbabwe’s Cadastral Survey Examination System through strategic digitalization. It focused on developing a prototype web-based platform to replace the slow, paper-based process currently hindered by inefficiencies, inaccuracies, and limited integration with modern technologies. Institutional bureaucracy and rigid legal frameworks further delay evaluation of cadastral records, making digital transformation essential. The prototype introduces a centralized system that automates key procedures such as survey lodgement, examination, status tracking, and secure data management. Integrated GIS tools enable real-time spatial visualization and analysis, while automation minimizes errors and significantly improves processing timelines. Designed collaboratively with land surveyors and the Department of the Surveyor General, the system aligns with user needs and legal requirements. Features such as real-time dashboards, automated notifications, digital signatures, and analytical tools including boundary encroachment detection enhance accuracy, transparency, and accountability. This project demonstrates how digital innovation can modernize land governance and support sustainable development.

The paper will highlight advancements in geomatics education in Ethiopia through two academic partnership projects, aimed at fostering sustainable development and addressing the country’s critical shortage of skilled land administration professionals. Funded by the Austrian Development Cooperation, these initiatives have established academic programs at Debre Markos University, including a Bachelor’s degree in "Land Administration and Surveying" and a Master’s curriculum in "Geomatics," to equip students with technical and leadership skills. The projects emphasize gender inclusivity, promoting female participation in higher education and professional training. Despite challenges such as armed conflict in the Amhara region, innovative solutions like online lectures ensured project continuity. Customized training programs, feasibility studies on UAVs potential for land-related data acquisition, and gender equality in land rights further support Ethiopia’s socio-economic progress. The outcomes provide a replicable model for other nations and contribute to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Rapid urbanisation presents a massive challenge to functioning economies and societies in the Global South. The provision of basic living standards is compromised and the issues should be front and centre of sustainable development. Building attractive local communities would go some way to countering the pull and push factors towards the cities. One means of achieving some positive results in this regard is by adding surveying into the pool of resources and strengthening the offering through the consideration and application of surveying practice. Examples are given of how through the widening and deepening the Surveyor’s input into the development initiatives it can be possible to combat the effects of rapid urbanisation. Community based approaches such as the Rapid Planning Toolkit also yields results. Further strategic use such as available technologies and green leases demonstrate other approaches.

Land is becoming more tenuous than ever as the population is growing rapidly. Both Malawi and Tanzania are countries that are experiencing rapid urbanization, with pressure on land and infrastructure in urban and peri-urban areas including border areas. The land parcels in the cross-border areas are rendering it difficult to be properly adjudicated and demarcated as land falls into two different land tenure systems and there is no legal framework on how such land should be registered to ensure tenure security. The study used both desk research and field research to investigate the best practices of the demarcation and adjudication of land parcel boundaries in border areas. The study reveals that the law is silent on registration of such land. The study also unveiled that others do not know where their land parcel is situated. The study developed a framework that can be used to register such land parcels.

This work presents how the adoption of the Land Administration Domain Model (LADM) can contribute to advancing Brazil’s Rural Cadastre. A prototype was developed to explore practical applications of the model, focusing on improving data organization, consistency, and interoperability among institutions. The initiative also examined how standardized information structures can facilitate integration with geospatial databases and support more efficient cadastral processes. The results demonstrate that LADM provides a solid conceptual basis to harmonize records, support territorial management, and enhance transparency. The prototype reveals potential benefits for updating procedures, improving data quality, and enabling new services that rely on reliable, well-structured cadastral information.

This research work is concerned with a) increasing our knowledge and understanding of the benefits, and b) developing supporting evidence and arguments for achieving the sustainable financing of land administration. Previous work (WB conference 2024,2025, ALPC 2025) has identified financing of land administration investments and operations as a core constraint in the initial establishment and sustainable operation of land administration systems, especially in developing countries. The work also identified the lack of a conceptual framework that explicitly includes the financial aspects of land governance reform, and the need to consider both supply and demand of land administration services and their role in developing financially sustainable solutions and promoting well-functioning land markets. The work includes a review of literature and current status, problem definition, development of conceptual framework, experience mapping and identification of benefits and arguments to support the reform process, with a final policy brief output for policy makers

Rwanda has established a globally recognized, efficient Land Administration System (LAS), marking a victory in the “battle for efficiency” (Ali, Deininger, & Goldstein, 2014). This paper interrogates whether this technocratic success translates into equitable, inclusive growth. Our analysis, synthesised with comparative evidence, identifies three remediable barriers: prohibitive transaction costs that exclude the poor, as seen in Tanzania where a $13 fee was the primary constraint for 81% of non-payers (Tanzania Demand Study, 2023); a deepening digital divide; and legal awareness gaps that leave women economically invisible. Evidence from Nigeria shows that technological inclusion does not automatically yield equitable benefits (Daudu, 2023). We argue for a pivot to “inclusive efficiency,” proposing a policy framework of pro-poor financial mechanisms, legal empowerment, digital inclusion, and gender-intelligent design to ensure land reform becomes a true catalyst for resilient and shared prosperity.

Land governance in sub-Saharan Africa faces persistent challenges, including limited transparency, fragmented data, and land-use conflicts. This study examines how digital technologies and youth engagement can enhance the inclusivity and effectiveness of land governance systems. Using a mixed-methods approach combining a systematic literature review (35 studies following ROSES criteria) and secondary data analysis, the research highlights key regional trends. Findings show uneven progress in cadastral digitization, with countries such as South Africa, Senegal, Ghana, and Benin performing relatively well, while others lag behind. Community land registration remains a major weakness across all cases. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) emerge as the most widely used tools, alongside participatory mapping, drones, and digital platforms. These technologies improve data accuracy, transparency, and youth participation. However, most studies remain exploratory, limiting evidence on real impacts. This research contributes empirical insights into how digital tools can strengthen inclusive land governance in Africa.

Singapore’s transformation from a struggling port city to a global metropolis is rooted in its strategic approach to land governance, tightly aligning spatial planning with economic development. Through coordinated policies, robust institutions, and innovative land management tools, Singapore maximized its limited land to support industrialization, job creation, and sustained growth. Key strategies included the development of integrated industrial estates, cluster-based innovation districts, and catalytic infrastructure such as Changi Airport. State-led land ownership and flexible leasehold systems enabled rapid adaptation to evolving economic needs, while regional cooperation with Johor expanded opportunities beyond national borders. Singapore’s experience demonstrates how deliberate land use planning, institutional synergy, and infrastructure investment can drive economic transformation and employment, offering valuable lessons for cities worldwide.

This paper analyzes urban planning and land-use control systems in 11 cities across six countries, using a unified research framework. Case studies reveal that all cities examined require reforms, though the specifics vary by location. In some several case studies, current systems are overly complex, costly, and misaligned with financial and technical capacities. The paper discusses and recommends a series of policy actions from comprehensive overhaul, decentralization and simplification, aligning with market needs and emphasizing capacity building. It also suggests that a streamlined version of Japan’s system could serve as a model for other countries. The paper concludes by proposing steps toward more effective and equitable urban planning governance systems.

This study investigates the enduring effects of work-from-home (WFH) trends on urban structure and property prices in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Region, utilizing novel data sources, combining high-resolution cell phone mobility data with property listings to track changes in work patterns and their impact on the urban structure (2019 to 2023).The analysis reveals a significant flattening of the rent-distance gradient, elasticity decreasing 40 percent due to changes in WFH patterns. Once we include this determinant in the estimations, the role of distance in explaining the variations in rents (adjusted for house characteristics) is significantly diminished. We discuss the implications of these changes in land use and prices for tax policy in local governments.

Participatory and Inclusive Land Readjustment initiatives (PILaR) address social diversity in Egypt.

This study examines intricate issues and novel solutions related to land administration, land tenure security, and urban development in Banha City, Egypt. It emphasises the value of land readjustment as a resource in informal urban settlements and the relationship between governance deficiencies and socioeconomic inequalities. This study assesses land management in Egypt during political turmoil, investigates participatory urban development options, and analyses Egypt's complex governance structures. The study was a partnership between the United Nations Humanitarian Organization (UN-Habitat) and the General Organization of Physical Planning (GOPP) at the Ministry of Housing in late 2013. The study investigates the prospective implementation of Participatory and Inclusive Land Readjustment (PILaR) as a means to address deficiencies in the existing Egyptian planning policy. The study indicates that the accessibility of affordable land in Egyptian cities will impact socio-spatial sustainability transformations.

This paper examines the process of acquiring agricultural concessions in the Democratic Republic of Congo and highlights the limitations of the current legal framework. While the procedure formally respects legal and customary requirements, most concessionaires stop at the provisional occupation contract, which is easier to obtain than the definitive one. The latter demands actual land development, which is rarely pursued. As a result, provisional contracts often exceed their legal time limits without transitioning to definitive status, leading to underutilized land. Meanwhile, land value increases, benefiting holders without promoting agricultural productivity. Although the land code provides tenure security, it fails to incentivize effective land use. This paper argues that additional policy tools and incentives are needed to ensure that concessions contribute meaningfully to agricultural development, especially in light of the ongoing land reform efforts by the Congolese government.

This article clarifies the land status of agricultural concessions of Mont-Ngafula, in Kinshasa. This area is particular given that it has a hybrid land status which is both urban and rural. This therefore entails the application of the two land tenure systems depending on whether the area concerned is urban or rural. The results of this analysis highlights that since the enactment of the 1973 Land Act, access to agricultural land in this region rarely comply with legal procedure; most land occupants rather transact with various individuals who have customary rights over lands (traditional chiefs and customary landowners) instead meeting the competent services.

Corporate exit has received far less attention than acquisition or operation in debates on responsible land-based investment. Yet as projects close, downsize, or are abandoned, the question of who (re)gains control over land and on what terms becomes a critical governance challenge. This paper frames corporate exit as an emerging frontier of land governance and introduces land return as a practice whereby companies transfer land and assets back to communities. Drawing on three recent cases in Mozambique, Tanzania, and Nicaragua involving private agribusiness and forestry companies, the paper analyses how land return was negotiated and implemented within different legal and institutional systems. The findings show that land return required governance innovation: legal interpretation, participatory processes, and facilitation that bridged gaps in law and policy. Across contexts, land return emerged as a potential mechanism for restoring rights, rebuilding legitimacy, and opening space for more accountable and inclusive forms of land governance.

This study addresses the critical challenge of accurately valuing economic trees and cash crops for compensation during land acquisition in Nigeria by reviewing and updating the 2008 National Technical Development Forum (NTDF) compensation rates. Traditional valuation methods are often inadequate, relying on outdated statutory rates that result in inconsistent and unfair compensation. This study assesses the newly developed harmonised NTDF 2024 compensation rates, formulated under the coordination of the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development with support from the World Bank and Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP). Using a multi-stage empirical methodology that incorporates extensive stakeholder engagement and a standardised data collection template across Nigerian states, the study examines key variables such as species-specific yields, production costs, and market dynamics. A price monitoring model was adapted to include macroeconomic factors (inflation and exchange rate fluctuations), to determine prices for crops and economic trees in real-time.

Large-scale land transactions (LSLTs) have expanded rapidly across developing countries. We combine two analyses to study the medium-run effects of LSLTs in Ethiopia. First, we leverage the plausibly exogenous timing of LSLT entry to estimate the effects on local economic and environmental outcomes. Second, we conduct an original survey of households in Gambela region including detailed questions on households’ interactions with LSLTs to shed light on mechanisms. We find modest effects on crop productivity at the national level with no effect on deforestation, and significant reductions in burned area. In Gambela, we also find that LSLTs reduced deforestation and increased tree cover. We observe a 13.7% increase in log wage income for every 1,000 ha of LSLT within 5–10 km. In contrast,households within 0–5 km show no significant benefits. This is consistent with modest positive equilibrium effects that at least partially offset damages to the most exposed households.