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Registration of private interests in land in a community lands policy setting : An exploratory study in Meru district, Tanzania

Biddulph, Robin and Hillbom, Ellen LU (2020) In Land Use Policy 99.
Abstract

Current Tanzanian land law offers registration of private interests in land in the form of Certificates of Customary Rights of Occupancy (CCROs) within a broader community lands approach. We conducted qualitative research on the issuance of CCROs along a mountain slope transect in Meru district in northeast Tanzania. This area features intensified smallholder agriculture that evolutionary theory suggests is well adapted for registration of private interests in land. It also features strong customary authorities of the sort that legal pluralism theory suggests may lead to property relations that are not singular and evolving but multiple and co-existing. We found that tenure was highly individualized and local demand for CCROs was... (More)

Current Tanzanian land law offers registration of private interests in land in the form of Certificates of Customary Rights of Occupancy (CCROs) within a broader community lands approach. We conducted qualitative research on the issuance of CCROs along a mountain slope transect in Meru district in northeast Tanzania. This area features intensified smallholder agriculture that evolutionary theory suggests is well adapted for registration of private interests in land. It also features strong customary authorities of the sort that legal pluralism theory suggests may lead to property relations that are not singular and evolving but multiple and co-existing. We found that tenure was highly individualized and local demand for CCROs was expressed in a context of both agricultural intensification and nascent urbanisation. Nevertheless, due to high cost and coordination constraints, this demand did not deliver widespread registration. While CCROs were perceived as useful to resolve land conflicts and put up as collateral for loans, they were not essential as a variety of alternative approaches were in place. In this forum shopping, plurality was not in itself a problem and individuals increasingly chose quasi-formal paper authorisations over customary rituals. Based on our findings, we recommend that land administration systems more explicitly build on existing quasi-formal practice, and that community lands approaches include a diversity of national programmes tailored to different local community circumstances.

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type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Community lands, Customary title, Evolutionary theory, Islands of intensification, Land registration, Legal pluralism, Tanzania
in
Land Use Policy
volume
99
article number
104830
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:85086591537
ISSN
0264-8377
DOI
10.1016/j.landusepol.2020.104830
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
c6d975c9-cdb8-4111-9c08-90236fad6a93
date added to LUP
2020-06-26 09:23:16
date last changed
2022-04-18 23:04:48
@article{c6d975c9-cdb8-4111-9c08-90236fad6a93,
  abstract     = {{<p>Current Tanzanian land law offers registration of private interests in land in the form of Certificates of Customary Rights of Occupancy (CCROs) within a broader community lands approach. We conducted qualitative research on the issuance of CCROs along a mountain slope transect in Meru district in northeast Tanzania. This area features intensified smallholder agriculture that evolutionary theory suggests is well adapted for registration of private interests in land. It also features strong customary authorities of the sort that legal pluralism theory suggests may lead to property relations that are not singular and evolving but multiple and co-existing. We found that tenure was highly individualized and local demand for CCROs was expressed in a context of both agricultural intensification and nascent urbanisation. Nevertheless, due to high cost and coordination constraints, this demand did not deliver widespread registration. While CCROs were perceived as useful to resolve land conflicts and put up as collateral for loans, they were not essential as a variety of alternative approaches were in place. In this forum shopping, plurality was not in itself a problem and individuals increasingly chose quasi-formal paper authorisations over customary rituals. Based on our findings, we recommend that land administration systems more explicitly build on existing quasi-formal practice, and that community lands approaches include a diversity of national programmes tailored to different local community circumstances.</p>}},
  author       = {{Biddulph, Robin and Hillbom, Ellen}},
  issn         = {{0264-8377}},
  keywords     = {{Community lands; Customary title; Evolutionary theory; Islands of intensification; Land registration; Legal pluralism; Tanzania}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Land Use Policy}},
  title        = {{Registration of private interests in land in a community lands policy setting : An exploratory study in Meru district, Tanzania}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2020.104830}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.landusepol.2020.104830}},
  volume       = {{99}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}