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Esther Lusepani Ministry of Lands - Namibia Esther.Lusepani@mlr.gov.na Washington March 2014 Slide 2 Introduction Land Reform in Namibia The Need for Communal land reform Program for Communal Land Development The need for a Local Level Participatory Planning Approach The LLPP Methodology LLPP results the Okongo example Outcomes Replication potential Slide 3 Colonial and apartheid legacy Two major policy responses Redistributive land reform Tenure reform and development of communal areas Slide 4 Legacy of colonial period System of traditional authorities instrumentalised but lacking administration Tenure insecurity, particularly for women Absence of a private sector establishment Marked lag in investments Post-independence Vacuum, establishment of CLBs undermines TA in the short run Proliferation of land use options Defensive fencing Conceptual challenge born from perception of high investment agriculture in freehold areas Slide 5 Development of 5 million ha Components Land right registration Land use planning, both at regional and local level Infrastructure development Advisory services Capacity building Slide 6 LLPP is used to tackles complexities due to: High degree of variance in terms of Agro-ecological potential Farming systems Social settings and aspirations Expectations from government Investments needs Immature regulatory framework; e.g. Group rights Being true to the local level and participation Slide 7 Principle 1: The consideration of all originally targeted PCLD areas for support via the basket fund Principle 2: The development of commercial agriculture in communal areas Principle 3: Co-financing / co-contribution is required, and leaseholds reflect level of investment Principle 4: Local residents are primary beneficiaries, and the uprooting and relocation of people is to be avoided Principle 5: An integrated implementation approach is pursued Principle 6: Advisory services will be provided Slide 8 Well structured facilitation tool for decision making process of regional, local level authorities and communities/ resident farmers All decisions are made within the public domain with a high degree of free prior informed consent Key decisions and forward actions from each meeting are recorded and culminate in a site file Broad validation of decisions made with process of published leasehold applications Slide 9 Locality of prioritized investment areas Selection of beneficiaries Land use scenarios Type of investment Defining rules of affiliation that govern access to and use of resources and infrastructure Investment and development plan Slide 10 Infrastructure development Advisory Services Slide 11 LLPP has been piloted in 3 sites Okongo (Ohangwena region) Otjetjekua (Omusati region) Ongandjera East (Omusati region) Slide 12 Slide 13 Slide 14 Slide 15 Mapping of SSCF area indicate extent of fences for farmers Grid largely ignored Most people have taken less than the 2,500 ha Most people have invited others to farm with them CLB issue notification of removal of fences; lack of congruence between TA approved and CLB approved fences Notion of removal of all fences (do not align with the grid) Meeting between TA, CLB and farmers, facilitated by MLR and LLPP team Resolutions Removal of some fences Adjustment to SSCF area Reduction of land holding if excessive Leasehold applications required Letter of consent by TA Slide 16 Slide 17 During the validation stage the following was adjusted: The western areas where there are 3 villages will form a cooperative which will also receive support There are eight additional land rights that obtained approval and one land right was contested Some of the infrastructure to be developed was shifted due to social or economical reasons Additional water distribution infrastructure was defined Some illegal fences were given notices and were removed Slide 18 Slide 19 Support to 15 individual small scale farmers Commercially oriented, total of 3200 LSU Regularized land tenure regimes (Leaseholds) PCLD is complementing private investments Rules of affiliation for shared infrastructure in place Support to about 150 households in western settlements Secure access to commonage (cooperative leasehold) Development of shared infrastructure to enhance commercial production Rules of affiliation for shared infrastructure Slide 20 LLPP provides a platform for community members, TAs, RCs, CLBs to: Streamline overlapping land uses Adjudicate blatant and latent land right issues Define their own resource management plans and land investments Determine and secure access rights, shaping rules of affiliations to selected land uses Slide 21 Approach that works because Political will, priority for GRN. It really matters at all levels (political, orginisational, local) Commitment Timeframe (overall; equally important the willingness to put foot on the brake when answers are not obvious) Funding (volume overall, but also resources put into flanking measures and soliciting expertise) Embeddedness in government structures However, the inverse probably also holds true; replicability? Slide 22