Fit for Purpose Land Administration: Country Implementation Strategy for Addressing Uganda’s Land Tenure Security Problems

Abstract

The Republic of Uganda is one of the five countries within the East African region. Uganda’s efforts to increase land productivity are hampered by land tenure insecurity related problems. For more than ten years, Fit for Purpose Land Administration (FFPLA) pilot projects have been implemented in various parts of the country. Uganda is now in advanced stages of developing a country strategy for implementing a fit for purpose approach to land administration, to define the interventions, time and cost required to transform the existing formal (western type) land administration system into an administration system that is based on FFPLA principles. This paper reviews three case studies to investigate how lessons learnt from pilot projects informed a FFPLA country implementation strategy. The review is based on data collected during the development of the FFPLA strategy, in which the authors directly participated. The data collection methods included document review, field visits and interviews with purposively selected respondents from the pilot sites and institutions that had piloted FFPLA in Uganda. The study identified that pilot projects are beneficial in highlighting specific gaps in spatial, legal and institutional frameworks, that have potential to constrain FFPLA implementation. Pilot projects provided specific data for informed planning, programing and costing key interventions in the FFPLA country implementation strategy. The lessons learnt from the pilot projects, informed the various steps and issues considered while developing the national strategy for implementing a FFPLA approach in Uganda. On the other hand, the study identified that uncoordinated pilot projects are potential sources of inconsistencies in data and products, which may be cumbersome to harmonize at a national level. In order to implement a fit for purpose approach for land administration at a national level, it is necessary to consolidate the lessons leant from pilots into a unified country implementation strategy.

Fit-for-Purpose Land Administration and the Framework for Effective Land Administration: Synthesis of Contemporary Experiences

“…The approach strives to achieve a flexible, inclusive, participatory, affordable, reliable, attainable, and upgradeable land administration system through the key principles of the fundamental framework. Several studies agree with the benefits of the FFPLA for ensuring tenure security in a short period and at a reasonable cost [10,42].…”

“…4.1.2. Assessing Suitability of the FFPLA Spatial, Legal, and Institutional Frameworks Musinguzi et al [42] investigated three FFPLA pilot programs in different parts of Uganda and highlighted spatial, legal, and institutional framework gaps for transforming the present Western-style land management system into an efficient FFPLA. The study identified promising practices from the pilot implementations.…”

“…The study advised that the medium and lowscoring spatial, legal, and institutional frameworks be addressed appropriately to achieve the ambitious plan in a fit-for-purpose manner. Musinguzi et al [42] also conducted a similar study in Uganda to identify the spatial, legal, and institutional framework gaps to transform the existing system to the FFPLA approach.…”

Fit-for-Purpose Land Administration—Providing Secure Land Rights at Scale

“…Musinguzi et al [30] explore, in great depth, the process of developing a national strategy for providing secure land rights at scale in Uganda, covering 23 million land parcels. They describe the current tenure types in Uganda and examine three representative pilot projects, in order to identify how lessons learned from these case studies informed a FFPLA implementation strategy in terms of building the spatial, legal and institutional frameworks.…”

Sustainable Development Goals and Land Tenure Security in Uganda

“…This is because such areas usually have abundant land which may seem to policy makers as redundant and thus more likely to be sources of land give away to investors. [58] noted that land based investments are attracted to areas of low population density, low educated leaders and land availability. A study by [36] find that Nakasongola and Nwoya had more land access and comparatively lower percentages of educated adults.…”