Strategies for Expanding Coverage, Reliability, Transparency and

Sustainability of Land Administration Service Delivery –Malawi’s Experience

Ivy Luhanga, Kwame Ngwira, Devie ChilongaMinistry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development –

Malawi

Presenting Author: Davie Chilonga daviechilonga@gmail.com

Presentation Outline•Background information•Justification of the Study•Methodology•Results•Recommendations•Conclusion

Background•Malawi’s economy is primarily agricultural based and is currently heavily reliant on natural resources, bringing to focus a pivotal role of land.• The Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development(MoLHUD) is currently implementing a number of reforms in the areas of Policy, Legal, Institutional and Administrative in order to improve land administration and Management

Assessment of strategies in the land sector

A desk study was conducted late 2015 to assess land reform strategies that government has

been implementing through its lead ministry on land matters in an effort to expand the coverage, reliability, transparency and

sustainability of delivery of land services.

Justification of the study•Consolidating lessons and best practices in land sector should be an on-going process to guide review of strategies that can enhance service delivery in the land sector•The study was therefore necessary to inform the successor national development strategy to the Malawi Growth Development Strategy II with respect to land matters.•The overall objective of the study was to assess land governance strategies in order to draw lessons for future land reform programs in Malawi.• Specifically, the objective was to assess legal, institutional, financial and operational framework for implementation of land sector programs to inform national development strategy for the land sector in Malawi in the next five years.

Methodology•The study is based on a desk research which Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development (MoLHUD) carried out to review land administration strategies during the period of implementing MGDS II. •The review was carried out between June and September 2015 to inform the land sector contribution to the successor national strategy to the MGDS II.•The review involved analyzing various documents on land including progress reports, program review reports, policies, budget books, project documents and study reports on land matters. •Both qualitative and quantitative information and data was analyzed during the review.

SWOT ANALYSIS

•A SWOT analysis was undertaken to identify Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats in service delivery in the land sector.

•Below are the factors that were identified:

Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats Political will on

land matters Clear mandate

and mission Existence of

land policy and laws

Established implementing structure

Availability of human resource on job market

Platforms for linkages among stakeholders e.g. LGAF task force

Availability of manual records

Inadequate human resource (understaffing)

Outdated Land law

Inadequate equipment and physical assets

Manual system of land records management

Insufficient public awareness

Outdated national physical development plans

Inclusion of land issues in national MGDS II

Introduction of land management courses at tertiary level in local institutions

Technical and financial support from cooperating partners

High demand for land services

Political will to decentralize land administration functions

Rapid population growth Budgetary constraints Land speculation Informal system of land

management Overlaps in provision of

land services amongst various government Ministries, Departments and Agencies(MDAs)

Weak coordination, collaboration, networking and information sharing among players in land the sector

Delayed reform process due to outdated land laws

Incomplete digitization of land records

Internal and External Factors Affecting Land Reform in Malawi

Evidence based strategies

From the SWOT analysis above, the Ministry is putting in place strategies to build on the

opportunities above in an effort to improve on land governance.

Major findings of the desk study on strategies to improve delivery of land services

•The study revealed that there is a gap in terms of policies and laws. However, this is being addressed.• The study also revealed that the Ministry is implementing a number of strategies to improve on land governance.•The Study also revealed that the Ministry is implementing a number of initiatives to improve land services delivery

Key strategies for land governance in Malawi In summary, the following are key strategies as highlighted in the different government documents that have been implemented over the period under review:•Promote land ownership and title registration.•Provide physical development plans, standards, management guidelines and framework.•Decentralize land administration and management functions.•Develop a geospatial database and establish national spatial data centre.•Prepare a national spatial framework for strategic physical development planning and management.•Develop mechanism for widespread dissemination of geographic information and digital mapping services. •Review and develop legal framework for implementation of the National Land Policy.•Improve coordination among the players in the land administration and management. •Raise public awareness on land related laws, policies and procedures.•The MoLHUD has implemented the above key strategies through initiatives including the ones highlighted below:

Initiatives to implement strategies for land governance in Malawi

•Redistributing land to the land poor and the land less.•Fast tracking the process of reviewing the Land Laws. Improving stakeholder coordination through LGAF Task Force which will soon be promoted to a Sector Working Group•Embarked on designing and implementing a computerized title and deeds registration system to preserve the current manual land records through scanning and digitization•Piloted assessment of idle estate land and now its being scaled up•Embarked on capacity building program at all levels in readiness for decentralization.•Started the process for scaling up the Community Based Rural Land Development Project. •Started developing resettlement policy, urban development policy and land use policy.

Strategic areas under focus by the Ministry

•Policy and legal

•Administrative

•Capacity building

Policy and Legal•Through a consultative process, the country developed and adopted a National Land Policy in 2002. •The goal of the National Land Policy in Malawi is to ensure tenure security and equitable access to land, to facilitate the attainment of social harmony and broad based social and economic development through optimum and ecologically balanced use of land and land based resources. •The National Land Policy identifies various areas that require land reform interventions. •To translate the National Land Policy recommendations into actions, the Malawi Land Reform Program Implementation Strategy (MLRPIS) was developed.

Policy and legal (cont...)•The MLRPIS outlines the specific interventions to be implemented in the land sector to address the policy issues in order to achieve specific results within timeframes between 2003 and 2007•The MLRPIS was not fully implemented due to lack of supporting legislation for the provisions of the National Land Policy and inadequate funds• For example the current legal framework is inadequate to support decentralization process•Some activities that did not require new legal framework were implemented such as the introduction of land related courses in Universities and Colleges within the country and land redistribution where 15,142 households were resettled from land pressure country zones

Policy Selected Areas Addressed Current Status

National Land Use Policy

It will provide direction on orderly, coordinated, efficient and sustainable use and management of land and land based resources.

It is aimed at addressing limitations in sectoral coordination within the context of national spatial framework when providing infrastructure services and development programs.

It will further guide land use planning and human settlements pattern in rural areas where currently only advisory plans are provided.

Draft document being processed

National Urban Policy

It will provide a framework for addressing sustainable urbanization and urban development issues in Malawi such as rural-urban migration, rapid urban population growth, informal settlements, provision of urban infrastructure services, and sustainability of urbanizing systems.

Draft document being processed

National Resettlement Policy

It aims at providing guidance on resettlement of people affected by acquisition of land for development programs and involuntary displacement as a result of factors such as natural disasters.

It is also developed partly in response to flood disaster Malawi faced in 2015 which necessitated implementation of unplanned program to resettle people.

Draft document is ready for review by stakeholders

Purpose of the New Land Related Policies

Bill Selected Areas Addressed Land Bill This is the principal Bill that makes provision for land administration and

management in Malawi and for all matters relating to land. It provides for responsibilities of various offices in land administration in Malawi. It provides for general matters in regulating land regardless of category or class.

Such matters included categorization, classification of land, and vesting of all land in the Republic to align the Bill with the Constitution of the Republic of Malawi.

Customary Land Bill

This Bill seeks to repeal the Customary Land (Development) Act, Cap 59:01 (the Act) and the Local Land Boards Act (Cap.59:02) and replace it with new legislation on the management and regulation of customary land.

The Bill takes into account the system of titling of customary land as advocated by the National Land Policy.

This will include access to land by women and minors either as sole proprietors jointly or as tenants in common

Registered Land;8 (Amendment) Bill

This Bill seeks to amend the Registered Land Act, Cap 58:01, in order to align the Act with the Malawi National Land Policy in accordance with the recommendations of the Law Commission on the Review of the Land Related Laws.

The Bill provides for title registration throughout the country for all land categories, including customary estates.

Purpose of the New Land Related Bills

Lands Acquisitions (Amendment) Bill

This Bill seeks to amend the Lands Acquisition Act (Cap. 58:04) (the Act), in order to provide an adequate framework for the compensation of persons affected by land acquisitions.

It gives comprehensive provisions on regulation of land acquisition and compensation, including changing of the title of the Act to reflect the issue of appropriate compensation.

The amendments to the Act include measures to ensure transparency in the assessment of fair compensation by setting out clearly the factors to be taken into consideration in assessing compensation, and also appointing an independent valuer to carry out the assessment.

Physical Planning Bill

This Bill seeks to provide for all matters connected to physical planning in Malawi. The Bill makes provision for orderly and progressive development of land both in urban and rural areas.

It makes provision for the granting of permits to develop land and such other powers of control and use of land.

Land Survey Bill The purpose of this Bill is to provide for land surveys; the establishment of the Land Surveyors Registration Board; the licensing and control of land surveyors; the establishment of the Malawi Geographic Information Council; for the repeal of the Land Survey Act (Cap. 59:03).

Purpose of the New Land Related Bills ….

Malawi Housing Corporation (Amendment) Bill

This Bill seeks to repeal section 12 of the Malawi Housing Corporation Act (Cap. 32:02) and replace it with a new section.

The amendment is a result of the Law Commission’s recommendation to introduce a new regime that will regulate the administration and management of customary land under the Customary Land Act.

The new section will apply where the Corporation requires customary land for its activities.

Local Government (Amendment) Bill

This Bill proposes to amend the Local Government Act through the introduction and amendment of a number of new sections.

The proposed amendments have come about as a consequence of the proposal for the review of other land related laws. The Local Government Act is one of the Acts that has been affected by the review, in order to assess the role of Local Governments in land administration.

It introduces new sections to cater for some inadequacies that are in the current Act including those that empower Chief Executive Officers and District Commissioners to sign and certify valuation rolls and those that deals with proceedings to be followed in the Tribunal when considering objections.

Mines and Mineral (Amendment) Bill

This Bill seeks to amend some sections of the Mines and Mineral’s Act (Cap. 61:01). At present, the Act provides that an application for a reconnaissance licensee, an exclusive prospecting licensee or a mining licensee respectively should be accompanied by a plan. It is not clear whether the plan being referred to is a physical development plan for the area or a sketch plan. The amendment will make the law clear by stating that the plan being referred to is a sketch plan for the area.

Forestry (Amendment) Bill

The Bill proposes to amend some sections of the Forestry Act. It seeks to give effect of the recommendations of the Law Commission in its report on the review of land related matters.

It provides the definition of a customary land committee as defined in the Customary Land Act and the definition of local government authority as defined in the Local Government Act

It seeks to empower customary land committees in the demarcation of village forest areas.

Public Roads (Amendment) Bill

This Bill seeks to amend the Public Road Act, (Cap.69:02), in order to align the Act with the new Land Act and other land related pieces of legislation.

Resettlement Bill

It seeks to provide policy direction on resettlement activities triggered by natural disasters and other relocation activities

Progress so far

Currently, Government is processing all the Bills referred to above for them to be enacted

into laws.

Capacity to Implement Land Reform Programs

•Performance of land sector in Malawi is constrained by inadequate human capacity and financial resources. •Tertiary courses have been introduced in various colleges and Universities in Malawi to train more officers to address this challenges •The operations of MoLHUD is affected by inadequate modern equipment. Currently, through ASWA-SP World Bank funded Project, the Ministry is procuring some equipment.

Land Related administrative Reforms

•The Ministry is currently capturing data from the piece files into the computer in preparation for computerizing land records to improve delivery of land administration services. •With the advent of modern survey equipment, GIS and other land data management software, time taken to process land data and carry out field surveys has been significantly reduced.•The country is moving towards a modern mapping system by converting its system from Clark1880 co-ordinate system to World Geodetic System (WGS84).

Monitoring and Evaluation(M&E)•The MoLHUD has no comprehensive Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) System but its being developed. •Development of M&E system for the Ministry will assist to improve on reporting on the indictors in the land sector•Implementation of the provisions in the new Land Bills will require a robust M&E sytem

Recommendations• Government should speed up finalizing policies that are in draft form and develop new ones to address the existing gaps e.g. a policy on Sectional Titles.• Government should make sure that Land Bills are passed into law so that we can implement most of the recommendations that are in the National Land Policy which was adopted by Government in 2002.•MoLHUD should fast truck capturing data from piece files into the computer, development of appropriate software, acquiring equipment in order to come up with comprehensive land information management system.•Government should train staff at tertiary level in order to build capacity at district level where implementation of most of the provisions in the Land Bills will be undertaken. •Trainings should be conducted at Natural Resources College, Mzuzu University, University of Malawi (The Malawi Polytechnic and Chancellor College) and Mpemba Staff Institute

Conclusion•The desk study shows that the gaps that were identified in the MNLP are being addressed through a number of reforms in the areas of Policy, Legal, Institutional and Administrative in order to improve land administration and management in the Ministry. This will in the long run result in good governance for the land sector in Malawi

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