1. Property Rights Recommendations
Secure landtenure and property rights are fundamental toa wide range of
development issues:housing, livelihoods, humanrights, poverty reduction,
women empourment, economic prosperity andsustainable urbanand rural
development.
From my long experience inlandtenure andproperty rights issuesinTunisia
and from especially many other developing countries (throughmy
participations inmany international training sessions andthroughmy
personal researchliterature), I may conclude that toreach good land tenure
and property rights security, Governments are advisedto:
- invest inEducation-Training-Extensionlocally andinternationally
(Technology Transfer) tohave local managers, specialists, experts whohave
acquiredtop professional experience inleadershipandmanagement of
government programs and projects which deal withIntegratedRural/urban
Development including clarificationandformalizationof land tenure, access
to land tenure security for private andpublic investments at local, national
and international level andtopprofessional experiencewithinternational
institutions, organizations, developmentbanks ...specializedinlandtenure
issues.
- strengthen participatory approach.
- Enhance Government Participationinregional social andeconomic
development throughlandtenure formalizationfor agricultural land, urban
land and releasedlandtorealize dams, roads and highways Including
governmental institutionsandforeigndevelopment aidorganization.
- Enhance participationof Land Management Committees inthe
establishment of acontinuum land tenure legislationleading toland,
housing and natural resource (pastures, forests) rights security leading to
the issuance of legal land certificates, landtitles, goodrural land lease

2. legislation, delimitationof villages territories, issuance of dwelling
certificates...
- give responsibility tolandtechnicians andland committees, social and
organizational groups inland formalizationand land conflict resolutionto
formulate and monitor regional appropriate development programs /
projects.
- maintainan ongoing transparent dialogue withlandusers by:
* helping citizens overcomelandtenure difficultiesthey might encounter.
* welcoming citizens toreceive their landrequestsandinvestigatesuch
requests, in collaborationwiththe departments concerned, tofind
appropriate solutions.
* Respondto citizens'landrequests andInformthem about the
procedures andformalities for their landrequests directly, by mail or by
phone.
- DesignandDraft consolidate scalable LandLegislationtextstofacilitate
land tenure clearance andformalizationof all kinds of land tenure involving
all concernedstakeholders.
- Plan, execute andmonitor land property rights work programs in
agreement withthe authoritiesandthe electedlandmanagement
committees.
* Monitor and evaluate, throughconcernedhighlevel national ministries,
the work of local and regional committees incharge of land formalization
(lists of presumedlandowners including men, women, male and female
youth, families or groups; respectivelandparcel plans and all the
observations andrecommendations raisedby the local land committees,
progress report activities, meeting reports of the authorities, land
technicians, electedlandcommittees andcivil society) for Transparency and
good governance.
* Courageously make quick final decisions in Establishmentandprovisionof
final appropriate different types of property certificates/titles tothe
beneficiariesfor social andeconomic security measures:legal recognitionof

3. individual land and villages limits, accesstocredit andstate encouragement
to the agricultural sector, using secure investment incentives.
* Participate Efficiently inregional economic and social development
Projects by formalizationof Rural Agricultural Land, urban land and released
land (for the projects of dams, roads, highways...) including government
institutionsandforeigndevelopment assistance (Formalizationof landrights
is a prerequisite for economic development).
* Developa strategy of mobilizationandparticipationof the populations
enabling integrate community developmentinrural projects by the
contributionof non-governmental organizations whichmay contribute to
specific operations (womenempowerment, jobs creation…).
* Set up, before starting any development project, landaccess Security,
guaranteedby clear unifiedlandlegislation(ownershipTitles/deeds and
plans, legal and paralegal land conflicts resolution), for rural/urban
households tohave sustainable livelihoods. (social security, access tocredit,
investment, transfer of rights throughthe sale, grant of a lease or a loan, gift
or inheritance;settlement of landconflicts....).
- Finish, throughprojects /specific programs, rural/urbanLand
Formalizationandcomplete the issuance of legal appropriate property
certificates/titles tofarmers’ landand housing before finishing landtitling
which is time and cost consuming and difficult toupdate.
- Encourage (evenPush) land tenure holders of land documents toinvest, so
to achieve better livelihoods.
- Participate withconcernedstakeholders inprogramming and monitoring
the work of compulsory and voluntary land registrationafter being
formalized(continuum).
- Apply the land reformlaw on agricultural irrigatedland(public irrigated
perimeters) andon dry agricultural land(consolidation...).
- Have an update On-fieldinventory, monitoredandimplementedof
National State rural/urbanLands for an eventual ongoing National

4. Restructuring aimedtoimprove land tenure andproperty rights security,
private investmentincentivesfor foodsecurity, jobs creation… andhuman
welfare livelihoodingeneral onstate landproperties by:
* regularizationof former illegal state landoccupants following landassets
by taking social surveys on a case by case basis.
* Insertionof agricultural young men/women rural farmers and technicians
coming from agricultural universitiesonappropriate state agricultural plots.
* Offering larger plots tocivil companies ready toinvest instate land
properties using transparent tender specifications notebooks.
* Participating inthe operations of the regularizationof the situationof
existing villages, villagesextensions andnew developments (housing,
industrial, touristic, administrative zones) providing better access tohealthy
infrastructure (potablewater, electricity, sanitationservices, employment ...)
* Preparing and following up the leases/salesoperationsof state land
properties.
* Following the recovery of state landproperties rents/sales amounts for
state budget.
* Implementing procedures for revocationandretrocessionof state land
properties for defaulters.
- Be aware that:
*1) Unless properly managed, landacquisitionand resettlement
operations, neededtostart any development project execution, may result in
long-termhardshipand impoverishment for affectedpersonsand
communities, as well as environmental damage and social stress.
* All measures of expropriation, populationdisplacement andequipment
of relocationsites, exchange of lands and land consolidationshouldbe
conductedon the basis of a participatory approachand should be the subject
of official publications.

5. * land Expropriationshouldbe carefully managedto achieve outcomes
that are consistent withbest international practice.
*2) Legal Instruments applicable tolandtenure property rights must
provide women withequitable access tolandownership, eventhoughsocial
constraints may continue tolimit this.
*3) Overcome or reduce land fragmentationand land parceling by
applying smoothly, withthe participationof all stakeholders andinvolved
civil society, the landreformlaws on agricultural irrigatedland(public
irrigatedperimeters) andon dry agricultural land(consolidation...).
In fact, in Tunisia, current policy thrust togeneralizeindividual ownership
is exacerbating the landfragmentationand land parceling problem.
The combinationof land fragmentationand land parceling (small farm size
and big number of plots per owner) poses a severe handicapinattempts to
upgrade productiontechnologies andirrigationoperations inarational and
efficient way.
So, let’s rise the challenge:Government’s Successfulmanagement of access
to and use of land is a key conditiontoestablishsustainable Global
Development.
Bechir Khelifi, Land Tenure and Property RightsSpecialist, Tunisia.
*** Contact information*** :
Email : bechir_khlifi@yahoo.fr
Tel: +216 98 44 67 86 / +216 21 23 75 23
Mailing Address: 7, rue Tozeur Medina Jadida3, Medina Jadida, Benarous;
TUNISIA.