Presented at the Country Learning Exchange held during the 7th GLTN Partners meeting 2018 in Nairobi, Kenya.

1. Developing Land Policy and Fit For Purpose Land
Administration Strategy in Nepal
Ministry of Agriculture, Land Management and Cooperatives
In collaboration with
Community Self Reliance Centre (CSRC)
UN-Habitat, Country office Nepal
UN-Habitat, Land and GLTN Unit Nairobi

2. Country Context
• Mountainous Country in the Himalayas
• 28 Million population; nearly equal number of land
parcels
• 2/3rd population engaged in agriculture; contribution to
GDP 1/3rd
• About 45% of rural Households landless or near landless
owning less than 0.5 ha
• No official record of landless and informal tenure holders
• Constitution of Nepal (2015)
• Federal Democratic Republic
• Mega Earthquake of 2015
• Nearly 900, 000 houses fully or partially destroyed
• Some 500 Villages feared vulnerable for relocation
• “Build Back Better” approach for housing reconstruction
and rehabilitation

3. Key Challenges
• Implementing land reform and pro-
poor and gender responsive provisions
of Constitution of Nepal 2015
• Restructuring land administration and
management authority as distributed
into Federal Structure (Federation,
Provincial and Local)
• Security of tenure for informal settlers
• Land management and rehabilitation
of earthquake victims within the “Build
Back Better” Framework

4. Key Interventions Objectives Results
Study of all existing land
tenure typologies
Develop land policy for a
good land governance
Fit for Purpose Land
Administration Country
Engagement Strategy
Identify key issues related
to exiting land tenures and
their security concerns
Design land policy to
protect land ownership and
secured tenure, use,
management, property
rights and administration,
and administrative
structures.
Design a Strategy to
implement the land policy
in the Country context
Research Report
(English and Nepali)
Revised Land Policy
document
(Nepali and English)
FFPLA Country level
Engagement
Strategy document
(English and Nepali)

5. Key Processes

6. Key Findings
Land Tenure Typology
Formal
Raikar
Guthi
Encroachment
Non Formal Informal
Government
Registered
Tenancy
Public (Sarbajanik)
Gaun Block Sukubasi Basti
Chhut Napi
Swobashi
Customary
Ailanai
Abyabasthit
Basobas
etc
etc

7. Continuum of Land Tenure
Encroachment
Unauthorized Possession
(Socially and Legally
unaccepted)
Formal
(Registered Title)
Non Formal
(Socially and legally
accepted but no Title)
Informal
(Socially accepted)
Customary
(Socially accepted
but delegalized)

8. Key Outcome 1/3
Land Policy
Security of Tenure and land
Ownership, Protection of Land
Rights
Land Valuation, Taxation and
formalize land market
Optimum Use and
Management of Land
Equitable Access to land
Good Land Governance
Gender
Responsive
Pro-poor
Environment
Balance
Food Security
Infrastructure
Development
Safe Human
Settlement

9. Key Outcome 2/ 3
Adopting FFPLA Service Delivery at Survey Office Dolakha
• Existing system and services
• Commercial GIS platform incur Heavy SW licensing cost (USD xK X
several hundred licenses)
• Services: Parcel splitting, Map printing, Field Book/ Plot Register copy,
Survey and database creation
• FFPLA interventions: Customized STDM in Open Source QGIS
platform
• Cheap: No SW licensing cost
• Fast: Imported 468,000 Parcels from ArcGIS Shp files into STDM in 12
days
• Good: Parcels splitting, Map printing, Field Book/ Plot Register copy,
Survey and database creation services delivered with no less quality
• Necessary equipment, manuals and training support provided

10. Key Outcome 3/3
• FFPLA Country Engagement Strategy with Legal,
Institutional and Spatial Framework to implement Land
Policy provisions in the federal set-up post Constitution
(2015) defined
• Participatory Enumeration of Formal and Informal tenures
piloted
• Customized STDM tool developed
• Capacity Development (Training, Workshop, Seminar,
Symposium)
• National dialogue platform on land issues activated

11. Lessons Learnt
• Stakeholder Needs, Government priority and UNDAF
as a common framework helps in effective
collaboration
• Defined Objectives, process and stakeholders in the
project helps in the success
• Persuasive and Multi stakeholder engagement and
partnership with Experts, Civil Society, Academia,
UN, CSO, Academia, NGO/ INGOs brings synergy

12. Conclusion
• Land Policy document based on multi-stakeholders
consultations; and within the Constitutional
provisions and VGGT principles prepared (awaiting
Government approval)
• FFPLA Strategy to implement Land Policy in the
country context developed
• Foundation for pro-poor Gender-responsive and
Good Land Governance opened
• More challenges and opportunities for the future

13. धन्यवाद!
Thank you!