Zambia: Private sector investment in security of land tenure. From piloting using technology to National rollout

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Context and background

 Zambia has grappled with implementing the land titling from 2017 when it started the piloting of the National Land Titling Programme through the seventh National Development Plan (2017-2021). The implementation started in 2017 with a small pilot project conducted in Lusaka City in areas called Madido and Kamwala. In 2018, the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources (MLNR) signed an MoU with Medici Land Governance (MLG) to conduct another larger pilot to collect landownership information for 50,000 land parcels in Lusaka City using modern technology, such as use of drone imagery and artificial intelligence for identification of property boundaries, use of tablets and apps to collect ownership information from landowner, automation of production of survey diagrams and general plans of areas.

Goal and Objectives:

The objective of this paper is to address the issues around the use of private financing to secure tenure rights in urban areas and the issues around cultural beliefs among some communities in Lusaka, and the problems around customary land boundaries and expansions of towns affecting the cultural settings in the fringes of urban areas.

Methodology:

The MLNR, in partnership Medici Land Governance is working towards enabling the systematic titling of former farms or converted/replanned areas in order to update the existing cadastre and land information system. These are large farms in urban areas that have been replanned and even developed but landowners were still waiting for titles or former government or parastatal land that were sold.

This paper reports on the progress made thus far, the challenges and opportunities to carry out a successful systematic land titling programme. The paper also tackles issues around challenges with traditional land boundaries versus state land. The paper recommends the need to carry out comprehensive reforms around the whole land administration system. This includes developing a unified land registry with devolved authority to local authorities, improving the land administration system with linked and integrated key registers such as the National Registration Information System being developed, the Registration of Companies and Societies, and linking to more electronic payment platforms. The paper concludes that private sector participation in the land sector needs support using results-based approaches of financing by multilateral partners as envisaged in the Global Partnership for Results-Based Approaches.