WASHINGTON, March 28, 2018—The World Bank today approved a $50 million credit from the International Development Association* to help the Government of Côte d’Ivoire build the capacity and institutions needed to support the implementation of a national rural land tenure security program.
The newly approved Land Policy Improvement and Implementation Project (LPIIP) will contribute to strengthening the rural land institutions responsible for implementing land policy and establishing a viable land information system and geodetic network. The project will also help develop and test a simplified, low-cost, and participatory systematic registration process that recognizes customary land rights and will help introduce innovative practices to safeguard the rights of all land holders, including women. Finally, it will support degree-granting programs (Master’s degree and technical diplomas) and vocational training on rural land tenure in order to develop the human resources needed to scale up customary land registration across the country.
“Land registration is currently scattered across multiple institutions, and land certification procedures are currently complicated, costly, and outdated. We are pleased to support the government’s implementation of a streamlined national rural land tenure security program through the new rural land agency to help accelerate the rural land registration process and ensure that the beneficiaries fully enjoy their rights,” notes Pierre Laporte, World Bank Country Director for Côte d’Ivoire.
The new LPIIP will help land holders obtain certificates and formalize land use agreements that legally recognize and secure their customary land rights. To facilitate participatory and inclusive land registration at the local level, village land tenure committees will be established or strengthened to ensure that the interests of all social groups are represented. Furthermore, rural land parcels will be systematically registered to ensure that any changes in land rights – for example, due to inheritance – can be easily updated in the land registry.
The LPIIP incorporates several innovative activities to strengthen and secure women’s land rights and will collect gender-disaggregated results indicators to show the project’s contribution to securing women’s land rights. A rigorous evaluation of the impact of land registration on social cohesion and female empowerment is also under preparation with support from the World Bank’s Africa Gender Innovation Lab.
* The World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), established in 1960, helps the world’s poorest countries by providing grants and low to zero-interest loans for projects and programs that boost economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve poor people’s lives. IDA is one of the largest sources of assistance for the world’s 75 poorest countries, 39 of which are in Africa. Resources from IDA bring positive change to the 1.5 billion people who live in IDA countries. Since 1960, IDA has supported development work in 113 countries. Annual commitments have averaged about $18 billion over the last three years, with about 54 percent going to Africa.
