Annual WB Conference on Land and Poverty, Washington DC, 03/25/14 André Teyssier, World Bank, AFTA2 Zo Ravelomanantsoa, National Land Tenure Program, Madagascar The World Bank

0,7% Titled parcels in 115 years 3% Certified parcels in 4 years 80% identified parcels 23% certified parcels in 1 year Compared to the 677 land titles issued in a century, these five Communes now have 26,500 certified land parcels, and 23,000 out of them were issued during the 7- month pilot operation. This represents 25% of all certificates issued in 500 communes in 7 years in the entire country

Operational constraints Many procedural mistakes – Needs for a rigourous quality control Mayors are overwhelmed by tons of land certificates to be approved Legal constraints Land transactions cannot be registered at the Commune level. Key issue. If no system is set up to register any subsequent land transactions, efforts to certify land rights will quickly go to waste. Some land statutes from the colonial era deprive Communes of the ability to certify a huge number of parcels Capacities constraints Communal land tenure officers were trained by projects. Many of them left. The average level of education among the current officers is low.

Why did 52% of households not seize the opportunity to certify their land? The cost of the certificate is to be taken in account but this may not be the only factor. Other reasons: various perceptions of insecurity of tenure, lack of confidence in the certificate to protect land rights 24% of households also expressed the fear of greater exposure to taxes But experience has shown that land management systems are not sustainable unless they include a tax dimension

The new challenge of a decentralized land management is now moving from an on demand to a systematic approach for equity and efficiency purposes. Systematic survey of land goes against farmers tactic to declare only one plot. Hence, we cannot expect that all land registration will be conducted at the initiative and financing of households themselves. This is a public investment for a more lucrative taxation system and for a comprehensive land rights registration. This updated land governance model is to be considered as a public good.

Scaling up the pilot needs a land institution restructuring WB, EU, AFD will soon support land tenure programs based on these pilot operations. But a nationwide land certification program requires key prerequisites Enacting legal adjustments that will allow Communes for registering land transactions Implementing national training capacities Determining the operational modes for support to communes for land tenure: New land institutions in charge of training, supporting and monitoring the communal land offices? Delegation of public service to private operators? Such deep changes need political will and nation-wide debate for a shared vision. The World Bank will contribute to the efforts of the donor community to support the newly elected Government with analytical works and a Land Policy Note.

Thank you!