Project description

Title: Support for Development of the Cadastral System (Land Management)
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Country: Cambodia
Lead executing agency: Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction (MLMUPC)
Overall term: April 2002 to December 2009

Context

In respect to political stability, economic growth and social development, access to land and guaranteed conditions of possession play an important role. This applies especially to the 12 million people – 80 percent of the total population of Cambodia – who live by farming, a good third of them in absolute poverty. For all of them, documented rights of land ownership and use are of existential significance, since there are practically no alternative employment opportunities.

Objective

Households with legal claims to land are in possession of legally secured land titles.

Approach

GTZ has been active in the land sector since 1995. Since 2002, GTZ together with other donor organisations has supported the Land Management and Administration Project (LMAP), since late 2007 the Land Administration Sub-Sector Program (LA-SSP). It includes five work areas:

1. Land policy regulatory framework
2. Institution building
3. Land registration and award of title
4. Resolution of land conflicts
5. Land parcel and property assessment.

GTZ focuses fully on work areas 1, 2 and 4 and supplements contributions from Finland and Canada in work areas 3 and 5. The World Bank provides a loan for investment costs and title production costs.

Results achieved so far

The basic features of a comprehensive land policy have been worked out. Legal texts and regulations for administration and management of land have been passed.
The know-how and expertise of staff of the land ministry and of subordinate authorities have been augmented. A faculty for land administration and management has been appointed. Since 2006, about 40 graduates annually have earned their bachelor’s degree.

Out-of-court mediation mechanisms for land conflicts are in place. More than 900,000 land titles have been issued, primarily to smallholder households.

In the 14 provinces in which the project works, 33 surveyor teams were trained with 27 experts apiece who have so far surveyed and registered more than a million land parcels. This has already substantially increased the security of their land titles for more than 350,000 smallholder households.

Futher information

• Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction, Cambodia
  www.mlmupc.gov.kh