STATUS OF LAND REFORM

UNCLAS KIGALI 000463 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EB/IFD/OMA AND EB/IFD/ODF DEPT FOR AF, AF/C AND AF/EPS DEPT PASS TO USAID FOR AFR/EA, PPC, AND AFR/SD SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON ELAB PGOV EAGR RW SUBJECT: STATUS OF LAND REFORM SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. Land ownership has been a major issue of conflict throughout much of Rwanda's history, and 80 percent of current legal disputes involve land. The GOR adopted a land law in 2005, which made it the final owner of all land in Rwanda and provided for leases of up to ninety-nine years; however, many issues remain unresolved. A series of complementary laws have recently been drafted to clarify some of those issues, with the goals of resolving and preventing conflicting land claims and establishing a land system which fosters economic development and investment. Various donors, most notably UK's Department for International Development (DFID) and USAID, have been involved in the development of the land law. ¶2. As with many reforms, Rwanda's land reform will inevitably benefit some while disadvantaging others, especially as there are so many competing claims and the issues are extremely complex. Nonetheless, the current proposals are generally seen as progressive and well- considered. While the majority of farmers have plot sizes smaller than the new minimum of one hectare, provisions have been made for communal ownership. Futhermore, more specific guidelines and processes have been defined for government expropriation, in direct response to initial complaints on the 2005 land law. Finally, land valuation now includes both the land itself and the property on it. While the government's restructuring and need to clarify some issues have delayed implementation of the land law, the GOR recognizes the need for land reform and is attempting to prevent further delay so as not to hamper economic development. END SUMMARY. BACKGROUND -------------- ¶3. Land is the foundation of the national economy, as an estimated 82 percent of the population is engaged in subsistence agriculture and most of the territory of Rwanda is farmland. In Rwanda two additional factors make land a highly important and contested issue. First, Rwanda has the highest population density in Africa, creating tremendous pressure on land in a country where most of the population lives in rural areas and where agriculture remains the central economic activity. Second, Rwanda is recovering from massive population shifts caused by decades of ethnic strife and the 1994 civil war and genocide, which resulted in displaced populations and overlapping claims to land. Land remains a key point of contention and insecurity in Rwanda. ¶4. The average size of a household farming plot in Rwanda is just 0.6 hectares. A cultivation plot economically viable for a Rwandan household should be at least 0.9 hectares, according to the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). Traditionally Rwanda's small farmers divided their land between their children. Given the small size of the average plot, this customary practice is no longer sustainable. Further exacerbating the problem, the population is projected to double to 16 million by 2020. This will place further pressure on the already tiny plot sizes. 2005 LAND LAW -------------- ¶5. President Paul Kagame signed an important law outlining the use and management of land on July 14, 2005. The law stipulates that the government has sole authority to regulate ownership and use of land. According to the Minister of Lands, the 2005 Land Law aims to: (1) formally recognize land rights and support a land market; (2) resolve uncertainty over landholdings caused by the country's post- conflict situation; and (3) encourage consolidated use, increased productivity, and improved stewardship of land. ¶6. In April 2006, the Rwandan Cabinet established a Land Task Force to oversee the implementation of the Land Law. It works under the authority of the Minister of State in Charge of Land and in coordination with the DFID Land Reform Team. The existence of the Land Task Force should help improve the efficiency and communicativeness of the Ministry of Lands and Environment (MINITERE) and facilitate continued collaboration among MINITERE, DFID, and USAID. The Task Force includes a soil and land management specialist, a lawyer from the Ombudsman's Office, a former provincial agricultural officer, and a Housing Bank officer. These members have been seconded to the Task Force on a full-time basis for one year. ¶7. A series of complementary laws, further clarifying and defining the 2005 Land Law, has been drafted with the aid of USAID-funded consultants and a DFID Land Tenure Reform Team, housed within MINITERE. VALUATION -------------- ¶8. MINITERE and the new Land Task Force are revising a draft valuation law which establishes a body to oversee the market- based valuation of land and establishes a professional association of valuers. The valuation profession created by this law will also support Rwanda's growing land market. A key change is that valuations will now include the actual land itself, and not just the property on it. ¶9. The law aims to establish a mechanism to determine market prices for land and replacement value of improvements (such as buildings). MINITERE plans to finalize this draft by the end of 2006. Currently, most land valuation is based on a series of outdated improvement schedules developed a decade ago. EXPROPRIATION -------------- ¶10. An expropriation law, drafted with the assistance of USAID-funded consultants, has been approved by the Cabinet and has been submitted to Parliament. Its purpose is to define expropriation and the public interest in an attempt to regulate conditions under which the government can expropriate land. The draft law provides a thorough and participatory process for determining the value of expropriated land. Under earlier legislation, landholders were only compensated for the value of improvements to their land, but not for the value of the land itself. The current draft legislation states that landholders must be compensated for the value of the land itself in addition to improvements, and that compensation should be based on market value at the time of expropriation. ¶11. According to the new land law, the land leased to individuals must be used in a "productive" way, which is defined by the law as using the land to farm a crop in a way that protects it from soil erosion, safeguards its fertility, and ensures its protection in a sustainable way. If the land is not "productive," it can be expropriated by the state after a written warning that it a) has remained unused for three or more years, b) has been allowed to degrade, and c) has been requisitioned by the government. Francois Ngarambe, the president of the Genocide Survivors Organization, Ibuka, expressed concern over the implication of this provision on orphans who lost their parents during the genocide, but have not had the means to make their inherited land productive. However, given the importance the GOR places on supporting genocide survivors, it is highly unlikely the GOR would intentionally disadvantage genocide orphans. It is also possible, though not yet clear, that "unproductive" use may include the growing of crops that do not fit within the overall government plan devised by the Ministry of Agriculture. Senior government officials have emphasized, however, that they expect to be able to convince farmers to voluntarily shift to crops that will provide higher incomes. LAND COMMISSIONS -------------- ¶12. The Land Law calls for land commissions to be established at the "national, provincial, and district and town level." The duties, composition, and organization of these land commissions will be defined in an upcoming land commissions law. As a result of the recent local government re-districting, however, the commissions will likely be created only at the national and district levels, with the district-level commissions having contact with the sector level through possible sector land committees. These sector land committees would conduct any necessary field work or local consultations, but their decisions would be subject to the approval of the district land commissions. LAND TENURE -------------- ¶13. The GOR is drafting a land tenure law, with assistance from DFID and USAID-funded consultants, to more clearly define the land rights of citizens and investors and the tenure system. The GOR is currently defined by law as the final owner of all land in Rwanda, offering leases that "shall not be for a period of less than three years or more than ninety-nine years." The 2005 Land Law also attempts to encourage consolidation of agricultural plots to improve commercial viability. The law prohibits subdivision of a parcel of land reserved for agriculture smaller than one hectare. This provision of the law is geared towards preventing the dividing of land into unsustainably small plots, given that 82 percent of Rwandans are engaged in subsistence farming, with an average plot sizes of a sub- optimal 0.6 hectares. Rwandan families are generally large, and this limitation has the potential to create conflict among possible inheritors, given the relative dearth of off- farm employment opportunities. REGISTRATION -------------- ¶14. A two-tiered land registration system has been proposed to ensure proper registration: a less formal system for rural areas and a more sophisticated system for urban areas and high-value land. Currently, two separate systems are used within Rwanda -- one by the City of Kigali within the city limits and another by MINITERE everywhere else in the country. The DFID team has been working with the City of Kigali to better understand the workings of its system. A requirement that the city decentralize these duties to the new district level, however, has delayed the process. ¶15. The land rights recording system overseen by MINITERE is straightforward within the Ministry, but is murky at the local level. The existing system is set up to issue land rights certificates to landholders who have received allocated land from the government for a specific purpose (such as a plantation or a hotel). This system has also been used to recognize existing land rights if the land in question is to be used in accordance with a specific-use plan. The procedures were not established for the purpose of recognizing and recording land rights generally, but seemingly have been adjusted for such use if requested by landholders. Under the existing system MINITERE issues land rights certificates based on the recommendation of the relevant local authority. The Minister of State in Charge of Land stated that while local authorities are expected to investigate the validity of a land claim, no specific requirements exist to guide their investigation. The Minister acknowledged that in some cases this lack of guidance has resulted in unfair land giveaways and collusion between local authorities and persons interested in land, with the latter seeking to have land rights certificates issued without a proper investigation. MINITERE is committed to preventing such abuses and correcting problems if they occur. WOMEN'S RIGHTS -------------- ¶16. The 2005 Land Law states that men and women shall have equal rights to land, but does not offer guidance on this point, making reference merely to the existing inheritance law, rather than improving the ability of women to claim land. ¶17. Women in Rwanda are heavily involved in, and dependent on, agriculture. Despite their use of and dependence on land, their access to land generally hinges on their relationships with their birth or marital families and they rarely hold land in their own right. Women's land rights is a particularly critical issue in Rwanda where 34 percent of all households are headed by women as a result of the civil war and genocide. Women seek to support themselves and their families in an environment of general land pressure and insecurity while at the same time facing customary restrictions on landholding. Such customary restrictions include limits on women's acquisition and retention of land rights through inheritance, purchase, or other means. In order to gain access to land, many women joined agricultural associations after the 1994 civil war, which have access to land through rental or temporary provisions of land from the government, but also usually lack long-term land tenure security. ¶18. The government has already taken steps to strengthen women's rights through an Inheritance Law, passed in 1999, that grants women equal inheritance rights and also provides for the protection of property rights within marriage. The reach of the law is limited, however, both because it contradicts customary practices and also because it applies only to legal, officially registered marriages, which are uncommon in rural areas, and only to legitimate children. ¶19. USAID and DFID do not currently have plans to directly address gender in the context of land rights. Additional steps are needed to support women's land rights, such as amendments to legislation to protect women in informal/non- registered marriages, and the children produced in these marriages. It will also be critically important to continue and expand civic education on the new land law and to provide women access to legal aid. Education and legal assistance could be provided through Rwanda's women's associations. IMPLEMENTATION -------------- ¶20. A pilot implementation project is planned for the autumn of 2006 in four districts. The laws will be further refined based on this pilot project before nationwide implementation and drafting of subsequent legislation on land use planning, land market professionals (surveyors and valuers), condominium development, land taxation, and public land management. ¶21. On May 2, at the beginning of the Senate extraordinary session, Senator Joseph Karemera complained that delaying the implementation of the land law is stalling development. Karemera argued that many Rwandans are hesitant to carry out any developments until the legislation is clarified. In addition, Karemera complained that individuals are not able to get financial loans for development projects because until the land reform is finalized, Rwandan banks are not accepting land as collateral. COMMENT -------------- ¶22. Well-managed land reform is crucial to long-term reconciliation and stability in Rwanda, and it is encouraging to hear reports that the GOR is progressive, open, and eager to move forward on this issue. Despite progress, key issues must be resolved, such as unclear definition of land tenure types, controversial provisions on consolidation and land use restrictions, and vague guidance on the resolution of land disputes. International consultants plan to address these issues in an ongoing participatory process with the GOR. ¶23. The 2005 Land Law and anticipated complementary legislation seek to revitalize commercial agriculture by encouraging consolidation of landholdings into larger, more commercially viable plots of land, which will tend to favor large land owners and pastoralists. This shift away from subsistence farming is inevitable and desirable if Rwanda is to escape its current poverty. Commercial farming will help the GOR increase its tax base, but it has the potential to adversely impact small farmers who make up the vast majority of the population. The GOR will need to implement a strong public outreach program to sensitize small farmers and to promote off-farm, urban opportunities. ¶24. Enforcement of the new law will be a challenge, considering the precedence given to customary laws over state laws in rural areas, the lack of functioning commercial courts and judges, and the heavy backlog of court cases. If the rural population is to understand and accept the new laws, special effort must be made to raise awareness of the new policy - both in rural communities and among the local authorities responsible for implementing it and resolving disputes. ARIETTI