Annual Update 2018 VNG International

 

‘Most people today accept that women have the right to inherit land’

Finding quoted from the report of the qualitative study in 2018

 

‘Changes in land tenure security are considered equal for men and women. Women are even happier than men. Before, a woman could buy land that was later snatched by her husband. Now, once the land is registered in the name of the woman, the land cannot be taken from her. Thus, women benefit from the formalization of land in their own name.’

A village authority interviewed for the qualitative study in 2018

 

 

‘Everything that we have achieved today to apply the CFD is thanks to PFL. The other municipalities in Benin benefit from the experiments and results of the project.’

Luc Sètondji Atrokpo

President of the national association of municipalities, ANCB

 

For more details see:

 

https://rsr.akvo.org/en/project/4135/

 

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improving Access to Basic Services

by strengthening local government

Featured Project

Benin, Local Land Management Support Project

 

> The project supports the implementation of the Land Law which was adopted in 2013. Instruments were developed, and tested in the two municipalities of Dogbo and Klouékanmè. Via the national association of municipalities (ANCB), the experiences are shared with other municipalities in Benin and used as input for further policy development at the national level. By the end of 2016 the budget of the PFL has been enlarged to €4,9 M, whereby the additional amount allows for the project to equip the national agency for land administration (ANDF) to better fulfil their duties and responsibilities.

 

Results include:

  • The land registration of eight out of 34 identified villages in the two municipalities is finalised. This corresponds with 6000 plots with a coverage of 3800 hectares;
  • Communities define the property rights as much as possible amongst themselves on the basis of consensus. Then the rights are registered. As a result the number of cases for which a more complicated, time-consuming and expensive legal process is needed, remains limited;
  • In close cooperation with local NGOs the project has supported the position of women; by making them aware of their rights, helping them register their (property) land rights and obtain civil registry acts, and by improving access to land through user rights for those who do not own land themselves;
  • Now women dare to express their ownership, no longer as fearful to lose their lands as a consequence. Moreover, women start to buy and even inherent land. About 20% of the property rights now registered in the first eight villages is owned by women;
  • The two municipalities experiment with formalising the use of communal lands by farmers, in the form user agreements. A win-win situation, as it adds resources to the municipal budget and it creates certainty for the users, making it more attractive for them to invest. The existence of user agreements has also increased the chances of getting a micro-credit, allowing to rent the land for the duration of the agreement;
  • The municipality of Klouékanmè has made 15,000,000 F CFA (about 26,500 USD) available of its own budget to invest in PFRs (Plan Foncier Rural) to complement the budget of a potential follow-up project that shall realise PFRs;
  • The ANCB successfully lobbied for a revision of the Land Code to take better account of the local realities and concerns of the municipalities, as revealed by the project;
  • A household survey shows a remarkable upsurge of the recognition by the target population of improved land security from 11% in 2015 to 83% in 2017.