Land Reform, Data Revolution

Thierry Ngoga, Head of Support to State Capability at AGRA, considers the valuable lessons offered by Rwanda’s recent land governance reforms.

In Africa, land reform can be a highly complex and political process. As a result, governments are often reluctant to engage in land reform programmes, preferring instead to maintain informality and flexibility in this area. But for those countries that do change the way land is held and administered, the benefits can be significant. Here, Thierry Ngoga, Head of Support to State Capability at AGRA, considers the valuable lessons offered by Rwanda’s recent land governance reforms.

正确执行的土地改革可以帮助提高权限安全并改善土地管理，行政管理和投资。这种发展可以对和平和社会稳定产生积极影响。但是很少有国家评估土地改革对其国民经济的更广泛利益。

They say data is the new oil, powering the information economy the way oil once powered industry. Through land reform, governments can generate a wealth of land data, the availability of which has major positive implications for sectors such as natural resource management, trade and business, construction, industrial development, banking and finance. Increased access to land data can also drive progress in revenue collection, urbanisation, mortgage management and job creation, helping countries to accelerate socioeconomic development.

So, could the early realisation of these multi-sector benefits help to incentivise countries to embark on much-needed land reform programmes? And how should land reform be delivered to maximise these advantages?

卢旺达的土地注册革命

在我的祖国卢旺达，在过去的十五年中，政府实施了一项重大而多方面的土地改革计划 - 卢旺达土地权限改革（RLTR）计划。好处是广泛和变革的。根据RLTR，土地所有者收集的所有权文件数量已从2012年的900,000增加到2020年的820万。注册交易也从2013/14财政年度的约10,000增加到2015年至2020年之间的547,000多个超过547,000。

The registration of land and associated data this has generated has not only enabled the creation of a legal land register, but also a spatial land cadastre. Under RLTR, both are fully integrated into one national land register, which makes it easier to identify legal and cadastral land holdings. These developments have had a positive impact on many aspects of life in Rwanda.

For example, the system has helped to enhance gender equality, as evidenced by new gender-disaggregated data. As of June 2020, out of 11.5 million registered land parcels in Rwanda, 2.1 million were registered to women as de facto owners, and 1.2 million to men, reversing decades of inequality in land ownership. Surveys have also indicated that three in four women feel empowered seeing their names on land titles, which is likely to have a positive knock-on effect for women in society more generally.

RLTR还激发了就业机会，以前不发达的职业，例如土地测量和估价，通过在现场和正式培训中增加需求，从而获得了急需的增强。的确，随着越来越多的大学提供土地管理课程，测量师和估价师发现了近年来他们的知识和技能。

System linkage and interoperability

But it is the digitisation of land data that has been one of the most transformative aspects of Rwanda’s land registration programme. Through a new digital land registry, RLTR has driven an open data revolution in land governance, facilitating information access and sharing while making land-related transactions quicker, more efficient, and more transparent. For example, via SMS, interested parties within and outside Rwanda can now gain access to information about land size, usage, and any associated legal liabilities.

In urban areas, people now have a clearer understanding of designated terms of land use, spatial delimitation of lands, and the rights attached to them. And in rural areas, the spatial demarcation and registration of forests, mining sites and lakes makes it easier to manage these and other natural resources and accurately monitor change in land use. Indeed, as competition for land increases, particularly between urban and agricultural communities, RLTR datasets are helping to guide efficient land use planning. In a small country with a rapidly growing population, these developments are of huge significance.

在其他地方，土地管理信息系统（Lais-Digital土地登记册），国家抵押贷款登记册和卢旺达的ID项目之间的互操作性帮助建立了土地索赔的合法性，从而使土地租赁和证书的正确分配。在线系统与卢旺达税务局的联系还改善了对土地所有权的监督，并增加了税收和标题的包裹数量。这些措施导致了大幅降低风险，并最大程度地减少了欺诈性交易和抢夺土地的机会。他们还帮助确保所有土地租赁和固定资产税定期和全额支付。

Long-term gains

因此，卢旺达的课程很明确：一个系统的，精心计划和执行的土地改革计划可以在各个部门提供指数效益，从而提高整体国家绩效。确实，随着RLTR的推出，卢旺达在世界银行的业务指数中的评级正在上升。例如，在2012年至2019年之间，该国在“登记财产的便利性”指标上从六十一位到第三名。

我个人认为，卢旺达的成功可以激发非洲土地注册机构的一场革命，这是通过有价值的数据生成和跨部门系统增强来激励改革的机会。政府需要了解的是，数据驱动的进步的长期收益远远超过了非正式的机会主义土地管理的迅速胜利。

但是,如果其他国家遵循卢旺达的考试ple, it is essential they plan in a holistic and inclusive manner. They need to incorporate a range of sectors and stakeholders to ensure that all voices are heard, and that all needs are incorporated. Given the widespread social, economic and environmental significance of land reform outputs, high-level political support is also vital. Indeed, these efforts should be spearheaded by the highest leadership structures, with the full involvement and coordination of key frontline ministries. Only in these ways will land reform link to the wider development agenda, and set the wheels of data revolution in motion.