Community Empowerment Facility Profile

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BACKGROUND

As in many countries, those living in rural areas are amongst the hardest hit when population growth puts pressure on already degraded and over-exploited land, forest and water resources. According to the Italian NGO Movimondo Molisv, the problem is exacerbated in the municipality of San Francisco Libro near Managua, by the fact that less than one-quarter of the farmers have clear property rights while 86% are unable to obtain credit because they cannot provide legal evidence of their property rights. Moreover, one-third of the population does not own any land.

These constraints and the lack of a clear land planning and management strategy, led the locally-affiliated partner NGO of Movimondo to join with local leaders to assist smallholders to gain legal access to land; increase community participation in local government, to better administrate and manage natural resources, and ensure an influential role in decentralizing municipal land use planning. The result will be greater community responsibility and authority in decision making aimed at improving household benefits derived from secure tenure to the land.

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GOAL AND OBJECTIVES

One of the results of insecure and unclear land titles is dispute among parties claiming the same user rights.

The project aims to assist poor farmers to gain legal access to land and reduce conflicts. It will involve the creation of a framework to assist local authorities to identify and manage land resources within an overall participatory management plan involving farmers and NGO representatives, in partnership with the government and its line agencies, at the national and municipal levels. This project could be replicated elsewhere in Nicaragua where weak, or non-existent, land rights systems encourage land conflicts and prevent conflict resolution or enforcement of land rights. International Land Coalition will evalute this project and consider supporting replication and up-scaling should the results be favourable.

Project Activities

The task of implementing the legal and technical processes to register and legalize property, as well as assisting small farmers to acquire their rights and titles, will involve the services of lawyers, a topographer/surveyor and social promoters. The project will also address financial needs by establishing a revolving fund to provide farmers with credit as well as training related to the legal processes and transactions involved. In order to ensure support to the poorest people, particularly those with little or no land, socio-economic studies were undertaken to determine the most deserving cases.

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WHO WILL BENEFIT?

It is estimated that 300 farm households will benefit directly by gaining legal title to the land they currently use (indirectly benefiting 1 800 household members). Another 100 households, representing 600 landless people, will be assisted in the acquisition of land.

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CONCLUSION

This project in San Francisco Libre involves a contribution of USD 80 000 from International Land Coalition. It also benefits from the experience of the 1995 FAO-financed project for land management that used a participatory approach in other communities in the same area. Furthermore, Movimondo is involved in an ongoing project financed by the European Union, to identify the major constraints to land access and use. In keeping with the multi-stakeholder philosophy of International Land Coalition, this project will be complementary to other interventions in the area thus avoiding duplication and building on lessons learned.

The basic premise of the project is that legal access to land provides the collateral or legal guarantees for leveraging the financial services, credit and other factors needed to improve productivity, food security and family incomes of vulnerable rural households. The farmers themselves perceive land legalization as an instrument through which they can have a voice in the decision-making process which will assist in sustaining their land access as well as addressing other community problems.

The importance placed on the local municipality allows the project to work across interconnected issues and levels, involving both farmers and those taking part in local governance. The success of this project can influence the overall direction of land reform in Nicaragua . The project is based on the need for partnerships between civil society, governments (national and municipal) and international/intergovernmental organizations, to bring their knowledge, resources and influence to bear on improving land systems.

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