Global Land Facility Programme

Project Narrative

Effective land governance systems are key to economic growth and sustainable land-use and investment. Land is a key root cause of conflict, with increasing competition over land from growing pressures of climate change, increased food insecurity and migration; sustainable land governance is therefore also a critical foundation for stability, conflict resilience, and protecting human rights. Secure tenure enables climate change resilience, supports rural livelihoods and women’s empowerment.

Land governance systems in many developing countries need to be strengthened, with large amounts of unregistered land and disputed ownership rights, resulting in little protection for the homes and livelihoods of the poorest and most vulnerable.

• Only 30% of the global population has legally registered rights to their land and homes
• Women constitute less than 20% of the world’s landholders
• Indigenous Peoples and local communities hold 65% of the world’s total land area, but their legal rights extend to only 10% of that land
• 1 billion people around the world live in fear of losing their home or land.

Poor land governance is a critical constraint to policy, programming and development priorities. Technical assistance and programme support can help to tackle land reform issues at the national level.

Land Facility Objectives

The Land Facility aims to do just that, designed as an offer to partner countries that national governments with UK posts can draw down on and co-design. It can provide rural, forestry and urban land governance expertise and assistance to support partner governments’ efforts to expand their capacity to plan, manage and implement national land administration policy, legislation and system reforms. Land Facility focuses on reform of national land administration policy, systems and practice. Its objective is to support Overseas Development Aid eligible governments implement sustained land reforms by building basic capacity and delivery systems in government agencies, and mobilising political support for reform.

Key Services Provided

Land Equity International has partnered with Tetra Tech, the main delivery partner, to work in tandem with downstream expertise including the Global Land Alliance, Landesa, The Policy Practice, TMP, Terra Firma, Mokoro and Planet Partnerships.

Country programming will be designed and delivered via Country Support Projects (CSPs), which can be ‘Deep’ or ‘Light’. The delivery partner can also propose Strategic Support Projects which are regional or global public goods initiatives, that may support CSP delivery and where interest has been identified from partner Governments

• Deep CSP: Longer-term programming and technical assistance, including country-based delivery teams providing TA, capacity expansions support, political economic analysis, political engagement and coordination over 2-3 years+.
• Light CSP: Shorter-term technical assistance and support. Discrete activities (roughly 6-12 months) with limited focus. Potential scope for follow-up via a subsequent light or deep CSP, depending on resources and political constraints.

The Land Facility started a 9-month Inception Phase in April, concluding in December 2024, and implementation will run until December 2030. The programme will develop overarching methodologies and determine an initial list of countries for CSP exploration. Scoping activities, concept notes and program designs will proceed collaboratively with national governments, UK posts, development partners and other key stakeholders. CSP will move through implementation with adaptation and learning. These steps will be repeated for additional countries over time. The Land Facility is agile and may support ‘quick win’ opportunities or regional strategic activities.