Burundi, which is part of the “Bonn Challenge” (restoring 150 million hectares of degraded and deforested land by 2020, and 350 million hectares by 2030) and the African Resilient Landscapes Initiative (forest and ecosystem restoration, biodiversity conservation, smart agriculture, pasture management), has committed to restoring one million hectares of land by 2030. The World Bank is supporting the Government of Burundi in this effort through the Burundi Landscape Restoration and Resilience Project (PRRPB).
Led by the Burundian Ministry of Environment, Agriculture and Livestock, the PRRPB’s land tenure sub-component aims to clarify and secure land rights and resolve land tenure conflicts in the communes and hills where the project is working. It is estimated that land disputes constitute more than 70% of the cases brought before the Burundian courts. Securing land tenure and reducing land conflicts is therefore one of the factors conducive to sustainable agricultural and rural development.
Planned to last 20 months, the project “Support for the implementation of the PRRPB’s land certification sub-component” was awarded to the Franco-Burundian group IGN FI/GEOFIT/LADEC. It is structured around the following 3 activities:
- Support for the creation of the communal land service in the two communes of Muyinga and Isare
- Technical and logistical support for land certification operations on the 22 hills of the 2 communes
- Contribute to the strengthening of decentralized land management
In addition to the design/development and implementation of a Land Information System (LIS) that will be deployed for the certification of the targeted communes, one of the strategic objectives of the project will be to participate in improving access to land for women and the most marginalized ethnic groups (Batwa and other minorities or displaced persons).