Our Land Thoughts: Does joint titling advance gender equality?

Whether encouraged by incentives, or made mandatory, joint titling has become a popular tool among development practitioners to avoid the default position that land is recorded only in the name of one owner, typically a man. In the context of land, joint titling (aka joint registration) refers to the practice of documenting the names of both members of a couple as the legal owners of marital property, or a home in which they cohabit. Co-ownership is the outcome, but this can take different forms. Let’s consider a husband and wife who co-own their family home:

Most recently I have been assisting one of my colleagues by conducting research on the links between development, land tenure and climate change. The intersection between the three is more pronounced than I would have thought and has made me realise just how central land tenure is to achieving development outcomes, climate change outcomes, and conversely, how climate change efforts can affect development and land tenure. For example, some of my research indicated that often climate change adaptation and mitigation practices – those being actions which either reduce the risk of climate impacts on the land, or help the landholder adapt to the effects of climate change – are often only available to those with formally recognised land ownership. This leaves those who have informal tenure – that which is not legally recognised in the jurisdiction’s land administration system – vulnerable. The vulnerability boils down to the fact that farmers or land dwellers are only likely to invest in climate smart agriculture (‘CSA’) or sustainable land management (‘SLM’) practices if they are sure that they will be the ones to reap the benefits from those investments, which may take many years to become fruitful. For those with insecure tenure, making a longer-term investment, in, for instance, agroforestry, is not logical as they may have their land stripped from them before the benefits of their investment are felt – due to an inability to defend their rights to land. They therefore have less incentive to protect themselves from the effects of climate change – both present and future. This is, however, not to say that those with informal tenure do not act as good stewards of the land they inhabit. It is just that in the absence of a perceived sense of tenure security, landholders not have the same incentives to invest in the long term climate resilience of their land where they cannot guarantee they will see out the benefits of such an investment.

One of my recent tasks has been to conduct research into the benefits and disadvantages of joint titling for gender equality. Joint titling refers to the practice of documenting the names of both members of a couple as the legal owners of property obtained in the course of their relationship, in the context of a land titling program. It has become a popular mechanism in the development space in avoiding the default position whereby only the male, or husband, as the household head is registered as the owner of the land. My research found that joint titling can be a really useful tool in securing women’s rights – for instance, in preventing a unilateral sale of the land by her husband, protecting widowed women from losing their house upon the death of their husband, allowing women greater access to credit, and empowering women in both formal and informal decision making processes related to the house, the land, and its uses. Despite these promising advantages, the research suggests that mere titling is insufficient. The ‘stickiness’ of patriarchal custom in some jurisdictions has prevented the benefits of joint titling from being realised. For instance, a case study in Cambodia on joint titling showed that some women felt that despite being formally titled, they did not have the power to assert their rights if a dispute were to arise. This highlights the important difference between the de facto and de jure existence of joint titling. Legal title is only effective if the processes and regulations that underpin it are followed. Therefore, special consideration must be borne in mind when implementing joint titling systems to ensure that women’s rights are actually realised.

I have been very warmly welcomed by the LEI team, who quickly began sharing articles, lecture material and online resources to help me transition into land administration for the internship. I have felt so lucky to share an office with such passionate individuals who collectively carry with them decades of experience and knowledge in the industry. Aside from the work I am doing, what has been a huge highlight of the internship to date is hearing the stories of the LEI team and how they got to where they are now. As someone just starting out in this field, the various pieces of advice and wisdom being imparted on me are invaluable. I was able to continue these conversations last week with other local individuals working in international development at a networking event I was invited to through LEI.

Instead it means that women enjoy secure access to, control over and ownership of land on an equal footing with men. Research shows that there are positive multiplier effects when women’s land rights are secure – benefits accrue not just for women’s economic empowerment, but also for food security at the household level, child malnutrition and investments in natural resource management.

MRLG Phase 2 will end on the 31st December and seamlessly starting on the 1st January 2023 will be Phase 3. This funding commitment by Switzerland (SDC), Germany (BMZ-GIZ) and Luxemburg allows the alliances to coordinate and plan sustainable actions for the coming 3 years to improve land tenure access for smallholder farmers through policy and practice changes. We look forward to sharing the Phase 2 operational report in the new year, along with the very exciting launch, planning and information sharing 3-day session to be held 28 Feb – 2 March, Luang Prabang with core MRLG partners – exemplary effort by the team for the completion of MRLG Phase 2.

Whether deliberate or unconscious, bias makes it difficult for women to move ahead. Knowing that bias exists isn’t enough, action is needed to level the playing field.

Recently, we virtually “met up” with Stella Rose Akutui, the Capacity Building and Networking Officer with LANDnet. Stella has been one of many amazing Ugandan women driving the women’s land rights agenda – we celebrate her achievements and the avenues around which Uganda is leading the thinking and action on land rights in Africa.

The Mekong Region Land Governance (MRLG) project, together with our partners at the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Land Portal, will organise the 3rd Mekong Regional Land Forum (MRLF2021) in the coming weeks, entitled “Land tenure in Mekong forest landscapes: advancing the recognition of customary rights and responsible investment practices”.  This forum will bring together reform-minded actors within and beyond the region to engage in in-depth, interactive debate on issues that cut to the core of the most pressing challenges facing tenure security in forest areas and the impacts of  agribusiness investment.

Working through the two phases of the Mekong Region Land Governance project, implemented by LEI and GRET, has seen new pathways being explored towards improving land governance. From community wins on landmark mediation cases, improvements in legal drafting consultations and legislative amendments, to new socially responsible engagement by private investors with communities that is generating a much wider acceptance of rights for smallholders and a stronger recognition of customary tenure arrangements.