Abstract
Land-titling programs, land and forest allocation programs, and projects on state-allocated land for development and investment in Laos have been key drivers of change in land tenure. These have triggered major shifts in land use rights, from customary, to temporary, and then to permanent land use rights. This article explores how government programs to grant land use rights to individual households have affected the way people have been able to acquire and secure land tenure. For our case study, we selected the village of Napo, the target of many land tenure changes in the past four decades. We collected data from district offices, group discussions with village organizations, and interviews with selected households. The study shows how land use rights shifted over time and reveals that households obtained most of their agricultural land and forestland through a claim process. Original households were mainly land claimers, while migrants were land buyers. The process of formalization and allocation of tenure triggered inequality among households. Attention is needed in future land governance and tenure reforms in order to safeguard the land use rights of local people in an equitable manner.
Highlights
Significant changes are occurring in Southeast Asia regarding access to and control over land.Demand for land, natural resources, and investment continue to increase, and land use rights are often contested [1]
This paper takes the following approach: (1) we describe historical changes in the ways government programs have granted land use rights to individual households, as well as the policy problems behind these programs by reviewing academic and grey literature; (2) we reveal informal as well as formal ways individual households obtained land use rights triggered by the programs, based on both qualitative and quantitative data obtained in a field survey; and (3) we argue that a key to future land governance reform involves understanding the historical changes of formal and informal land tenure and land use rights of local communities by especially safeguarding local people’s land use rights and reducing the inequity of granting land use rights, in particular for agricultural land and forestland
An understanding of government land formalization programs and historical changes in the ways land use rights have been attributed to individual households is essential for future land governance and tenure reforms in Laos
Summary
Significant changes are occurring in Southeast Asia regarding access to and control over land.Demand for land, natural resources, and investment continue to increase, and land use rights are often contested [1]. Significant changes are occurring in Southeast Asia regarding access to and control over land. A formalization of land rights and allocation processes is being implemented through government projects for land titling and registration across Southeast Asia, often supported by the. Processes aimed at normalizing land access, promoting development, consolidating territorial control, and land ownership [4]. These “land titling models” are based on neoliberal. Land 2016, 5, 11 principles of individual property rights as the key to economic growth through security of assets, collateral-based investment, and a tax base that depends on property ownership [3]. The abilities and capacities of governments to implement land formalization are generally limited [6], and full socio-economic and environmental impact assessments are not implemented in some cases, especially in Laos [7], these programs may lead to land grabs by powerful investors [6]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
