As Côte d’Ivoire has experienced economic decline and rapid population growth, the country has experienced conflicts and tensions around land tenure. Many residents of rural villages do not have land documentation, and there is a lack of awareness, as well as no formal system, in place for village authorities to issue formal land certificates. In many cases, this lack of documentation and administrative system results in women being unable to own land, and many are evicted through land grabs.
Habitat for Humanity Côte d’Ivoire has worked to solve these issues by raising awareness about the need to register land, providing villages with templates of land registration forms, and forming coalition groups to promote peer exchanges. The national government was also a partner in this project, ensuring that this work would fit into national frameworks. There have also been efforts to enable local governments to take on the process of land titling themselves, continuing these efforts.
Source:
Habitat for Humanity International. (2021) Building Solid Ground. Habitat for Humanity International.