Fit-For-Purpose Upscaling Land Administration—A Case Study from Benin

The government of Benin in 2013 decided upon a centralized land administration, with the purpose of recording the entire national territory in one land administration system to promote durable economic development by increasing legal certainty in real estate transactions. This is a major challenge,...

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Main Authors: Steven Mekking, Dossa Victorien Kougblenou, Fabrice Gilles Kossou
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-04-01
Series:Land
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/10/5/440
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author Steven Mekking
Dossa Victorien Kougblenou
Fabrice Gilles Kossou
author_facet Steven Mekking
Dossa Victorien Kougblenou
Fabrice Gilles Kossou
author_sort Steven Mekking
collection DOAJ
description The government of Benin in 2013 decided upon a centralized land administration, with the purpose of recording the entire national territory in one land administration system to promote durable economic development by increasing legal certainty in real estate transactions. This is a major challenge, given that currently, of the estimated 5 million cadastral parcels, less than 60,000 parcels have a land title and are registered in the national land administration agency’s central database. This case study describes how a transition to a fit-for-purpose approach in land administration makes it possible to realize the Benin government policy. In the context of Benin, the core of this approach is the introduction of a tenure system based on presumed ownership parallel to the existing title system with state-guaranteed ownership. From a quality perspective, this meant a shift in priorities from “good but slow” to “good enough and fast”. A field test has proven that this new approach is necessary to realize the governmental purpose but puts pressure on the quality aspect and the related interests of established parties such as private surveyors. In the Benin case, this pressure is reduced by designing a land information system based on the Land Administration Domain Model (LADM) that makes it possible to include and keep track of both cadastral parcels with state-guaranteed ownership and cadastral parcels with presumed ownership in the database. Both ways of tenure security can therefore coexist, allowing landowners to choose between the level of legal security that best fits their needs and means.
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spelling doaj.art-fdc885f5059f4d72931a63b1c5d418472023-11-21T16:26:32ZengMDPI AGLand2073-445X2021-04-0110544010.3390/land10050440Fit-For-Purpose Upscaling Land Administration—A Case Study from BeninSteven Mekking0Dossa Victorien Kougblenou1Fabrice Gilles Kossou2Kadaster International, Land Registry and Mapping Agency of the Netherlands, P.O. Box 9046, 7300 GH Apeldoorn, The NetherlandsAgence Nationale du Domaine et du Foncier, Sainte Rita, Cotonou, BeninAgence Nationale du Domaine et du Foncier, Sainte Rita, Cotonou, BeninThe government of Benin in 2013 decided upon a centralized land administration, with the purpose of recording the entire national territory in one land administration system to promote durable economic development by increasing legal certainty in real estate transactions. This is a major challenge, given that currently, of the estimated 5 million cadastral parcels, less than 60,000 parcels have a land title and are registered in the national land administration agency’s central database. This case study describes how a transition to a fit-for-purpose approach in land administration makes it possible to realize the Benin government policy. In the context of Benin, the core of this approach is the introduction of a tenure system based on presumed ownership parallel to the existing title system with state-guaranteed ownership. From a quality perspective, this meant a shift in priorities from “good but slow” to “good enough and fast”. A field test has proven that this new approach is necessary to realize the governmental purpose but puts pressure on the quality aspect and the related interests of established parties such as private surveyors. In the Benin case, this pressure is reduced by designing a land information system based on the Land Administration Domain Model (LADM) that makes it possible to include and keep track of both cadastral parcels with state-guaranteed ownership and cadastral parcels with presumed ownership in the database. Both ways of tenure security can therefore coexist, allowing landowners to choose between the level of legal security that best fits their needs and means.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/10/5/440fit-for-purpose land administrationcase studyBeninland administrationcadasterland registration
spellingShingle Steven Mekking
Dossa Victorien Kougblenou
Fabrice Gilles Kossou
Fit-For-Purpose Upscaling Land Administration—A Case Study from Benin
Land
fit-for-purpose land administration
case study
Benin
land administration
cadaster
land registration
title Fit-For-Purpose Upscaling Land Administration—A Case Study from Benin
title_full Fit-For-Purpose Upscaling Land Administration—A Case Study from Benin
title_fullStr Fit-For-Purpose Upscaling Land Administration—A Case Study from Benin
title_full_unstemmed Fit-For-Purpose Upscaling Land Administration—A Case Study from Benin
title_short Fit-For-Purpose Upscaling Land Administration—A Case Study from Benin
title_sort fit for purpose upscaling land administration a case study from benin
topic fit-for-purpose land administration
case study
Benin
land administration
cadaster
land registration
url https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/10/5/440
work_keys_str_mv AT stevenmekking fitforpurposeupscalinglandadministrationacasestudyfrombenin
AT dossavictorienkougblenou fitforpurposeupscalinglandadministrationacasestudyfrombenin
AT fabricegilleskossou fitforpurposeupscalinglandadministrationacasestudyfrombenin