Innovate fit-for-purpose and scaling-up in Colombia
In Colombia, efforts to innovate and improve land registration have been ongoing but at a slow pace. Building on past successes, a new 'booster' project aims to expand the fit-for-purpose approach and to scale up best practices in indigenous land governance.
Booster project kick-off
Kadaster organized a kick-off meeting in Bogota in collaboration with the Netherlands’ Enterprise Agency (RVO) and the Dutch Embassy. The meeting brought together Colombian land agencies and international partners such as the World Bank and the EU.
Introducing the sandbox approach
During the kick-off meeting, the 'sandbox approach' was introduced and discussed. This approach aims to make land regularisation easier and faster by addressing regulatory challenges. It needs the commitment of institutions like the Colombian Land Agency, the Ministry of Agriculture, the national mapping agency and the registry. There is a shared goal to simplify legal and administrative processes to formalise land titles in rural areas. Which is crucial for giving tenure security to poor farmers and other rural dwellers.
Strengthening indigenous communities
The project focuses as well on mapping indigenous land in the Santa Marta province with the support of indigenous communities. The Geographic Institute Agustín Codazzi (IGAC) and the Colombian Land Agency (ANT) are working together with these communities. They plan to train more indigenous people and their leaders to map their own land. This effort is supported by other agencies and international institutions, who see the fit-for-purpose method as very effective.
Follow-up actions
Kadaster plans to set up a technical working group to co-create the new sandbox. This group will work on making the fit-for-purpose approach more democratic and faster by utilizing a streamlined legal framework. The ultimate goal is to issue land titles more quickly, helping communities and ensuring tenure security.
Previous projects
In earlier projects, local communities, Colombian institutions, and Kadaster worked together on land mapping and registration. They created more efficient and less time-consuming procedures using a fit-for-purpose approach, setting the stage for the current 'booster' project.
More information
- Read more about our project in Colombia on our project page.