Land ownership is an important path to prosperity
Clear access to land contributes directly to livelihood and a longer-term economic perspective
To leverage the economic potential of their land, smallholders and their communities first need clear boundaries
Investing in land titles = investing in farmer autonomy
For farmers, securing a land title means autonomy and a longer-term perspective
Confidence to invest
With land titles, farmers can safely invest in their long-term welfare rather than living from harvest to harvest.
Access to finance
Land rights unlock access to finance, as financial institutions often require proof of land ownership or lease.
Secure supply chains
With formal land rights, farmers are less vulnerable to dispossessions (i.e., large plantations and infrastructure projects) - securing supply chain stability.
Diversifying livelihoods
Land secure farmers are more likely to plant trees, diversify livelihoods, and rejuvenate crops - enhancing productivity and income while reducing farm risk exposure.
Secured inheritance
Land titles secure the inheritance of land and thereby offer a higher level of security to ensure the livelihoods of future generations.
Reducing gender gap
In some communities, women are not aware of their rights to own land, and therefore male relatives often claim the land. Land titles can secure women's right to land, reducing the gender gap between male and female farmers.
Farm management
Through our farm data, farmers can better estimate their inputs and yield and develop tailored farm development plans (FDPs).
Certification and premiums
Farm data indicating locations outside forests and farm realities help farmer coops obtain certifications, access premiums and unlock additional sector benefits.
The Cote d’Ivoire Land Partnership (CLAP) - an upscaling model for land registration in Cote d’Ivoire
Since 2019, Meridia has joined forces with industry leaders to test and scale a successful model for securing land rights for cocoa farmers.
CLAP consists of founding industry leaders The Hershey Company, Unilever, Barry Callebaut Group, Cocoa Horizons Foundation, the German Cooperation (implemented by GIZ GmbH), and the German Cocoa and Chocolate Foundation, joining forces with other industry members ETG-Beyond Beans Foundation, Ferrero and Cargill. It is endorsed by AFOR (Agence Foncière Rurale) and managed by Meridia, who executes this project with Audace Institut Afrique, Géomètre Expert CITRAT and CETIF.
Our process
Companies and organisations considering land titling are often deterred by the costs, scale, costs and potential obstacles presented in land formalisation and titling. To help overcome these and other challenges, we have built a strong local presence and developed in-house technology tailored specifically for the field.
To make land titling easier, faster and more (cost) efficient, we have a four-phase approach to land titling projects:
Build relationships
Fine-tune to local circumstances
Data collection and validation
Delivery
Build relationships
We begin by building strong relationships with governments, customary authorities and local authorities because they play a crucial role in recognising land rights. There are no land rights without government and local chiefs’ support. Once they are on board, we engage local communities and ensure that the process is safe and fair; after all, their land is both an asset and livelihood. We work with local leaders, organise farmer focus groups and guarantee the titling process is public and transparent. We collaborate closely with relevant NGOs and government bodies in more sensitive areas or complex regions (i.e. protected forests).
Fine-tune to local circumstances
We adapt our technology to fit local circumstances and test it in the field. To help us collect data, we train and employ local communities. This method is called ‘participatory mapping. From our experience, it is a best practice in land management, as nobody knows the land as the local community.
Data collection and validation
Field teams and data collection
There are no shortcuts for collecting land title data in the field. Our small, well-organized field teams work from parcel to parcel. Each team is kitted with mobile devices designed for fast and high-quality data collection. Meridia’s unique syncing feature enables multiple teams to collect data in the field simultaneously without the risk of that data overlapping. We collect different types of data in specific ways:
Legal and land use data is obtained through landholder interviews
Boundary data is collected through surveying technology
Data cleaning and validation
Before legally validating our data, we post-process the collected data and use algorithms to identify potential errors. Before a land title application can be formalised, the government or licensed surveyors must validate it. We work extensively with government and local authorities to ensure full technical compliance with regulations. We have created a back-office platform for remote data validation to make this process more cost-effective.
Land title production and signature collection
Once validated, in some cases, Meridia produces the land titles and collects the necessary signatures from various authorities, whether local chiefs, government surveyors, commissioners or various landholders. In other cases, we hand over the data to the government, and they issue the titles.
Delivery
Finally, we deliver the legal land titles to the local smallholder farmers. Because officially securing the rights to their land is a momentous event in a farmer’s life, we actively encourage them to celebrate them with community ceremonies. At the same time, we provide the brands, governments and NGOs that enabled the titles with high-quality datasets and digital maps tailored to their specific needs.