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under a sporadic system of registration will inevitably arise and will worsen with increases in growth
of leasehold issuances. Customary systems in most rural areas are generally superior in ensuring a
subsistence livelihood and tenure security. But in practical terms, even with massive investments in
leasehold registration, government's long-term targets call for the registration of only 20 percent of
the nation's land area. The government has no other recourse but to design a strategy for strengthening
the ability of the customary system to govern the remaining lands. The recommendation of the MMD
government to move more slowly with land tenure reform in customary areas and to engage in a
long-term program of research to better understand customary land rights, transfers, and dispute
processes is a sound approach.
Although the State Lands will continue to draw attention to the necessity of intensifying the
productivity of existing cultivated area, the long-term future of Zambian agriculture lies in the far
more extensive Reserve and Trust Lands. Here resolution of the most fundamental tenure problems
will need to go hand in hand with major investments in public infrastructure and marketing. The real
challenge lies in planning the effective development of these lands. Land use surveys, community and
regional development plans, along with field research on land use patterns, management practices,
market access, and land tenure are needed. In addition, government will need a stronger revenue base
to provide the infrastructure necessary to open up rural areas and to plan the development of new
agricultural lands. Roads, schools, clinics, and utilities will be needed to either encourage urban
dwellers to move to more remote areas or to keep settlers on the land. To provide these funds, the
government proposes the establishment of the Land Development Fund (LDF) to support such
infrastructure and regional development. 21 Such development expenses would normally be provided
out of the central budget, but the limited size of the overall budget combined with overly restrictive
past allocations to the MOL has forced the ministry to rethink ways to raise revenues and earmark
funds for development. The funds would be derived from economic ground rents charged on leasehold
property. Much more thought needs to be given to such issues as the structure of land taxes/rents
nationwide, valuation of property in the absence of well-functioning markets, and fiscal management
to ensure accountability and transparency.
The government sees itself as a facilitator of development. It envisions an increase in the
number of titles nationwide from roughly 70,000 to 100,000 at present to somewhere in the range of
500,000 to 1,000,000. No long-term date has been set for achieving this target. Eighty percent of
these titles would fall in the peri-urban zone and 20 percent in rural commercial areas. Opening the
rural areas would require money for land clearing, construction of roads, extending utilities, and the
provision of boreholes, clinics, and schools. The experience of past settlement schemes has apparently
been one of some settlers returning to the city because of lack of adequate physical and social
infrastructure. The urban population, now accustomed to the amenities of urban living, cannot be
expected to move easily to rural areas. The government thus sees its role as creating an enabling
environment in rural areas and providing incentives to help families move.
The proposal to increase the economic ground rent to support the state in opening new lands
and in paying for physical infrastructure is an area of concern. Any form of annual rent increases the
21
Rents on current leaseholds are reportedly approaching K1 billion per annum. By increasing the number of leaseholds from
70,000 to 500,000 or 1,000,000, the MOL envisions the potential for generating huge financial resources that can then be
directed to develop rural infrastructure and open new lands. The costs of leasehold issuances and rent collection would have to
be kept modest relative to revenue generation for such a surplus to occur. A financial analysis is advised to assess the viability
of such a system.