Chapter three

Rural land information system

• this chapter is only about rural land
information. Hence it excludes urban land
information
• it includes all types of holdings (private,
communal and government)
• The information has to be made open for the
public
• What Is rural land information?
All, physical and legal, information related to rural land. The location,
size, rights and encumbrances, class of land use, fertility level and etc.
- What is the purpose of registering rural land information?
- To enact or change policy
- Effective administration of land
- Ensure sustainable development
- Ensuring tenure security of land holders
- Improve livelihoods of holders
- For better conservation of natural resources
- To reduce rural land dispute
Etc.
 What and how to register?
• Generally, we have two methods of rural land
information system.
1. Cadaster
2. Land registration
 Cadaster
• Meaning,
• purpose
• type, and
• the authority?
 Meaning
 Cadaster is just a system of writing or recording individual land parcels
 It records only a topographic information about a parcel (unit) of land.
• A parcel is a unit of land with homogenous tenure interests, having a
unique owner/tenant, land class and use, and bounded by wall, fence,
bond or boundary markers.
• Land has physical, fiscal and legal aspect.
• It records up-to-date information about the land itself
• Location, size, boundaries, fertility level, type of land use,
• It uses a large scale cadastral maps which represent the graphical indices
of the individual parcels showing the relative location of all parcels in a
given region, and by written or textual records which represent the
attribute files of the cadaster, in parallel.
• It is called a parcel based information system and answers questions of
where and How much about a certain plot of land.
 Purpose
• Generally, the purpose of cadaster is to ensure sustainable development
through effective land administration.
• It also has many purposes like:
- It brings about a secured land tenure
- It enhances land taxation
- Is an effective tool to protect state lands
- Helps reduce land disputes
- Cadastre plays quite a significant role in formulating, facilitating and
monitoring land reform or policy
- supports environmental management.
- Cadastre is used to produce statistical data. Statistical data is important to
decide for long-term strategic planning and short-term operational
management.
- It also help create political stability
 Types of cadaster
• Though, the general purpose is the same, there are
different forms of cadaster even within a single
country
• We use different criteria
Example:
1. Based on the primary function for which they are
established.
- cadasters formed for taxation,
- for supporting real estate transaction, and
- others for land distribution
2. Based on location and jurisdiction.
- separate cadastral institutions for urban and
rural areas or
- a unified cadaster
- Centralized or
- Decentralized
3. based on the method of collecting land
information.
- through ground surveys tied to geodetic
control, also called conventional system, or
- through uncoordinated ground surveys and
measurements also called non-conventional
system, or through aerial photography, or by
digitizing existing historical records, etc
 Features of effective cadaster
• it should be country wide to fully meet its goals and also avoid some unwanted
results such as economic inequality. It should have permanent continuity.
• it must be of an official nature run by a trusted and independent
administrative agency.
• must function based on sound, detailed and practical legislation.
• should be available to any interested users through well developed procedures
that are well publicized, simple to follow, inexpensive and responsive to customer
needs (user -driven).
• a good cadaster should develop a well-functioning financial regime. While the cost
of initially establishing the cadaster is usually fully borne by the government
investment, its subsequent maintenance should be based on cost recovery system,
or even could be designed to generate additional revenue for the government.
• a good cadaster should develop a career structure that ensures that staffs are
well motivated and trained in their respective tasks.
 Land registration
• Is another systematic means of maintaining
Land Information .
• It records legal information about a parcel
• It records transactions, rights/ interests and
encumbrances in relation to a certain unit of
land.
• It records who has, what right over a parcel
including how it is acquired.
 Classifications
• Deed Vs title systems
• this relates to the degree of state involvement and judicial
setting of the country
• Deed system.
- only deed, transaction or document is registered
- A deed is a record of a particular transaction and serves as
evidence of this specific agreement,
- but it is not itself a proof of the legal right of the
transacting parties to enter into and consummate the
agreement.
- provide a register of owners focusing on “who owns what”.
• title system,
- the title/ownership itself is registered and
- is itself a proof of ownership and its correctness is
secured or guaranteed by the state.
- focuses on the land parcel and registers properties
by presenting “what is owned by whom”
- In terms of easiness, deed system is more suitable.
But, the title system is more useful in terms of
greater security of tenure and reliable information.
 Cadaster Vs land register
• Cadaster is all about the physical information of a parcel
• It answers questions of where and what size?
• Land register records a legal information about a parcel
• It answers questions of who and how?
• The difference between them is on the administering institutions.
- Cadaster- cadastral authority, engineers and etc.
- Land register: courts, lawyers and ministry of justice.
But, this time, there is the concept of multipurpose cadaster that unifies the
two.
• The similarity between the two is: both, in one way or another, talk about
land. Or they deal with systematic maintenance of land information . their
purpose is also similar
 Levels of Rural Land Registrations
 NRLAIS – National rural land administration information system. (2017)
 Is a harmonized land administration systems that use unified parcel and
holding identification method thought the country.
 It stores all data, geometries and their associated
textual information.
 Regional states should adhere to the national standards
 It has six levels
- Central level- CENLAIS - the Central Land Administration Information System for
data aggregation of all regional states of Ethiopia, and for supporting of the
decision making and national policy development.
- Regional level- REGLAIS - the Regional Land Administration Information System
with advanced data processing capabilities and cadastral parcel data
management including the management of
zones and woredas within the concerned region
- Zonal level- ZONLAIS – the Zonal Land Administration Information
System with capabilities to view and carry out administrative
operations at the zonal level.
- Woreda level- WORLAIS – the Woreda Land Administration
Information System located at the woreda level on which all land
administration transactions are performed, i.e. it manages and
updates holding/land rights and cadastral parcel data.
- MASSREG - the Mass Registration System consisting of supporting
technical tools for systematic (mass) land registration (ie the
Ethiopian second level land certification program) and for data
migration. The latter tool allows the migration of existing land
administration data which adhere to a set of defined standards.
 Registering authorities
• At federal level we have rural land
administration and use directorate (RLAUD)
under ministry of agriculture (MOA)
• At regional level the respective competent
authorities with their sublevels.