Land Administration of Communal Land: Lessons from the ... · Pre-Hispanic (1917-1992) (1992-present) Colonial Era (1519-1821) Post-Colonial Era Land Reform Era Neo-liberal Era (1821-1910)

Land Administration of Communal

Land: Lessons from

the Ejidos in

Mexico

Grenville Barnes

Maria DiGiano

XXV International Federation of Surveyors Congress, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 16 – 21

June 2014

Contents

• GLTN and Customary Tenure Tool Objectives• Conceptual Framework• Community Property in Mexico (Ejido)• Continuum of Property Rights• Fieldwork/Sampling• Property Registration Systems• Lessons

Mexico operates a pro-poor land administration system that has been around for

almost a century and covers approximately half the country’s land


June 2014

Focal Areas of GLTNGender: • How do we guarantee women’s access to land and tenure

security?Vulnerability and Poverty:

• What protections can we offer to the most vulnerable and marginalized populations?

Sustainability:

• What role can customary systems play in terms of the sustainable management of natural resources and environmental services?

General Objective of GLTN: Break the cycle of poverty through land reform and the improvement of land management systems and tenure security


June 2014

Formal

Tenure

Security

Governance (rules

and rights)

Communities

User Groups

Households

Women and

Men

Vulnerable

Groups

Families, Clans,

Lineages, etc.

Enforceability

Durability

Legitimacy

Cultivated

Land

Forests

Pasture

Wetlands

Urban Land

Water

Resources

Resource

TypesVulnerabilityLand-

holders

Customary

Environmental &

Economic Services

Conceptual Framework

Objective:Identify, describe and analyze mechanisms to attain land tenure security with customary tenure systems, including how these systems operate and adapt to external and internal forces.

Customary Land Tenure Tool


June 2014

The Ejido

Forest(indivisible)

Agric. Parcels

Common-use area

Urban Lots

Ejidatarios

InhabitantsPossessors

Common-use area


June 2014

Continuum of Property Rights in Mexico

Formal

Land

Rights

Informal

Land

Rights

Customary

Creation of

Ejidos(unencumberable,

indivisible, inalienable)

Reforms to

Article 27Allowed conversionto Private Property

Registered

Private

Property

Group Tenure

Perceived Tenure

Approaches Occupancy Leases

Anti-Evictions

AdversePossession

Indigenous Forms of Tenure

TIME

Pre-Hispanic

(1917-1992) (1992- present)

Colonial Era

(1519-1821)

Land Reform Era Neo-liberal EraPost-Colonial Era

(1821-1910)

Mexican Revolution (1910-1917)

Dismantling of

Indigenous

Tenure (encomiendas,

haciendas,

congregaciones)


June 2014

Ejido Field Samples

Source: Bureau of Business Research

Land Tenure Ejidos Visited Factors affecting Tenure

Common-Use

(no parcels)

Naranjal Poniente

(Qroo, MexicoState)(forest ejidos),

• Collective forest use• Traditional Practices• Distrust of Government

Common-Use

(with Certified

Parcels)

Noh Bec (QRoo)Tonalaco

(Veracruz)

• Continue to benefit from collective tenure

• Environmental Services important revenue source

• Limited land sales, less secure

Certified ParcelsMozamboa

(Veracruz)

• Parcels and titles confused• Land sales (agriculture) • Fear of property taxes limits

conversion to dominio pleno

Dominio Pleno

El Chico

Emiliano Zapata

(Veracruz)

• Conversion to DP (urbanizationand rising land values)

• Ejido losing original meaning • Subdivision and sale of ejido

parcels (urbanization primary driver)

• Considering dissolving ejido• Many land sales

32%

65%

1% 2%

Parceled

Common-use

Urban

Other

Land Tenure Status (Area) Nationally (2007)

By 1992 number of Ejidos exceeded 30,000


June 2014

Level of Parcelization

0 20 40 60 80 100

VERACRUZ

TABASCO

COLIMA

TLAXCALA

CHIAPAS

MÉXICO

TAMAULIPAS

MORELOS

GUANAJUATO

MICHOACÁN

HIDALGO

AGUASCALIENTES

PUEBLA

SINALOA

BAJA CALIFORNIA

GUERRERO

JALISCO

NAYARIT

OAXACA

QUERÉTARO

ZACATECAS

SAN LUIS POTOSÍ

NUEVO LEÓN

CAMPECHE

COAHUILA

YUCATÁN

SONORA

DISTRITO FEDERAL

CHIHUAHUA

DURANGO

QUINTANA ROO

BAJA CALIFORNIA…

Percentage Ejido Area

Parceled by State (2007)

(National Average = 40%)

0 10.000 20.000 30.000 40.000 50.000 60.000

VERACRUZ

TLAXCALA

GUANAJUATO

HIDALGO

MÉXICO

PUEBLA

TABASCO

AGUASCALIENTES

DISTRITO FEDERAL

QUERÉTARO

CHIAPAS

MICHOACÁN

MORELOS

TAMAULIPAS

COLIMA

JALISCO

SAN LUIS POTOSÍ

SINALOA

YUCATÁN

ESTADOS UNIDOS MEXICANOS

NUEVO LEÓN

GUERRERO

ZACATECAS

OAXACA

NAYARIT

SONORA

DURANGO

COAHUILA

CAMPECHE

QUINTANA ROO

CHIHUAHUA

BAJA CALIFORNIA

BAJA CALIFORNIA SUR

Average Area (ha)

per Ejido (2007)

(National Average = 3,362 ha)


June 2014

Legal Framework

Agrarian Law (1992)

Constitution (Art. 27) of 1992

Civil Code (Libro 4 – 2000)

Regulations – Planning of Rural

Properties (2012)

Regulations – Promotion of

Organization and Development of

Female Small Farmers (1998)

Regulations – Certification of Ejidal

Rights and Titling of Urban Lots (1993)

Organic Law - Federal Public Administration (2012)

General Law - Human Settlements (1993)

Technical Norms - Delimitation of

Land inside Ejidos (2008)

Organic Law – Agrarian Tribunals (1998)

Regulations (Interior) – Agrarian

Tribunals (1992)


Reform Secretariat (1995)


Attorney’s Office (1996)

Regulations (Interior) – National

Agrarian Registry (1997)

Regulations (Interior) – Land

Tenure Regularization Commission (1995)

Regulations – State and

Municipal levels

Internal Regulations (Ejido) XXV International Federation of Surveyors Congress, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 16 – 21

June 2014

Original Property Documents

Original Ejido Title

Ejido Tlalmimilolpan

Agrarian Rights Certificate

Ejido San Miguel Atlautla


June 2014

Products of Certification Process

Internal Plan

Urban Lot Plan

Common-use Land Plan

Individual Parcel Plan

Human Settlement Plan

Common-Use Land Certificate

Parcel Certificate Urban Lot Title


June 2014

Characteristics of Ejidatarios

80%

20%

Gender of All Ejidatarios (2007)

1 1

16

45

54 57

36

7

24-30 31-43 44-53 54-63 64-73 74-83 84-93 94-103

Mozomboa Ejidatarios

Age Distribution (2003)

04

10

2124 25

11

6

24-30 31-43 44-53 54-63 64-73 74-83 84-93 94-103

Los Molinos Ejidatarios

Age Distribution (2000)

74%

26%

Ejidatarios vs Possessors (2007)

Ejidatarios

Male


June 2014

Property Registration Systems

EJIDO

NATIONAL

AGRARIAN

REGISTRY

(RAN)

Registry

Book

Issue New

Certificates (adverse

possession) (sales)

Approve General

Plan

Issue Parcel

Certificate

Issue Common-use

Certificate

Approve Internal

Plan

Technical

Norms

Issue New DP Title

Technical

Assistance

Internal

Regulations

List of Successors

General Assembly

Minutes

Land Use Contracts

(with 3rd Parties)

Sell Parcels

Convert to DP

Sell Membership

Private Property

Registry

State

Offices


June 2014

Evolution of Ejidos

• Approx. 7-10% of ejidos have converted to private property• Why have they converted?

� Rising land values due to urbanization� Maximizing payment when expropriation imminent� Land near tourism areas� Leave (will) to multiple successors

Urban

zone

Urban

zone

Urban

zone


June 2014

Factors Contributing to Evolution

[Adapted from: Barsimantov, DiGiano, Barnes, and Racelis (2010)]

NAFTAExternally

funded Programs

Age

PROCEDE

Extreme weather events


June 2014

Lessons - Positive

• Title over community provided protective shell

• Standardized governance template

• Specific pro-poor registry for communities• Communal land has preserved natural resources which provide

valuable environmental services (e.g. clean water)


June 2014

Lessons - Negative

• Residents and possessors do not have a direct voice in community Governance

• Inter-generational transfer issues• Many community members do not distinguish between title and usufruct

certificates (land market in both)• Registry structure is not easily accessible (recent initiatives address this)• Policy change to allow private individual property has not integrated community

members in the larger economy


June 2014