Right and Value

In developing countries, it is almost impossible to determine fair values for rural land. That’s because traditional valuation approaches – like the comparable sales method – don’t work in thin markets, and don’t take into account environmental, social, and cultural value that communities place on their land.

As a result, households and communities are vulnerable to speculation, power struggles with government and the private sector, and missed opportunities to benefit from their natural capital. When faced with growing outside interest in their resources, rural residents might find themselves ill-equipped to defend their claims to continue using the land, or to negotiate fair compensation.

Indufor, in collaboration with the Omidyar Network, the Foundation for Ecological Security, and Ulster University, developed the Rural Valuation Tool, which enables communities to calculate the fair value of their land, on their terms, using the factors that matter most to them. The Rural Valuation Tool is a free app that integrates market and nonmarket methods to value a land parcel, incorporating tenure security assessments as a key component of the valuation.

This event will bring members of the land tenure, natural resource management, and investment community together to review initial lessons learned, and to explore new opportunities to use the tool to strengthen property rights. Indufor will demonstrate the Android app and share initial findings from field testing in Rajasthan, India. The learning report, Android app, and field manual for the tool will be shared.

Lunch will be served.

Speakers:

Peter Rabley 
Venture Partner, Omidyar Network 

Jeffrey Hatcher 
Managing Director, Indufor North America

Jagdeesh Rao 
Chief Executive, Foundation for Ecological Security

Mark Constantine 
Principal Strategist, Agribusiness & Forestry Department, International Finance Corporation

Ole Sand 
Managing Partner, Criterion Africa Partners 

Daphne Yin 
Consultant, Indufor North America 

Rachael Knight 
Senior Advisor, Community Land Protection Program 
Namati 

Moderators:

Michael Graglia 
Director of Future of Property Rights Initiative, New America Foundation 

Yuliya Panfil 
Associate, Investments, Omidyar Network

Development of the Rural Valuation Tool and this event are supported by Omidyar Network.