Tanzania Demand for Documentation Study: Who Pays for Land Documents, and Why?

Despite strong evidence on the importance of land documentation, governments are often constrained financially and otherwise in their ability to map and title property at scale. This raises the question: is it appropriate for governments, civil society, donors, and private sector companies to charge landholders for first-time land registration, instead of providing this service for free? And, if landholders are charged for land documents, are they willing and able to pay?

This study, produced by FLH with support from USAID's Integrated Natural Resource Management activity, attempts to answer these questions by examining the results of a USAID-funded land registration activity that provided over 100,000 land registration certificates in rural Tanzanian villages. For the first four years of the activity, landholders received their land documents for free; for the last two years, they were asked to contribute a $13 fee.

The change allows us to examine why some villagers chose to pay to receive land documents, why others did not, and what factors influenced their ability and willingness to pay.