Facilitating Access to Land for Victims of Armed Conflict
Background Narrative
The National Land Agency, or Agencia Nacional de Tierras (ANT), started operations in February 2016 under the Government of Colombia to address, among other land issues, the post-conflict challenges of rural development and implementation of peace agreements. ANT implements the government’s territory ordering policies, facilitating access to land as a means of fostering development, ensuring legal security, fostering land use in compliance with social objectives, and administering and disposing of territories owned by Colombia. When its predecessor was dismantled in 2015, reparations processes came to a halt, leaving victims of the armed conflict, who were waiting for their land subsidies in limbo.
Through the Support for Land Formalization and Agriculture project, ACDI/VOCA is working with ANT to address the administrative and legal bottlenecks of the land subsidy programs. The project works with families throughout 19 departments to participate in the ANT subsidy programs, which enable them to purchase land and establish sustainable livelihoods. In coordination with the Program of Alliances for Reconciliation (PAR), ACDI/VOCA is also developing the projects human and social capital strengthening component by ensuring strategies for emotional recovery at individual and group levels. These activities contribute to communities regaining trust in GOC interventions, which address sensitive issues relating to victims’ reparations through land formalization and livelihood projects.
Project Objectives
- Support families affected by the armed conflict to purchase land through ANT’s subsidy programs
- Facilitate the successful insertion of these families and communities into the national economy by increasing their land productivity through sustainable agricultural livelihood projects
Project Activities and Approaches
- Work hand-in-hand with the families through strategies for emotional recovery at individual and group levels in an effort to rebuild the social fabric
- Support the review of property documents for each case submitted to ANT through our group of legal and land tenure specialists
- Work with families and communities to design rural livelihood projects. This includes conducting socioeconomic assessments and providing technical assistance to increase productivity by introducing technology, organizational administration models, and business plans. This will serve as a guide for families and communities to take advantage of the full potential of their land.
Anticipated/Achieved Project Results
- 3058 families received assistance through the program
- 508 cases submitted to the subsidy programs
- 628 potential land sellers evaluated in the subsidy program
- 430 assessments of potential plots to be purchased
- 441 people benefitted from livelihood projects
- 64 families successfully completed the process to purchase land
Funder: Government of Colombia’s Department of Social Prosperity
Contact: Yamil A. Roger Nasser at yroger@acdivoca.org
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