A group of 290 Colombian farmers from the Southern Tolima region
of  south-central Colombia are today receiving ownership
titles to the land they work and live on, after participating in
Colombia´s first major land validation project, which was
designed and is being implemented by IOM.

Since the project began in 2009, farmers in this region have
received 533 land titles.  Most were property of the State,
but Colombian Law establishes that farmers who have lived on the
land for more than ten years can claim ownership and obtain title.
In other cases, farmers had inherited the land from their parents
or grandparents but had never carried out the formal process of
obtaining title to the estate.

IOM officials working on the project travelled to the
municipalities, identified informal properties and interviewed
farmers to encourage them to participate in the project in order to
receive title to their land.

Most of the farmers told IOM staff that they had not formalized
the tenancy of their land due to not knowing the importance of
possessing a formal title to their property, the costs involved,
and the lengthy procedures.

Most Colombian farmers do not hold a formal property title of
their land.  According to the Rural Property Formalization
Program of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development,
approximately 48 per cent of the country´s rural properties,
or more than 1.7 million farmers, do not have formal
ownership. 

The lack of titles has made it easier for illegal armed groups
to grab land from farmers.  More than 360,000 families have
lost their land to the hands of armed groups, and the government
created the Land Restitution Program to help them. It hopes to hand
back more than two million hectares to the victims of violence.

With the title to their property, farmers participating in this
project will be able to access credits, subsidies and assistance
offered by the agricultural sector to promote the development of
productive projects.  Possessing a formal title will also
prevent dispossession in areas controlled by illegal armed groups,
which is the case in Southern Tolima.

“The Southern Tolima project taught all participating
organizations that major land formalization processes are very
effective when farmers are directly approached by the
institutions.  The promotion of formal land tenancy in
Colombia will bring great benefits to the communities and the
country as a whole,” says IOM Colombia Chief of Mission
Marcelo Pisani.

Based on the lessons learned during this process, IOM and USAID
have decided to support the Ministry of Agriculture in the
development of major land formalization projects in four other
municipalities, benefitting approximately 3,800 farmers.

The initiative, funded by the United States Agency for
International Development (USAID), was supported by the Colombian
Institute for Rural Development (INCODER), the government entity in
charge of land access and productive development policies.

For more information, please contact 

Jorge Gallo

IOM Colombia

Tel: +57 1 6397777 Ext. 1219

Email: "mailto:jgallo@iom.int">jgallo@iom.int