Saving and improving lives in the world’s toughest places. Successes and Setbacks: Mediating Land...
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Saving and improving lives in the world’s toughest places. Saving and improving lives in the world’s toughest places. Successes and Setbacks: Mediating Land Conflicts in Rural Guatemala
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Transcript of Saving and improving lives in the world’s toughest places. Successes and Setbacks: Mediating Land...
Saving and improving lives in the world’s toughest places.Saving and improving lives in the world’s toughest places.
Successes and Setbacks:
Mediating Land Conflicts in Rural Guatemala
Saving and improving lives in the world’s toughest places.
GUATEMALA LAND CONFLICT CONTEXT2015 World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty
Violence in rural Guatemala often results from disputes over land, which is central to people’s livelihoods and identity
Land registry title errors, competing ownership claims, and land legislation rarely favor isolated and disenfranchised indigenous communities despite historical ties to the land
Mercy Corps has partnered with local organizations since 2003 to promote peaceful solutions to agrarian conflict
Land mediation is core part of larger effort that also aims to boost agricultural productivity and economic development
Saving and improving lives in the world’s toughest places.
Violent land conflict
LAND CONFLICT AS PART OF A LARGER SYSTEM
GovernanceEcological
Socio-cultural Economic
Figure 1
Rugged terrain, flooding, and limited productive land
Weak governmental capacity to resolve competing claims and issue land titles; legal process slow, expensive, and inaccessible
Marginalization of indigenous communities, historical use of violence to resolve land issues
Lack of secure landholdings and scarce technical assistance hamper productivity and livelihoods
Saving and improving lives in the world’s toughest places.
LAND CONFLICT RESOLUTION CHAIN OF IMPACT
Underlying causes of conflict addressed / grievances reduced
Land conflicts mediated
Improved relationships and reduced violence
2015 World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty
Saving and improving lives in the world’s toughest places.
MEDIATION SUCCESS
WOULD RECOMMEND THE MEDIATION
PROCESS TO OTHERS
95%
SAY BOTH PARTIES COMPLIED WITH
AGREEMENT TERMS
SAY THEY WERE “VERY SATISFIED” WITH THE MEDIATION PROCESS
92%86%
% of mediation participants who…
Based on interviews conducted in October 2014 by Mercy Corps and local partner organizations with families involved in 42 land mediation cases (as a representative sample of 700 successful mediation efforts) in Alta Verapaz and El Quiché
Figure 3
Saving and improving lives in the world’s toughest places.
BIGGEST COMMUNITY IMPACT: LIVING PEACEFULLYWhat general impact, if any, has your community experienced between the start of the mediation process and now, as a result of the mediation?
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
We can now use land (e.g.,
grow crops)
No impact
Access to the land, construction
of a school, etc.
Legal documentation
of land possession
We live in peace, we’re
happy, etc.
52%
17% 14% 10% 7%
Based on interviews conducted in October 2014 by Mercy Corps and local partner organizations with families involved in 42 land mediation cases (as a representative sample of 700 successful mediation efforts) in Alta Verapaz and El Quiché
Figure 4
Saving and improving lives in the world’s toughest places.
REDUCED VIOLENCE AND INCREASED TRUST
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
More trust now
Less violence now
What impact, if any, has the mediation process had on the levels of trust and violence between your community and the other party?
Based on interviews conducted in October 2014 by Mercy Corps and local partner organizations with families involved in 42 land mediation cases (as a representative sample of 700 successful mediation efforts) in Alta Verapaz and El Quiché
Figure 5
88%
97%
Saving and improving lives in the world’s toughest places.
SOME EXPANDED CULTIVATION
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
21%
10%
12%7%2%
(12%)
Are there crops you can plant currently as a result of this process that you couldn’t plant previously? Which ones?
No / not applicable
Cardamom
5%Other
Do you sell crops that you didn’t sell before? Which
crops?
Cardamom
Fruits
Basic grains
Basic grains
Based on interviews conducted in October 2014 by Mercy Corps and local partner organizations with families involved in 42 land mediation cases (as a representative sample of 700 successful mediation efforts) in Alta Verapaz and El Quiché
Figure 6
Other 19%
36%
No / not applicable
76%
12%
FruitsBasic grains
64%
Saving and improving lives in the world’s toughest places.
LIMITED AGRICULTURAL BENEFITS
FARMING AREA IS LARGER THAN
BEFORE
29%
GREATER PRODUCTIVITY THAN
BEFORE
26%
% of participants who say their family or community has realized agricultural benefits from Mercy Corps’ efforts
Based on interviews conducted in October 2014 by Mercy Corps and local partner organizations with families involved in 42 land mediation cases (as a representative sample of 700 successful mediation efforts) in Alta Verapaz and El Quiché
Figure 7
Saving and improving lives in the world’s toughest places.
LIMITED ACCESS TO NEW SERVICES
16%
14%
70%
Access to credit only
Access to technical assistance onlyNo
“Do you have access to other services like credit or technical assistance that you didn’t have previously?”
Based on interviews conducted in October 2014 by Mercy Corps and local partner organizations with families involved in 42 land mediation cases (as a representative sample of 700 successful mediation efforts) in Alta Verapaz and El Quiché
Figure 8
Saving and improving lives in the world’s toughest places.
ONGOING CHALLENGES
26%
36%
12%
26%
Other / no response
Legal certification of land
Technical assistance / help with agriculture projects
“What are the biggest challenges your community faces today?”
Based on interviews conducted in October 2014 by Mercy Corps and local partner organizations with families involved in 42 land mediation cases (as a representative sample of 700 successful mediation efforts) in Alta Verapaz and El Quiché
Figure 9
Need more land
Saving and improving lives in the world’s toughest places.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE LAND CONFLICT MANAGEMENT WORK
2015 World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty
• Strengthen governmental capacity to resolve competing land claims and issue titles to promote economic growth through land tenure
• Augment farmers’ productivity with technical assistance
• Enhance and expand mediation approach in agrarian municipal offices (OMAs) and community development councils (COCODES)
• Replicate integrated approach to land conflict mediation beyond Guatemala
