Agricultural land rights and title security in Honduras

This study describes the rural land tenure system in Honduras and analyzes the effects of title and transfer reforms on land markets among small landholders. It evaluates smallholders' responses to a land titling program and associated legal and administrative changes in the structure of property documentation.;The study consisted of field surveys and case studies using both parcel and landholder units of analysis. Survey data were collected for the evaluation of the Small Farmer Land Titling Project (PTT), an evaluation conducted under the supervision of the Land Tenure Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison between 1983 and 1988. Work was carried out in the departments of Santa Barbara and Ocotepeque.;The land tenure status of small-scale cultivators was analyzed historically and related to current programs of the National Agrarian Institute (INA). An exhaustive examination was made of reasons of why smallholders favor transfers using customary practices.;The study concluded the following: (1) Campesino land rights continue to be based primarily on customary practices and personal trust. (2) Recognition of title in practice means legal right to exclusive use. Customary title represents acknowledgment by the community of possession and is treated as ownership for purposes of transfer among peasants. As rural people begin to participate more in the market economy, formal, State-run methods of transfer become more important. (3) Legal institutions to provide practical security of possession are just beginning to be developed for small-farm cultivators. The problem with most practices thus far developed is that they are complex, remote, costly, difficult to access, and lacking in legal clarity and security.;The study supports the claim that improving land tenure security is an important step toward more effective rural development. Some changes are needed to improve PTT procedures and practices: (1) PTT's regulations for land transfers should be eased and enforced under a simple and more cost-effective process; (2) INA must be decentralized and should simplify the system for registration of transfers; and (3) titling categories should be unified into a fee simple title system.