INTRODUCING TECHNOLOGY INTO OUR LAND POLICIES

 Africa, including the Kingdom of Eswatini, needs to start maximising and commercialising the benefits of land and property rights.  Across most of the world, land and associated property account for more than half of people’s assets. Following the hullabaloo by Donald Trump, I feel we need to talk more about the land we have. Maximising the benefits flow from these assets starts with proper registration and transferability of ownership and use rights, such rights ensure that emaSwati can have the financial incentive to invest in affordable housing and productive jobs in a safe and healthy environment.

Land policies that allow emaSwati farmers and entrepreneurs to invest, insure their harvests against shocks and diversify their income sources. Such policies will also allow governments to plan land use, tax property to raise domestic revenue and manage public land to provide sustained local benefits. These same policies can develop the imiphakatsi and Bobabe Tikhulu (local chiefs) to earn a decent living and benefit from the land they manage.

The current landscape of land rights in Africa

Land is the most important aspect of any society, yet Africans have held on to this communal belief that land is for all to be used and left for the next generation. What a noble-sounding belief, when in reality, most of the African land is not used to its fullest commercial value and the rest is left to the descendants of white colonialists or the richest politically connected black families. Strangely, to this day most of the land not taken by the above-mentioned groups is still held by traditional authorities with no commercial value.

A World Bank blog states that less than five per cent of agricultural land and at most 25 per cent of urban land in African countries have documented rights. At least 70 per cent of those rights are held exclusively by men.  This lack of documented rights and the perceived corruption in the system create significant barriers to the equitable use and transfer of land, hindering economic growth and development.

Utilising digital technologies

The Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology, under the capable leadership of Minister Savanah Maziya, has started to introduce digital technologies which will bring multiple advantages. For example, by linking digital IDs and e-signatures, the quality of records can be improved and even linked to property and land ownership. Landowner’s information including ownership at national land can be obtained digitally, eliminating intermediaries for contracting or resource transfers in rural settings. Finally, remote sensing imagery can make spatial delineation of use or ownership rights more viable by helping land users establish a track record and allowing private contracts and public programs to be made contingent on land use patterns over time.

Satellite survey remote sensing utilises satellite imagery, which has been processed using commercial geographic information system software. ‘Land surveying digitally via satellite imagery’ refers to the process of using satellite images captured from space to collect data about the Earth’s surface, enabling the creation of accurate digital maps of a land area without physically being on the ground, essentially conducting a land survey using remote sensing technology. These can be used to resolve land disputes and map out land ownership when the person is given the land kukhonta.

Policy reforms for better land management

Better recording of rights is necessary, but not sufficient to harness the benefits of land assets. The World Bank report on Land Policies for Resilient and Equitable Growth in Africa, outlines reforms that countries can tackle to help sustain those benefits. These include:

• Strengthening legal frameworks: Establishing clear and enforceable laws that govern land rights, including inheritance and transfer processes, to ensure that all individuals have equal access to land. This needs to be done within the African context.

• Improving land administration services: Investing in modern land administration systems that use digital technologies to streamline registration and transfer processes, reducing costs, reducing disputes and increasing transparency.

• Promoting gender equality in land rights: Implementing policies that explicitly protect the land rights of women and other marginalised groups, ensuring that they can participate fully in the economy.

• Encouraging community participation: Involving local communities in land management decisions to ensure that policies reflect their needs and priorities and fostering a sense of ownership and responsibility.

• Enhancing land use planning: Developing comprehensive land use plans that balance economic, social and environmental objectives, and provide a framework for sustainable development.

• Increasing access to finance: Creating financial products and services that enable landowners to use their property as collateral for loans, facilitating investment in agriculture and other sectors. In Eswatini, we need leaseholds for Eswatini Nation Land.

• Building Capacity: Training government officials, land administrators and community leaders in best practices for land management and administration.

Conclusion

Achieving resilient and equitable growth in Eswatini requires a comprehensive approach to land policies that address both the technical and social dimensions of land management. There is still a long way to go with regards to land policy, as the chiefs who play a critical role have to first be empowered and brought into the proposed eGovernment system. By leveraging digital technologies, implementing effective policy reforms and promoting inclusive participation, Eswatini can unlock the full potential of her land assets and create a more prosperous and equitable future for all her citizens.

We can start by using the tinkhundla centres, which we are told now have internet excess and create systems that will mean every time a person is given land (kukhonta) he or she is allocated coordinates of the land which will be linked to his or her ID. The path forward is clear, and with concerted effort and collaboration, started by the minister for ITC and the support of His Majesty the King, the prime minister, his Cabinet and Parliament, the benefits of land ownership and use can be realised across the country.

Digital addresses

A ‘digital address’ is a unique, alphanumeric code that represents a physical location using GPS coordinates, essentially providing a precise virtual address that can be easily shared and used for navigation, particularly in situations where traditional street addresses might be inaccurate or unavailable; it often includes elements like region, district and a unique identifier within that area, allowing for precise location pinpointing. This dream is more possible than one may think. Minister Savannah Maziya was talking about introducing digital addresses, which will have a digital location that can be retrieved via satellite. This includes even the rural areas and every part of the kingdom.

Comment: septembereswatini@gmail.com

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