(Ecofin Agency) - The Friedrich Naumann Foundation has decided to get involved in the battle led by Ivorian authorities to secure their lands. It has in this framework organized last Nov. 10 its “Jeudis libéraux” meeting which was a conference on the theme “Private property, rural land tenure and development”.

According to Fraternité Matin, the conference falls in line with the “How to establish rural land tenure system in Cote d’Ivoire?” project which aims to, as indicated by the head of the programme, Magloire N’Dehi, make sure that “populations themselves become actors of the land tenure system”.

In the long term, the project will assist villagers in identifying their plots and getting deed. Edouard N’Cho, deputy director of rural land at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, present at the conference assured that the government would do everything to simplify land registration process and allow Ivoirians to secure a property, protected by a new rule that grants nationals exclusive ownership over agricultural lands.

Souha Touré