Securing Livelihoods and Land Tenure in Rural Myanmar

In the context of transition to a more open form of government, the Myanmar government has begun to liberalize land markets and, in 2012, enacted two major land-related laws. Implementing these new land laws has proven challenging, however, as it has been difficult to integrate these laws with the existing customary practices of various ethnic minorities. To address these and other issues UN-HABITAT Myanmar is assisting the Myanmar government in developing a Land Administration and Management Program (LAMP). As part of this process, the SIPA team conducted a detailed study on customary land tenure in the southern area of Myanmar’s Shan State with a focus on three ethnic groups: the Shan, Pa-o and Danu. The goal of the study was to present UN-HABITAT Myanmar and the Myanmar government with needed information on three topics: 1) prevailing ideas on best practices in land management and registration procedures, 2) successful and unsuccessful land management practices in comparable countries in the region, and 3) the current status of customary land tenure and of the implementation process of the new land laws in Southern Shan State.

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