ABSTRACT
Routine use of evidence-based and data-driven approaches to design and implement land programs set proper incentives, support global benchmarking, and strengthen local analytical capacity. Economic development involves specialization and a move of part of the labor force out of the agricultural sector, creating heterogeneity in skills and scope for efficiency-enhancing land transfers. A system of property rights to land that allows unambiguous low-cost identification of landowners is part of countries' institutional infrastructure. Having land ownership documented unambiguously provides the basis for efficiency-enhancing land rental transactions to support structural transformation and growth of the rural nonfarm economy. Land rental has long promoted farm productivity and structural transformation in Africa, raising land-constrained farm households' income, and allowing labor to move out of agriculture without forsaking their assets and the safety net their land provides. Hans Binswanger broke new ground by demonstrating that benefits from secure land rights and good land governance can be large, pro-poor, and multifaceted for many reasons.
