Pairing Land Issues with Rural Economic Development 

Limited land governance and administration in rural areas has fueled Colombia's conflict and hampered communities' ability to maximize their agricultural economic potential. USAID's Land and Rural Development Program (LRDP) strengthens the capacity of Colombian institutions - at the national and regional levels - to implement land restitution and the broader land policy agenda, such as land formalization and governance. However, addressing land issues is insufficient and unsustainable if it is not paired with socioeconomic opportunities for communities transitioning out of conflict. 

Integrated support to land and rural development advances U.S. strategic interests by resolving issues at the heart of Colombia's conflict, generating the conditions for sustainable economic development, promoting public and private sector investment, and expanding state presence in conflict-affected regions.

How do we create opportunities through land tenure?

• Working with 57 municipal and 6 departmental governments to create more inclusive development plans, access and mobilize national funds for agriculture and infrastructure projects, and facilitate partnerships and investments in key value chains to improve the economic well being of rural households, with special attention to restituted families and land titling beneficiaries.
• Facilitating Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to ensure long-term sustainability. The public sector funding comes from Colombian entities at the national, departmental, and municipal levels and not from USAID. To date, the PPPs have committed over $31 millionwith 94 partners and benefited nearly 11,400 producers.  
  
  
• Mobilizing a total of $65.9 million from the public and private sectors to improve productivity and access to public infrastructure services.
• Supporting land parcels titling for public use, such as health centers and schools, to unlock investments for social development that cannot be made without a formal title.
• Supporting Government of Colombia efforts to restitute land to victims of conflict, providing citizens with legal land ownership, facilitating inputs to legislation to do massive titling, setting up technology that will speed up restitution and formalization, ensuring that women and ethnic communities benefit from these policies that land and rural development interventions comply with environmental regulations.

For every dollar $1 invested by LRDP,
USAID has mobilized $23 from the public and private sectors
to further land and rural development.