Quarterly Report Y3Q2 (July 1 to September 30, 2015) ERC Quarterly Report (January 1–March 31, 2016)

The purpose of ERC is to create, expand, and communicate the results of evidence-based knowledge around best practices in land tenure and property rights (LTPR). ERC aims to enhance internal USAID and external U.S. government learning, guide program design and implementation, and make the most effective use of limited development resources to accomplish key USG development objectives. The project activities support the achievement of USAID's Climate Change and Development Strategy under Strategic Objective 1, Intermediate Result 1.2, which includes ensuring the rights and engagement of local and indigenous communities in conjunction with a focus on improving tools and capacity for land-use planning to reduce deforestation. ERC also supports biodiversity conservation through collection and dissemination of evidence-based knowledge on how secure LTPR can incentivize sustainable land use and protection of valuable ecosystems, including forests within them. ERC employs a multidisciplinary approach that aligns with USAID Forward principles of learning and evidence-based programming as well as gender equality and female empowerment. The project includes five task areas: impact evaluation, research, communication of LTPR-related messages, training of USAID staff and partners, and conducting pilot activities of promising innovative approaches in LTPR. During the quarter of Year 3, ERC's work focused on preparing research and communications materials presented at the 2016 Annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty (WBC). This included developing and finalizing four papers, supporting three master classes, staffing the main USAID booth, and supporting the USAID MAST booth at the Innovation Fair. ERC also began data collection for the Ethiopia Land Administration to Nurture Development project (LAND) IE in the Afar region and held a webinar on Land Rights and Technology with over 300 participants. ERC continued support to its two pilot projects: the Mobile Application to Secure Tenure (MAST) project in Tanzania and the National Land Observatory (NLO) in Burkina Faso. During this quarter, ERC supported E3/Land as it issued a Call for Expressions of Interest (EOI) to engage in the co-creation of Public-Private Partnerships to support Responsible Land-Based Investments. Under Task 1, ERC worked to incorporate comments from external reviewers and completed revisions to the Ethiopia Strengthening Land Tenure and Administration Program (ELTAP) / Ethiopia Land Administration Program (ELAP) IE Endline Report. A final version of the report will be submitted early in the next quarter. Under Task 2, ERC made significant progress on baseline report drafting and on developing data packages for DDL clearance and public posting. ERC submitted the Community-based Forest Management Program (CFP) IE Baseline Report and dataset package for review. The Community Land Protection Program (CLPP) Baseline Report was also submitted for review. The LAND/Oromia IE Baseline Report and data package for public posting were finalized.