Training on Best Practices for Land Tenure and Natural Resource Governance in Latin America

Development practitioners need to understand and communicate how property rights issues change as economies move through various stages of growth, democratization, and in some cases from war to peace. These changes require different property rights reform strategies and sequencing to foster further economic growth, sound resource use, and political stability. The lack of secure and negotiable property rights is one of the most critical limiting factors to achieving economic growth and democratic governance throughout the developing world. Insecure or weak property rights have negative impacts on economic investment and growth, governance and the rule of law, environment and sustainable resource use, and biodiversity and sustainable resource exploitation. At the same time, robust and secure rights can promote economic growth, good governance, and sustainable use of land, forests, water, and other natural resources. USAID is making a strategic commitment to developing a stronger, more robust policy for addressing property rights reform in countries where it operates. The Property Rights and Resource Governance Project (PRRGP) is a five-year initiative implemented by Tetra Tech ARD, with the goal of expanding analytical methodologies, tools, and training on property rights issues. The project aims to refine and scale up the use of property rights tools in response to emerging issues and needs, and to refine knowledge management systems to integrate and spur two-way flows of information between training, tools, and policy interventions. The PRRGP's mission is to build the capacity of US government staff and host country counterparts to effectively address property rights and resource governance issues. Training is a central component of the PRRGP strategy, with more than 20% of the core budget dedicated to training of USG staff and courses in four USAID regions of support. The project's objectives include expanding analytical methodologies, refining and scaling up the use of property rights tools, refining knowledge management systems, and continuing and expanding technical assistance on property rights and resource governance. The PRRGP Task Order is managed by Tetra Tech ARD, on behalf of USAID, and is a mechanism of the USAID/Economic Growth, Agriculture, and Trade Division/Natural Resources Management/Land Resources Management Team. Dr. Gregory Myers is the Task Order's operating Contracting Officer's Technical Representative (COTR). The project was launched in September 2008 and is expected to be completed by September 11, 2012.