Land's Rich Tapestry Belies Difficulties
By Karen Free

'Perhaps the soul could remember a little of its origination, when people still belonged to the spirit of a place.' --Martin Pretchtel, Secrets of the Talking Jaguar

Land: Where would the human race live--literally--without it? Unless it's on water, all 6 billion of the earth's population either live on, below, or above soil. Land is tantamount to earthly existence, as essential as air and water.

"Land is the vital component in most people's lives and not just as a place to live," says Kurt Brown, communications director at the Land Tenure Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "To take rights to land for granted is not possible in most countries, where land usually is the key factor in daily survival.

"Although this is most obvious in developing countries, here in North America major populations such as African Americans, Appalachians, Latinos and Native Americans often suffer severely because of lack of fair access to land and its resources," he adds.

For these groups, there is a connectedness, an innate attachment to the land. For other groups, such as urban and suburban dwellers or the frequently mobile, the relationship with the land is usually that of renter or property holder.

"Land has no value in the United States except for the use it is put to," says Nic Retsinas, director of the Joint Center of Housing Studies at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. "This period of remarkable prosperity in this country has put the cost of land at a premium.

"What's changing is that in the past, land was a given. But today, with restrictions placed on it due to population growth, environmental concerns and urban sprawl, acquiring land becomes a barrier to overcome, not a factor to be taken for granted," he says.

Few obstacles other than lack of access to land have the ability to stall Habitat for Humanity's goal of eliminating substandard housing worldwide.

As land becomes more scarce and costly, Habitat affiliates must seek creative solutions in acquiring it.

As an example, HFH of Metro Louisville in Louisville, Ky., generally purchases lots for $100 each from the city's surplus property list, or from the Land Bank Authority for $1 per lot. However, because the lots are narrow (26 to 28 feet wide) and the affiliate needs a minimum of 30-foot-wide lots, it needs to purchase contiguous sites in order to meet that requirement. Then the cumbersome replatting process begins, working with city government to satisfy the requirements of altering street addresses and related changes that affect fire, police, ambulance and sewer services.

Other examples include Atlanta, Ga., and New York City. In Atlanta, the Land Bank Authority acquires real estate for reuse for affordable housing through the waiving of delinquent taxes on dilapidated and abandoned property. And in New York City, both the housing authority and the city give sites to HFH New York City in support of its work.

Elsewhere in the world, land issues are even more challenging. Jonathan Landeck--an environmental and agriculture program specialist with the Peace Corps in Washington, D.C.--says: "Peoples' affinity for land isn't that much different around the world. They just need some kind of property to better their lives," he says, referring to developing countries where the greatest land issues are access to land, security of land tenure and sustainability.

"Land issues are complex and can vary depending on the local culture, political situation, gender biases and more," says LTC's Kurt Brown.

In Kenya, for example, pressure for land is enormous due to high population growth coupled with the vast amount of land reserved for national parks and animals. In India, where land is privately owned, affiliates need outside funding sources to help purchase land for construction.

In the Central American country of Belize, where more than 90 percent of the country is forested and more than half the population lives in rural areas, lack of land for cultivation is an issue.

Even if barriers to land access are cleared, there are often complex and difficult land tenure and land security issues to sort through. Some are based on laws, others on gender equality.

In Mexico, croplands are granted to individual families who cannot sell, lease, or mortgage the land. Heirs may receive rights to the land but these may be lost if the land is not cultivated for two consecutive years.

In Africa, traditional and modern laws favor male ownership and control of land. African women usually lose the rights to land following the death of their spouse.

Additionally, some laws bar women from acquiring or disposing of land without their husband's consent.

In India, daughters usually waive their land rights in favor of their brothers, to avoid being denounced as selfish, or to avoid being alienated from their families.

And in Latin America, men and women generally do not have equal access to land even in those countries where legislation has removed gender barriers to land ownership. Access to land and other property usually takes place through a male relative.

Habitat's international board of directors is studying new methods to assist affiliates in both the United States and around the world to acquire land. In the United States, the board is considering ways to work with land bank authorities to set aside land for future use by affiliates who lack the resources necessary to buy such land as it becomes available.

In spite of all the challenges, difficulties and constraints, Habitat for Humanity is making progress in eliminating substandard and poverty housing. But there is a long way to go.

The key to any of its successes begins first with prayer, and second, with land.


Karen Free is associate editor of Habitat World.





Reprinted from Habitat World Magazine, August/September 2000.
This article may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
©2000 Habitat for Humanity International