Most farmers in Madagascar do not have title deeds for their land. This leads to conflicts over land and to irresponsible land use, resulting in the degradation of natural resources. Only since the land reform of 2006, the power to administer land rights was delegated to the communal level and now municipalities can provide land certificates to their citizens. This local service is cost-efficient and citizen-friendly, i.e. within reach of the farmers.

The main objective of the project is to provide land certificates to the farmers in the intervention zone of the erosion control programme (PLAE) in order to secure sustainably the areas that have been protected by the farmers who cooperate with the programme. Communal land certification offices are being installed in the communal offices and the project assures their set-up, the training of staff and the operation of the service. Financial sustainability of the services is assured by an integrated framework of communal finances, fees for land certification and land taxes, implemented according to the principles of good governance.