Ownership as a basis for land allocation

In order to build an economic base, make long-range plans and utilize maximum production capability, rural communities need a system of land allocation responsive to internal and external market needs. This is particularly true in communities where little land is available. At present, old patterns of land allocation in many communities prohibit economic growth. Such allocation is traditionally related to ownership rather than production. Much of the land is divided into small plots designed to produce the daily needs of one or more families, and not cultivated to produce crops for outside markets. The system of land caretakers when owners are away prohibits full use of some good productive land; and the complexity of land procurement and the tradition of short-range production schemes deter effective allocations. Ownership as the only relationship to land use thus serves to prohibit maximum productivity.

1. Tradition-bound land distribution
2. Private ownership

1. Unassigned public land
2. Idle private land
3. Absentee ownership

1. Unproductive utilization of plantation space
2. Underdeveloped potential of community basic resources
3. Short-term profit maximization
4. Limited available land
5. Limited availability of land for low-income and disadvantaged groups
6. Lack of legal standing
7. Insufficient pastureland
8. Expropriation of land from indigenous populations
9. Disrespect for the land
10. Disappearance of common land
11. Defective land use planning
12. Conflicting land rights

1. Unfocused design of community space
2. Inflexible property laws

1. Government imposition of rural cooperative projects
2. Absentee road ownership

1. Restricting land
2. Addressing problems of forced relocation of peasants onto marginal lands

1. Restriction
2. Land
3. Illegality