When it is the first-time formalizing land rights in the country, there is a steep learning curve as related institutions and procedures are established or strengthened. This leads to both longer implementation timelines, as well as higher sustainability risks. Projects should be scoped accordingly. Land Tenure Facilitation (LTF) originally was designed to work in 27 districts, but the scope was decreased to 9 districts by compact signing due to concerns around the five-year timeline constraints. During implementation, the LTF scope was decreased to two and then one district. One main issue was this was the first time that land was registered. As such, it took significant time to get the procedures developed, adopted, and implemented. Alternatively, in cases like Mozambique, Lesotho, and Cabo Verde, which had existing procedures in place for provision of DUATs (i.e., certificate of land rights), land leases, and titles, were able to complete large-scale formalization efforts during the compact period. These cases also were bolstered by having a contractor conduct the mapping and formalization process.
Future compacts when scoping first time land formalization efforts should consider the level of support and time necessary to establish these institutions and procedures, as well as to carry out related training and resolve issues that undoubtedly arise during first time rights registration. Pilot activities might be helpful prior to full rollout. For example, in Togo Threshold, MCC will pilot the land formalization effort before pursuing any largescale rollout. Similarly, in Indonesia there was a pilot period prior to rolling out village mapping at a larger scale, and in Burkina Faso, there was a pilot initiative setting up land administration offices prior to rolling out these procedures and institutions at a broad scale. However, this leads to timeline constraints on the second phase areas, especially as it relates to sustainability and fully training officials and building demand for formal land rights.