Establishing and strengthening land institutions, especially those that support administration of new types of land rights, may require more than MCC’s five year implementation timeline. Long-term sustainability and efficient land administration may require a closer look at financial sustainability and direct coordination with other actors post compact. The evaluation found that the project succeeded in inciting demand for land rights and related processing of those rights during the Compact; however, the processing and related supply of those land rights required additional support post compact. In the three areas of the Delta studied, the final evaluation found that sustained demand for land titles was met with support from the World Bank’s Projet de Développement Inclusif et Durable de l’agribusiness au Sénégal (PDIDAS) program. From the start of support from the PDIDAS program in 2018, the land bureau in Gandon was able to process more land rights applications than in the post-compact years of 2016 and 2017. However, land managers expressed concern that when the PDIDAS program ends in mid-2021, some aspects of the land systems will no longer be maintained, and applications will not be processed as quickly. MCC should carefully consider who will take up the funding, maintenance, and continued operation of land institutions.
Lesson Learned