EASTERN PROVINCE

KIREHE — The land registration in the country will help thousands of small scale farmers in villages get out of poverty, the miniter of Natural Resources said.

The new Rwanda Land Tenure Reform Programme involves identifying, registering, demarcating and provision of title deeds which give residents full rights and legal ownership of land.

"The reform has registered success in the pilot districts (Kirehe, Karongi and Musanze) and it will spread to other districts country-wide to ensure that all land owners have legal ownership,” Stanislas Kamanzi said during his recent visit to Kirehe. 

"After farmers and businessmen are certain of their land rights, they will be more confident to invest on their plots. This will have many advantages such as increased crop yields and incomes for small scale farmers. And it will also reduce land disputes among residents,” he added. He said the programme will be rolled out to all parts of the country by 2013.

Kirehe residents who talked to The New Times sounded optimistic about the land reforms.

Siprian Gahororo, a resident of Mwoga cell, who had just received a temporary land title, said the land tenure reform programme will prevent environmental degradation and reduce land disputes among residents.

"We have in the past had land disputes, but proper demarcations of plots will help us live in harmony, it will also help us to take good care of our land. We are happy and we directly took part in the process especially in the identification and demarcation exercise,” he said.  

Gahororo, said violence and constant land wrangles have previously rocked the cell because many farmers could not respect boundaries.

"The maps are very clear and we have copies clearly showing the original plot boundaries, I’m optimistic there will be no more land disputes,” he said.

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