A Guide to the CSO Land Reform Monitoring Project
Created 10 August 2010

What is the CSO Land Reform Monitoring Project all about?
What are the project objectives?
Is this only a reporting activity?
Who will use the report?
What are the project outputs?
What are the common indicators to be used for monitoring?
Are we limited to the indicators mentioned above?
What is the Land Reform Development Report (LRDR)? How is it different from the Land Reform Development Index (LRDI)?
I am asked to comment on the indicators. What should I look at?
Do I need to answer all of the above questions?
What do you mean by “at which level/up to which level is the data available”?
When does monitoring actually begin?
I’d like to read more about this initiative. What documents are available? How can I access them?
Why do we need to post comments on the electronic bulletin board? Why can’t we just do it by email?
I’m excited, and would love to participate! How do I post a comment on the forum?

What is the CSO Land Reform Monitoring Project all about?

In a nutshell, the project will lay the groundwork for monitoring land reform and its implementation in various
Asian countries, looking at indicators on budgets, laws and policies and outcomes on land tenure and access to land.
The resulting country studies will be consolidated and synthesised into a Land Reform Development Report (LRDR).
The creation of a Land Reform Development Index (LRDI) is being explored for ease of comparability of countries’
performance in land reform. 

What are the project objectives?

The objectives of the monitoring initiative are to: a) enhance platforms, dialogue and common action on land-related
issues among CSOs, governments and IGOs, which are linked at national, regional and global levels; and b) develop CSOs’
capacity to monitor land tenure and access to land.

Is this only a reporting activity?

Far from it. The project seeks to be sustainable, and will extend beyond a one-off report. Monitoring is a critical
component of advocacy. By using the monitoring framework, CSOs should be able to move their land rights campaigns forward.
The project will provide a solid methodology for NGOs to further convince policy makers to dialogue on land issues, while
looking at other countries’ experiences, as part of the regional campaign. This initiative should help address the need
for more solid data on landlessness as well as the need for more solid analysis of NGOs to convince policy makers.

Who will use the report?

CSOs will use the monitoring initiative to help advance their campaigns. The target audience are governments and policy
makers in countries involved in the monitoring study. 

What are the project outputs?

At this initial stage, we are only producing as our main output a framework for the CSO Land Reform Development Report
(covering scope, indicators, methodology, mechanisms). This is a CSO monitoring report, not a “shadow report” of
governments’ reports. In time, when monitoring work is carried out, we will produce a CSO Land Reform Development Report
(LRDR) and potentially a Land Reform Development Index (LRDI) looking at 3 major areas – inputs and outcomes on land
tenure and access to land in various countries, also to be consolidated at the regional level.

What are the common indicators to be used for monitoring?

We are presently consulting with partners to identify common outcomes indicators at the regional level. These indicators
will be synthesised at the regional level for the LRDR/I.

Are we limited to the indicators mentioned above?

At the regional level, we have to look at common indicators to be able to compare across countries. This will also help
synthesise the data synthesis for a regional advocacy campaign and to inform dialogue with regional organisations.
However, at the country level, countries have free reign to come up with their own indicators, depending on which they
deem relevant. In addition, for the country studies, inputs (policies, laws, and the budget) relating to agrarian reform
and access to land, will be considered.

What is the Land Reform Development Report (LRDR)? How is it different from the Land Reform Development Index (LRDI)?

The Land Reform Development Report (LRDR) would be a regional report and will use the Land Reform Development Index (LRDI).
The standard report would be produced annually and would provide in-depth information on the results of the monitoring.
The LRDI is an index of data on the common indicators, processed and assigned numerical values and weightings. Values of
the LRDI can therefore allow ranking of countries according to how they fare in land reform implementation.

The basic model for this is the UN’s Human Development Report (HDR), which is accompanied by a Human Development Index (HDI)

I am asked to comment on the indicators. What should I look at?

These indicators have been proposed by Experts and partners. But because we are more than aware that contexts vary
considerably from country to country – we would like to know what you think of these indicators. Please remember
we are trying to reach a common set of indicators.

The first question is really: Do I agree with the proposed indicators? As a corollary, should I add/drop other indicators?

We will truly appreciate comments on the following:
•    Proposed definitions. Do you use a certain definition for an indicator (e.g. landlessness)? Who uses that definition
(government official definition? Your organisation? Other institutions?)?
•    Practicability. Would the indicators be useful to you (Why? Or Why not?)? Are they appropriate? Are they relevant?
•    Availability and accessibility. Would the data for these indicators be widely available?  Would the data be easy to
access? At which level or up to which level is the data available?
•    Timelines. What should be the base year for the data (indicator-specific)?
•    Sources of data. What are the specific sources of data you use for the proposed indicators?
•    Methodologies, approaches and tools. Have you used any specific methodologies to gather the data for the proposed
indicators? Are there any methodologies, approaches and tools you would like to suggest? Would they be replicable in other
countries?

Finally, please feel free to make any additional comments or suggestions.

Do I need to answer all of the above questions?

Comprehensive answers are always helpful, but this should not limit your participation. We welcome any feedback from you.

What do you mean by “at which level/up to which level is the data available”?

Since we are trying to come up with common indicators for the Asian
region, our chief concern is comparability. We need to know, for
each indicator, at which level is the data available. The question
is not really whether the data is available or not; rather, it is at
which level or up to which level is the data available? Data
availability varies and depends on the specific indicator being
asked for. For example, for the indicator on number of land dispute
cases received, the data may be easily available (as government official
judicial level data) at the high court level or at the district level.
Below the district level, data may not be available or easily
accessible – but the number will be very high. There will be more
cases as you go down the pyramid (see left), down to the village level.

When does monitoring actually begin?

The project is still in it its incipient or beginning stages. We are currently negotiating for the second phase for actual
monitoring work to be carried out.

I’d like to read more about this initiative. What documents are available? How can I access them?

•    You can explore our website for more information about our work on agrarian reform and access to land, or go
directly to the CSO Land Reform Monitoring Initiative page.
•    You can write Cathy Liamzon - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for more information concerning this project.

The following documents have been produced so far: 
•    CSO Land Reform Monitoring Proceedings_May2010
•    Revised Discussion Paper on Developing a Framework on CSO Land Monitoring in Asia
•    Proceedings of the Roundtable Discussion with Land Watch Philippines partners (April 2010)

Why do we need to post comments on the electronic bulletin board? Why can’t we just do it by email?

We are encouraging everyone to try this simple technology, which has been designed to more efficiently manage the exchange of
ideas and the flow of the discussion. With this bulletin board, the discussion can be divided into many topics or threads, and
it is easier to track who says what. Though it may seem difficult to use, it is actually quite user-friendly. We have found that
emails to too many partners discourages participation and at worst, ends up in the spam folders of your mailboxes.

I’m excited, and would love to participate! How do I post a comment on the forum?

Participation in the e-consultation is simple. Please support us as we try this new technology.

1.    Create a username and password. We need this to track the people who participate in the forum.

2.    Click on the discussion thread (e.g. on specific monitoring indicators; land monitoring teams). ANGOC will be adding a
discussion thread every week, as hopefully the discussion will gain momentum.  Here you can read some of the inputs made by
our partners.

One thread is on land tenure indicators, with particular posts on land disputes and evictions. The second thread is on access to land indicators - covering ownership, landlessness and tenancy. The third thread is on inputs indicators, pertaining to the budgets, laws and policies on agrarian reform as well as agriculture.

3.    Share your comments and feedback. If you want to say something new, click on the “Add Topic” button. If you want to reply
to something that’s already been posted, simply click on the “Post Reply” button.

Thank you very much! We look forward to your participation.