Project Overview:

Abandonment or un-utilization of agricultural land is a common problem in many countries, especially in South Eastern Europe and the Caucasus. Land abandonment undermines food security, results in lost economic opportunities, and has a range of other negative socio-economic and environmental impacts.

The root causes of land abandonment are often multiple and intertwined and include an ageing rural population, out-migration from rural areas, unviable farm structures, inheritance practices leading to further subdivision of land plots, and others.

The most important factor underlying land abandonment in many countries is unviable farm structures with small average farm sizes and excessive land fragmentation, making agricultural activities uneconomical.

This project aims to support the development of institutional capacity to implement land banking and other land market development measures and instruments to ensure a more sustainable use of agricultural land and address land abandonment, while facilitating farm structure improvement and enlargement in Azerbaijan, Turkey and Uzbekistan.

Land banking is defined by FAO as a set of systematic activities implemented by an institution with public purpose, performing the intermediate purchase, sale, exchange or lease of land in rural areas in order to increase land mobility, to facilitate development of agricultural land markets, and to pursue public policy objectives related to agricultural and rural development, sustainable land use and implementation of public projects related to nature restoration, environmental protection, climate change and construction of large-scale infrastructure.

Turkey, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan have different land tenure systems and agricultural policies but share a common objective: to ensure the efficient and sustainable use of agricultural land.

The project consists of four mutually complementing and reinforcing components: 

• Analysis of the legal and institutional framework in all three countries;

• Assessment of the land market development needs and feasibility of land banking and other land management instruments in selected pilot areas;

• Support to the development of procedures and tools for land banking and land consolidation in the context of land market development;

• Development of capacities in the public sector to operate land banking instruments and raise awareness.

The project also aims to establish a well-functioning regional collaboration mechanism through knowledge exchange and capacity development between Turkey and two partner countries: Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan.

The three countries will share and exchange experiences gained during project implementation during a series of sub-regional workshops and policy dialogues aimed at strengthening institutional capacity and taking an integrated policy approach to agricultural land management.