Did you know nearly one billion people worldwide lack secure rights to their land, their homes, and the resources they need to live?* Land tenure insecurity — a lack of adequate land and property documentation — is a critical reason for this, especially among women, youth, and Indigenous people.
In 2014 the Cloudburst Group developed with the US Agency for International Development (USAID) an inclusive, participatory mapping approach to securing land tenure (MAST) using innovative mobile application technology that empowered local organizations and communities to map land boundaries and effectively secure their land and resource rights. A key benefit of the MAST program is its encouragement of women’s participation in land mapping and empowerment through secured property rights as registered land owners.
Nearly a decade later, the MAST program continues to empower the most vulnerable people around the world to assert their rights to land and resources. Since its inception, MAST has evolved into a technology-agnostic, accessible, and configurable tool used across multiple countries including Tanzania, Burkina Faso, Liberia, Zambia, Mozambique, and Ghana.
The Cloudburst Group is committed to making a lasting impact when responding to development challenges around the world.
Resources:
To explore the significance of land rights around the world please visit: https://www.land-links.org/what-is-land-tenure/land-tenure-primer/
*To learn about the evolution of the MAST program visit: https://www.land-links.org/tool-resource/learn-about-mast/
To learn more about the innovative global development work Cloudburst is currently engaged in throughout the world please visit: https://cloudburstgroup.com/services/global-development/
PHOTO: Members of the local community of Jalalabad gather to map out land in order to assign proper land rights and abide by new land policy. (USAID / TetraTech / Gary Hunter and Anna Soave.)