From certificate of rights to long-term leaseholds in Botswana

This paper offers insights on how Botswana, a developing country, has addressed the problems of land informality as part of strategies to deal with problems of informal (squatter) settlements through the use of the Certificate of Rights, an innovative, simple and workable tenure option introduced by the Government of Botswana to provide security of tenure to the low-income group. Following a brief outline of the country background, the paper will explain key concepts and definitions associated with land administration in Botswana in terms of their relevance in addressing matters of land informality. The paper proceeds by providing a background of the Certificate of Rights as a tenure instrument, how it works, the methodological issues associated with the evaluation of the instrument and policy implications.