Germany's Official Development Assistance in Land Policy

The official development assistance (ODA) of the German government’s development cooperation (DC) is the fifth largest in the world. Since the mid-1990s, the German DC has become actively involved in land policy issues in more than 20 countries around the
world. It is also an important actor in multilateral land policymaking.

The official aim of the German land policy is purportedly to effect poverty reduction. The expression of this policy is the commitment and support to technical land administration and management . However, engagement in redistributive land policies like land reform is almost non-existent.

A neglect of political issues – equity issues, redistribution, meaningful participation, human rights – is unlikely to lead to any significant positive impact
on the rural poor in developing countries worldwide.