Academic literature on the topic 'Land tenure, iran'

The history and development of land tenure in Iran have been affected by many factors, including climatic conditions, scarcity of water, lack of security, widespread tribalism, and legal and administrative confusion. In addition to limitations in resources, political instability in the premodern period molded systems of land tenure in Iran. Changes of dynasty were frequent and usually followed by the confiscation and redistribution of land. The Qajar dynasty (1788–1925), which came to power after a long period of anarchy and civil war, continued that general pattern. There were three classes of land ownership in Iran in this period: waqfs (religious endowments), arbābī (land owned by large landlords), and khāliṣah (state-owned lands). This last category was composed of lands confiscated by the government as punishment for rebellion or failure to pay taxes. As land was often the only form of wealth landlords had, the threat of government confiscation was an instrument of control as well as a source of revenue for the state. The khāliṣah were usually rented out on long-term leases or were granted as ṭuyul, that is in lieu of services rendered or salaries deferred. The khāliṣah were also in some instances farmed directly by the government. These lands were cultivated by peasants under conditions similar to those of the arbābī lands. They were scattered throughout the country and were also subject to various local and regional variations in agricultural taxes.

Overgrazing and untimely grazing are common on rangelands in Iran often because of land tenure ambiguities. For the same reason a considerable portion of the rangelands has been converted into farmland for rainfed cereal production. As a result, these rangelands are experiencing land degradation under the increasing pressure to support a growing population of people and livestock. Land tenure reform is perceived as one approach to improving the use and condition of Iranian rangelands. Changes in land tenure involve very complex decision-making that should lead to sustainable use of the land and contribute to the sustainable livelihood of present and future generations. This paper describes a planning support system developed for rangeland allocation in Iran to support the tenure-reform process. The system is composed of three modules: land evaluation module, district planning module and local planning module. The land evaluation module works in a GIS environment and uses the FAO methodology for land evaluation, with emphasis on biophysical characteristics of the land-use system. Socio-economic factors in terms of the effect of human intervention on the current status of the land have also been taken into account. The district planning module comprises three sub-modules: planning sub-module, grazing sub-module, and a multi-criteria evaluation (MCE) sub-module. The planning sub-module is an optimisation model that examines the degree of realisation of various objectives of stakeholders and generates alternative solutions. For each alternative, the grazing capacity of the land is assessed (grazing sub-module). The MCE sub-module ranks the alternative solutions, taking into account their advantages and disadvantages. The outcome is a pattern of land use consistent with existing government policies and satisfying the needs and desires of the local population. The local planning module also comprises three sub-modules: land allocation sub-module, economically viable grazing enterprise sub-module, and a land improvement planning sub-module. The land allocation sub-module transforms the district land-use pattern into a local land-use plan. The economically viable grazing enterprise sub-module determines the appropriate size of the land holding for each household on each land-mapping unit. Finally, the land improvement planning sub-module provides information on the status and impact of the land improvement program. This planning support system has been applied to the Chadegan sub-region in Iran to illustrate its potential as a decision-making tool. Three scenarios were defined at district level, in addition to the status quo: maximum benefit for farm households; minimum government subsidies; and maximum land cover, emphasizing environmental goals. Results suggest that maximum land cover is the preferred scenario with the highest income and carrying capacity, and lowest level of subsidisation. However, since it eliminates wheat production, this scenario it culturally less attractive.

This study is driven by the need to bridge the gap in the current literature in terms of identifying the sustainable institutional aspects of the Land Tenure Administration (LTA) under the current situation in Iraq, as the principal mechanism through which LTA can be sought. In fact, the critical situations of post-war, economic crisis and terrorism waves in Iraq are now heading the country to develop an urgent national policy, thus there is a need to put forward a strategic approach that helps Iraqi Land Authorities (ILAs) policy to build an efficiency implementation of LTA and ensuring the users’ satisfaction to achieve better practices in Iraq. While post-war situations and inter-communal violence impacts continue to occur in the country, the research provided a pioneer opportunity to identify current problems of LTA, which can be directly linked to these factors of the instability and insecurity situations in the Iraqi urban areas. This thesis is structured from nine chapters; it deals with the government policy makers of the applicants at ILAs and the property users in Iraq. The research identified a set of key influential factors driven from the current critical situation regarding the LTA efficiency at ILAs and the level of users’ satisfaction. One of the research objectives is to develop a conceptual framework for evaluation the operational performance of LTA in Iraq. To evaluate the conceptual framework validity, the questionnaire has distributed targeting the user’s samples of 384 in 3 chosen neighbourhoods in the Al-Nassiriya city, 16 semi-structured interviews have been conducted with Top Senior Managers (TSMs) in 6 agencies of decision-making councils in ILAs at both national and local levels in the Iraqi system. In this research a multi-method of analysis was followed triangulating data, hence the core part of data to be used for analysis is that derived from these Iraqi land resources. Based on respectable evidence, the Iraqi existing system is still offering significant levels of management and monitoring supports. Evidence showed that the LAS/LTA is qualified and there is no lack in administrative approach. However, crucial influences of the state instability, insecurity situations, inter-communal violence, and the displacement and refugee’s relocation problems were directly followed the land dispute resolution, financing & data costs, land administration processes, and efficient technical aspects.