Titling and the value of land in Tanzania

Abstract

We use household survey data to investigate the relationship between formal, private property rights to agricultural land and agricultural investment, land valuation and access to credit in Tanzania. Results show that landownership documents are associated with substantial increases in the market value of land (more than 25%). One reason appears to be that well-documented private property rights facilitate the use of land as collateral for loans and therefore ease access to credit. The findings suggest that there are potentially significant, economic returns to systematic land titling in Tanzania and other countries.