Cadasta Stories - Cadasta

Cadasta Stories

Learn more about our partners and the people impacted by Cadasta’s approach

Our Partnership with KESAN

The Indigenous Karen people emphasize that their land is not just for agriculture or sale but is their home and community. Despite challenges from successive Burmese governments, the Karen National Union (KNU) has worked to establish the Kawthoolei Land Policy, recognizing land ownership rights, and, with support from KESAN and Cadasta, has successfully registered over 100,000 family plots. This effort not only secures land rights but also contributes to the preservation of forests and biodiversity, highlighting the importance of sustained global support for Indigenous communities in the face of environmental and political challenges.

Empowering Indigenous Communities to Create a Sustainable Rainforest Future

The Amazon Rainforest is home to over 4 million people from 55 Indigenous communities in Peru. Yet, they face inequalities and threats to their territories. Learn about Rainforest Labs, a bespoke software solution Cadasta and Cool Earth developed to empower these communities to protect their forests with technology, training, and real-time data.

Documenting Land Rights in Bonito, Brazil!

Land is life! Cadasta and Espaço Feminista work with communities in Bonito, Brazil to document and secure land rights!

Over 4,958 titles being issued to date

Our partnership with the Ugandan Ministry of Lands, Housing, and Urban Development and local partner Ujamaa Tribe has resulted in over 4,958 titles being issued to date.

FRA

Securing Forest Communities

The FRA recognizes individual and community land rights of Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Traditional Dwellers (OTDs) who have occupied forested territories without documentation. Individual and community land rights under the FRA are commonly known as Individual Forest Rights (IFRs) and Community Forest Rights (CFRs), respectively.

Community-led Approaches to Formalizing Land Rights | Uganda

Communities and government officials rejoiced as President Museveni of Uganda distributed more than 1,500 land titles to residents of Apac District in a ceremony on September 15th, 2022. The ceremony was the latest event in the government’s efforts to secure property rights for 10,000 households across five districts. It is the largest project of its kind in Uganda to date.

Kericho-Ogiek historical claims in Tinderet forest

The Ogiek people of Londiani in Kericho County live in Kipkelion, in the West & East Highland Forest of Sorget, Makutano, Malaget and Tendeno Forest in Kericho County, Kenya. They have been accustomed to conserving the forests until 1988 when they were evicted.

Demolitions and Evictions in Nairobi

Despite the public health risks posed by COVID-19, Kenyan authorities have forcibly evicted more than 8,000 people from informal settlements in Nairobi since May of 2020, putting already vulnerable communities at a greater risk of contracting and spreading COVID-19.

Real Women. Real Stories.

A collective effort to raise awareness of women’s land rights.

The Her Land Her Story Campaign features the stories of real women from around the world. Scroll through the stories below to get a firsthand account of how these women’s lives are impacted by land rights.

Working in Nakuru, Kenya

Participants were introduced to Cadasta Foundation and the Data Accelerator Grant and were given time to ask questions of Cadasta Staff. Using Project Kenya Hub Site, participants were taken through the platform features including layers, basemaps, web maps, user groups, and access types and levels.

A Fight for Recognition and Adequate Housing in Long-term Refugee Camps:

Mohammad Salim lives in the Geneva Refugee Camp in Dhaka, Bangladesh. As a Bihari, his family has lived in the camp since 1971.

Protecting India’s Forest-dwellers’ Right to Land

India is the world’s third-largest economy and is home to 1.39 billion people of which approximately 60 percent, or 834 million, live in rural areas. According to a 2015 Prindex study, 20 percent of rural farmers report that they worry about losing their land and feel tenure insecure.

Issuing Certificates of Customary Ownership in Uganda

Learn more Cadasta work towards the CCO (Community Land Certificates) Issuance Ceremony in Namutumba, Uganda! Thanks to all involved for their work to issue more than 700 CCOs!

Cadasta & Waatavaran’s Work to Document Land Rights in Western India

In Shirdon Village, a small rural community just fifty kilometers outside of the bustling city of Mumbai, lives Ambaji Jetu Katakari, a sixty-six-year-old father of three that depends on the forest to cultivate food to eat and sell.

Land Tenure Insecurity in Uganda

Securing land tenure continues to be a major challenge throughout Uganda. With an estimated 84 percent of the land in Uganda held under customary tenure, the majority of Uganda’s land claims rely on traditional arrangements rather than legal documents. While this may provide a traditional sense of security, recent events—including the influx of refugees, increased presence of extractive industries, and pressures of development and land acquisitions—have resulted in increased land vulnerability.

Meet Gerald Tumwesige.

Gerald is a 26-year-old pastoralist from Buliisa District Uganda, who is one of 17 children. With a diploma in Development Studies and eager to help his community, Gerald volunteered to work with Cadasta as a community data collector to document community land rights in Buliisa District in Western Uganda along the shores of Lake Albert.

World’s Largest Slum Titling Initiative Wins the UN-Habitat Award with Help from Cadasta

Like many states in India, Odisha State has experienced a 27 percent growth in population in its cities due to rural-to-urban migration. In search of better livelihood opportunities, most of these migrants settle in informal settlements. Local governments struggle to provide land for housing as well as basic infrastructure and services such as electricity, sanitation, water, and roads. Without having formal rights to the home and land they occupy, these informal residents are often barred from getting loans for home improvement, starting businesses, accessing basic services, enrolling their children in schools or finding a formal job.

Protecting the Rights and Livelihoods of Indian Forest Dwelling Communities

In the Indian states of Odisha and Jharkhand, Cadasta Foundation is working in partnership with the local non-profit organization Professional Assistance for Development Action (PRADAN) to strengthen the livelihoods of marginalized forest-dwelling communities.

Cadasta & Lantmäteriet

In 2019, Cadasta partnered with the advanced International Training Program (ITP) for Applied Land Governance, hosted by Lantmäteriet (the Swedish mapping, cadastral, and land registration authority). This collaboration builds on an earlier Cadasta assessment of Botswana’s Land Administration Procedures, Capacity, and Systems Program supported by Lantmäteriet.

Cadasta & USAID Leveraging Land in Haiti

For decades, political instability, food shortages, unemployment, natural disasters, and a lack of basic infrastructure have plagued Haiti’s development, locking nearly 60 percent of its population in a cycle of poverty.