Improving access to finance through land titling: evidence from the small oil palm project

Analysis of survey data from a group of PNG smallholder oil palm growers with long-term (99-year) leases on state-owned land shows that ownership of land titles per se is not sufficient for improving access to finance from commercial financial institutions. The link between land titles and access to finance appears to be determined by the effectiveness of the institutions that define and enforce property rights to the underlying land and the individual land titles and not the ownership of land titles per se. Policy emphasis should be on designing land reform programs that lead to improved security of tenure. This aim is achievable when sufficient attention is paid to designing the institutions that identify the underlying land, the links to the individual land titles, and the system of land administration.