Land Tenure
https://publicschema.org/vocab/agri/land-tenure
Kinds of arrangement under which a farm operates the land it uses, following the land tenure types of the FAO World Programme for the Census of Agriculture.
Standard reference
FAO World Programme for the Census of Agriculture 2030 (WCA 2030), Item 0204 Area of holding according to land tenure types (https://doi.org/10.4060/cd9437en)
Tenure types follow WCA 2030 Item 0204 and paragraphs 7.2.38 to 7.2.47. WCA 2020 Item 0203 gives the equivalent types for data from the 2020 round. The FAO Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure give context but define no classification.
Values
| Code | Label | Standard code | Definition |
|---|---|---|---|
owned_with_title | Owned with title | Land the farm operates as legal owner or legal owner-like possessor, with rights recognized and enforceable under statutory law. | |
owned_without_title | Owned without title | Land the farm operates as owner or owner-like possessor without statutory recognition of that ownership, for example under customary tenure. | |
rented | Rented | Land the farm rents or leases from someone else for a fixed payment in money, produce or services. | |
sharecropped | Sharecropped | Land cultivated under an arrangement where the tenant pays the landowner a share of the harvest or proceeds. | |
communal | Communal | Common land the farm uses under rights shared with others, not belonging to the farm itself. | |
state_allocated | State-allocated | Public land the farm uses under a use right granted by a public authority, without ownership. | |
informal | Informal/squatting | Land the farm occupies and uses without the owner's permission or any recognized right. | |
borrowed | Borrowed | Land used temporarily without payment, typically lent by a relative, friend, or community member. | |
other | Other | A tenure arrangement not covered by the other categories. |
System mappings
LSMS-ISA
System vocabulary: LSMS-ISA land tenure (indicative cross-walk, not a single authoritative variable)
| System code | System label | land-tenure value |
|---|---|---|
1 | Owned (purchased/inherited) | owned_with_title |
1 | Owned (purchased/inherited) | owned_without_title |
2 | Rented in | rented |
3 | Sharecropped | sharecropped |
4 | Borrowed/given for free | borrowed |
5 | Communal/village | communal |
6 | Allocated by government | state_allocated |
7 | Squatting | informal |
96 | Other | other |
Referenced by this vocabulary
- FAO VGGT Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2022
- FAO WCA 2020 Vol.I Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2017
- WCA 2030 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2026
- LSMS-ISA World Bank