Description

In regions in which factors such as the splitting of real estate, inheritance across different family branches or regional urban and infrastructure development have caused structural deficiencies, state aid can be used to combine uneconomical agricultural land. This can be done in the form of voluntary or compulsory redistribution or by merging plots. Fragmented areas of land are seized from the owners, who are allocated new, merged plots in return. This enables several small, separate areas of land on a farm to be consolidated into one or more larger areas. Where the plots are of different quality or value, area or value adjustments are made. The underlying principle is that every owner must be compensated for their land with land of equivalent value.

Farmers must be willing to participate; this can be encouraged in advance by providing in-depth advice. Among other things, it can be useful to create a land reparcelling committee made up of members of affected farming families or their representatives. Alternatively, simplified voluntary land exchange processes could be introduced.

Requirements

• A properly functioning country-wide administration and monitoring system with access to the relevant information and sufficient technical and human capacities for its design, implementation and monitoring
• Clear and coherent political strategy and targets for policy-makers and public authorities
• Clear responsibilities in public authorities
• Close cooperation and knowledge sharing with farmers' organisations
• Interest and willingness on the part of the parties involved to engage in dialogue
• Inventory of available land, including data on it's quality
• Jurisdiction or arbitration body with locally recognised authorities
• Participation of all stakeholders involved, e. g. science / research, agricultural advisory services, civil society, public and private sector (incl. farmers and their interest groups)
• Property / land register / formal land rights
• Regulatory framework
• Respect for cultural landscape and traditions

Possible Negative Effects

• Complicated process for clarifying ownership situations
• Negative social consequences due to a lack of consensus of interests between the parties involved
• Inadequate value adjustment
• Nepotism and corruption