Similarly, a property title (TF) will be granted all the more quickly and easily (even if there has been no development) if additional sums have been paid to the various departments of the administration and the applicant is socially and politically well connected: _‘The matter of corruption is brought up in all studies of land-use management. All stakeholders consulted during various missions have mentioned it. Local elected councillors, customary landholders, prefecture officials, officials from the DDC and investors are all liable to benefit from corruption. It is important to recognize both its deep-rooted nature and its function in redistributing the profits anticipated by the various parties involved in the market, especially those who play a key role in the process of converting informal tenure rights into formal rights.’ (Durand-Lasserve, 2009)._ Suspicions of widespread corruption are aroused when reading the Auditor General’s 2011 Annual Report (République du Mali, 2012).<sup>53</sup>

# **5. RESULTS FROM THE SURVEY OF RECENT LAND TRANSACTIONS**

# **5.1. Methodology and sample**

The objective of the survey was to collect tenure and price information on the modes of access to land in Bamako and its surrounding areas.<sup>54</sup> It was carried out between February and April 2012 in the district of Bamako, its periurban area and the city’s rural hinterland (see Annex 2.2). Information was collected on 1,655 non-built plots transacted between 2009 and 2012 and located between 3.5 km and 72 km away from the city center. Information on each plot was collected by a team of investigators through a variety of local informants (neighbors, _coxers_ , customary chiefs, buyers, users, sellers and elected local officials). For each plot, the survey provides information on its characteristics (land use, surface, infrastructure services), its location (GPS co-ordinates, commune, distance to the closest paved road and to the river), and its tenure status (reported tenure types and corresponding documents). The questionnaire that was used is reproduced in Annex 5.1.

Although a strict random selection of plots was not possible, efforts were made to ensure uniform coverage of the survey zone, especially around roads extending outwards from Bamako. In this sense, although the sample cannot be said to be perfectly representative of the universe of transacted plots in Bamako and its surrounding areas, conclusions may be drawn regarding the broad patterns that characterize access to land in the area, shedding light on the available options and the strategies of households to obtain land and secure tenure.

The map in Annex 2.1 represents the study area, which extends over the Bamako District, the Kati _cercle_ and part of the Koulikoro _cercle_ , covering the urban, peri-urban and rural hinterland of the city. Information on transactions was collected within 27 communes in this zone.<sup>55</sup> The map in Annex 5.2 superimposes the plots in our sample on

> 53 The report states that ‘The DDC-DB reduced the sale prices of land, failing to apply the principle of uprating sale prices by a total amount of FCFA 80.35 million, in breach of the provisions of Decree No. 02-114/P-RM of March 6, 2002 establishing the sale prices and fees for urban and rural land in the State's private domain.  In addition, the DDC-DB granted property developers who had not submitted approved property development programs unjustified facilities totalling FCFA 163.94 million in breach of the provisions of Decree No. N0-274/P-RM of June 23, 2000 setting out the procedures for granting facilities to property developers’.

> 54 “Modes of access to land” refer to a position within a land delivery channel or market (see Figures 3.1, 3.2 and 3.3) and within the land delivery system (see Figure 4.1)

> 55 The following _communes_ are covered: Baguineda camp (255 obs.), Bamako _commune_ I (2 obs.), Bamako _commune_ IV (5 obs.), Bamako _commune_ V (35 obs.), Bamako c _ommune_ VI (30 obs.), Bancoumana (28 obs.), Bougoula (28 obs.), Diago (68 obs.), Dialakoroba (39 obs.), Dialakorodji (45 obs.), Dio Gare (30 obs.), Doubabougou (81 obs.), Kalabancoro (99 obs.), Kambila (51 obs.), Kati (26 obs.), Mande (141 obs.), Meguetan (17 obs.), Moribabougou (46 obs.), Mountougoula (148 obs.), N’gabacoroDroit (92 obs.), Ouelessebougou (61 obs.), Safo (172 obs.), Sanankoroba (88 obs.), Sangarebougou (21 obs.), Siby (23 obs.), Tiele (6 obs.), and Tienfala (18 obs.).  Four of these communes are located in the Bamako district, 21 in the _Kati cercle_ , and 2 in the _Koulikoro cercle_ .

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