encroachment which was an issue on 52% of estates above 500 ha, though on a much smaller share (5%) of estates below 20 ha. Tenancy was widespread, with some 72% reporting to employ tenants who were estimated to account for 52% of estates’ labor force. Finally, public land records were often incomplete or of low quality: in about one-third of cases, estates identified in the field could not be located on maps by Ministries of Lands or Agriculture and that 45% had not completed the prescribed process to obtain a registered deed.

# **3. Using new data to describe land rights and use in Malawi’s estate sector**

Digitization of lease contracts allows us to trace the evolution of Malawi’s estate sector. Contracts’ textual components highlight that most leases have expired so that foregone public revenue is large and land may no longer be used as designated. Leases’ spatial components point towards significant overlaps that may reduce tenure security, undermine investment incentives, and discourage intensive land use, a notion that is indeed supported by categorization of land use based on overlays with medium resolution imagery.

# **3.1 Assessing historical evolution and revenue potential of the estate sector**

A major reason for the difficulties in effectively managing estate leases was that even textual data were stored on paper, distributed among three registries, and thus very difficult to access. To make data available for analysis, computerization of all documents, supported by a World Bank project,<sup>11</sup> was thus an essential first step. Using the original establishment data, figure 1 illustrates the changes in estate numbers and the area under agricultural estates. Table 1 illustrates that from a basis of 16,725 ha registered estates in the preindependence period (155 estates with average size of 124 ha), large scale land transfers accelerated considerably after independence in three main phases.<sup>12</sup> First, in the period to 1986, 2,277 new leases with a total area of 237,322 ha were awarded, i.e. 104 leases with an average of 105 ha implying a total transfer to leasehold of some 10,800 ha each year. A second phase, from 1986 to 1994, saw the number of leases issued each year multiply more than 25 times to 2,626 per year but the average size declined to some 25 ha, implying a total transfer to leasehold of some 65,000 ha per year.<sup>13</sup> In the period following the 1994 moratorium, overall issuance of new agricultural leases dropped sharply to 176 leases or transfer of 7,800 ha per year. The sub-period before 2007 saw issuance of slightly more but smaller leases while after 2006, the average size of leases increased but fewer new leases were issued. While the majority was issued in 1988-95, issuance of leases continued apace for non-agricultural estates.

> 11 Leases were digitized by a team from Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR). Given the limited number of documents and the lack of staff with the relevant experience, the cost of digitizing textual and spatial data was about US$ 3 per lease. 12 These figures exclude a limited number of freehold estates that had been established before independence. Records for these are in a separate registry the digitization of which is planned jointly with that of the deeds registry.

> 13 With a mean size of 6.6 ha, ranging from 16 ha in the North to 2.5 in the Center, urban leases seem more akin to layouts, and computerization of deeds could yield interesting details on subsequent transactions.

8