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During the base period of the Land Tenure Reform Project to Increase Agricultural Productivity in Togo (LRAP), the Tchamba 3 site produced remarkable results following the Procedure Optimisation Test (TOP) for the implementation of the 4 land tenure methodologies selected (mapping and geo-referencing of land; land information management; registration of land rights; and land tenure disputes resolution).

For an optimal kickstart to the project operationalization phase, VNG International, in collaboration with all the stakeholders - including local elected representatives, municipal officials, traditional chiefs, the youth, women, landowning communities and farmers – welcomed in Tchamba 3 from 05 to 09 February 2024 delegations from the 4 other test site communes (Oti sud 2, Dankpen 2, Tchamba 3, Wawa 2 and Zio 4). The week's activities consisted of group workshops, plenary sessions and field visits for the teams to familiarise themselves as fully as possible with the aforementioned land tenure methodologies. The activities took place under the supervision of the Millennium Challenge Account Togo Implementing Agency (OMCA-Togo), the project's implementing Ministries and the technical team from the donor, the Millennium Challenge Corporation.

The participants took advantage of direct exchanges between peers to identify the specific features of each of the test sites, to assess the organisational and mobilisation needs, to identify the respective challenges and envisage mitigating measures. At the end of the five-day of training, a number of lessons learned strengthen understanding and confidence in the LRAP process. Among others, are presented the commitment provisions of project stakeholders, the public contradictory demarcation process, the registration of land and rights, in particular women's rights access to land and usage rights, the amicable settlement of disputes linked to the pre-eminent role of traditional chiefs, and the importance of taking into account environmental issues and vulnerable groups in the implementation of land and field operations. This sharing of experience will enable the land tenure methodologies to be implemented consistently across all five of the project's experimental sites, and will facilitate the informed deployment of the work thanks to the start-up operations roadmaps drawn up by each delegation.