The cornerstone of modern land administration theory is the land management paradigm in which land
tenure, value, use and development are considered holistically as essential and omnipresent functions
performed by organized societies. Within this paradigm, each country delivers its land policy goals by
using a variety of techniques and tools to manage its land and resources. What is defined as land
administration within these management techniques and tools is specific to each jurisdiction, but the core
ingredients, cadastres or parcel maps and land registration systems, remain foundational. These
components are the focus of modern land administration. Ethiopia has currently launched modern land
administration practices in almost all regions of the country. The first land registration of the rural lands is
under way and some regions have launched second land registration activities, i.e., cadastral survey
activities, which is a land administration system based on systematic title registration with unique parcel
identifiers. This is a mandatory activity since Ethiopia is at its great endeavour to impart sustainable
development in the country. In order to deliver land administration activities efficiently and effectively
producing competent professionals towards the discipline is a pre-requisite. Currently, there is only one
institute, which is producing land administration professionals. So, there is great gap between the demand
and supply of these professionals which other universities shall also give due attention and of which
Debre Markos University is planning to do so.
The project’s overall aim is to produce competent professionals, conduct problem solving research and
deliver demand driven community service in land administration which plays indispensable contribution for
sustainable development of the nation by strengthening the launched land administration system in
Ethiopia with consequences of guaranteeing ownership and security of tenure and of providing data to
support good governance.
Through the proposed appear application, it is planned to develop academic partnership between Debre
Markos University and University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) as well as with Vienna
University of Technology (TUW) by opening the second land administration institute in Ethiopia. Project
coordination lies with the institute of Surveying, Remote Sensing and Land Information of the University of
BOKU. Though, this project can be used for fostering knowledge transfer between BOKU and DMU, the
project will also be supported by essential contributions from the Department of Geodesy and
Geoinformation of the Vienna University of Technology (“TUW”).