Study of Upland Customary Communal Tenure in Chin and Shan States

Communal and customary land tenure is vital to the lives and livelihoods of a significant proportion of Myanmar’s citizens. This report details research seeking to identify legal ways to use the Farmland Law (2012) and Association Law (2014) to protect and register customary and communal land. Research was conducted in four pilot villages in Chin and Shan States, with a focus on upland, shifting, and lowland agricultural plots and fallows. The research team worked with communities to record their customary Internal Rules and design a series of Statutes guided by these to facilitate communities’ potential registration as an Association. Mapping activities of village agricultural land were also conducted in support of this effort.