According to renowned economist Hernando de Soto, the inability of persons worldwide to gain formal recognition of their real property rights is a major stumbling block to alleviating poverty.
This lack of formal legal recognition of property rights is pronounced in situations where rights are considered outside of the statutory legal system—that is, they are based on customary or indigenous forms of land tenure. From a purely economic perspective, this lack of recognition of formal rights to property represents "trapped" capital that could be accessed to stimulate the local financial markets with microfinance loans and possibly mortgages. It also represents the "trapping" of other forms of capital as well such as human, legal and social. As a result, people in poverty often live outside of the formal economy.
However, "untapping" this hidden capital requires formal recognition of the property rights of those in poverty. Despite these apparent benefits, access to standard forms of land titling and registration are out of reach for most in poverty. The process itself is usually too expensive, complicated and rife with rent-seeking. Even in those locations where formal land titling is fairly effective—it often does not adjust itself to truly serve those at the bottom of the pyramid.
Former First American President Craig DeRoy formed a new company called Corporate Initiatives Development Group (CIDG) and continued a commitment to the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) for a pilot project based in Ashaiman, Ghana focused on improving property rights to those in poverty.
Continue reading this article over at Amerisurv (High-res PDF also available)