Property
Réorganisation agraire et foncière with state ownership and rural land law
Land is in principle part of the domaine foncier national held by the state. Loi n° 034-2009 created a rural land certificate (attestation de possession foncière rurale) recognising customary possession, administered through communal land services.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Communal Services Fonciers Ruraux register rural possession; the Tribunal de grande instance hears disputes.
- Deadline — Attestation de possession foncière rurale: issued by the commune after a public enquiry
- Deadline — Conversion to Titre Foncier: application to the land registry
Governing law
- Loi n° 034-2012 portant réorganisation agraire et foncière
- Loi n° 034-2009 portant régime foncier rural
- Loi n° 057-2008 sur la promotion immobilière
In practice
Burkina Faso's 2009 rural land law is notable for legitimising customary possession rather than requiring its extinguishment: the attestation records what a community already recognises and gives it a documentary form usable in court. Insecurity has since displaced large populations, generating a category of dispute — return to land vacated under duress — that the framework did not anticipate.