Differences in the effectiveness of land consolidation projects in various countries and their causes: Examples of Poland and Turkey

Abstract

Land fragmentation is a primary cause of low agricultural profitability in many regions of the world. Adverse fragmentation parameters can be improved with land consolidation projects. Such projects are undertaken in areas characterised by different initial parameters of land fragmentation, types of agriculture, sociocultural conditions, and legislation that provides the framework for their formal and procedural implementation. All these aspects should affect not only the effectiveness of the projects but also how they are evaluated depending on the local circumstances. The paper presents results of the assessment of identified differences in land consolidation project effectiveness in the context of legal and sociocultural conditions. The research involved eight land consolidation projects carried out in Poland and Turkey. The countries have similar structures of agriculture and are conducting ongoing, long-term land consolidation schemes. The results are indicative of the necessity to differentiate assessment criteria depending on the location of a project and its primary goal. The application of popular land fragmentation indices could, in particular, lead to incorrect assessment of whether a project was successful when it was not intended to result in a significant increase in parcel area and reduction of the number of parcels. The research shows that it is possible to compare the effectiveness of projects from different countries provided that the process takes into consideration differences in local conditions affecting the development of agriculture and legislation.