Backlog in land registration deepens as Meridian office stalls

The Federal Office for Cooperative Affairs reported this week that its land-registration division is now processing applications at a rate that would require approximately eighteen months to clear the current backlog. The delay has direct consequences for smallholders in Tierra Verde: without registered title, farmers cannot access the fair-price guarantee programs that protect coffee and yerba mate exports from sudden market drops.

Claudia Ríos, coordinator of the San Vicente Cooperative Council, said the office had promised to hire additional staff by July. That commitment has not materialized. "We have sixty-three applications from member-farms sitting in Meridian," she said. "Some have been there since April. These are farmers who have already invested in improving their plots. They cannot move forward."

The backlog is not unique to Tierra Verde. The Federal Office confirmed that similar delays are affecting cooperatives in other regions. However, the impact is most acute in Tierra Verde, where cooperative membership is highest and where the fair-price schemes are central to smallholder survival.