DEVELOPMENT OF WEB-BASED CADASTRAL INFORMATION SYSTEM FOR SECURE LAND ADMINISTRATION IN GVH MATOLA, TA MATOLA, BALAKA DISTRICT.

Rural land administration in Malawi remains paper-based, causing missing records, boundary disputes, fraud, delays, and non-compliance with land use plans. This study developed a web-based cadastral system, named Matola LandInfo, for secure land administration in GVH Matola, TA Matola, Balaka District. The specific objectives were to: (i) create a comprehensive digital cadastral database; (ii) integrate land use planning data with parcel information through spatial overlay analysis; and (iii) develop a secure parcel management system that links each parcel to verified owners and tracks payments and rent status
The methodology followed a hybrid systems development life cycle combining Waterfall and Agile elements. Using 1,557 GPS collected parcel records, spatial data was topologically cleaned and validated in QGIS. Riparian buffers (15 m) were generated to assess land use compliance The database was built on PostgreSQL and migrated to Supabase cloud platform. A Python backend on Render, and an HTML5/CSS3/JavaScript frontend with Leaflet.js on Netlify. System validation encompassed data integrity, API functionality, performance, and user acceptance testing.
Results showed zero geometric overlaps after cleaning. Payment records indicated 70.1% of parcels fully paid. The land use overlay flagged 35% of parcels violating buffer zones. The client portal enabled public verification, reducing fraud. All queries returned results in under three seconds.
Matola LandInfo demonstrates that low-cost, fit-for-purpose web GIS can transform customary land administration, offering a replicable model for tenure security, transparency, and compliance monitoring in Malawi without requiring costly physical inspections.

This study developed a web-based cadastral system, named Matola LandInfo, for secure land administration in GVH Matola, TA Matola, Balaka District. The specific objectives were to: (i) create a comprehensive digital cadastral database; (ii) integrate land use planning data with parcel information through spatial overlay analysis; and (iii) develop a secure parcel management system that links each parcel to verified owners and tracks payments and rent status
The methodology followed a hybrid systems development life cycle combining Waterfall and Agile elements. Riparian buffers (15 m) were generated to assess land use compliance The database was built on PostgreSQL and migrated to Supabase cloud platform. Matola LandInfo demonstrates that low-cost, fit-for-purpose web GIS can transform customary land administration, offering a replicable model for tenure security, transparency, and compliance monitoring in Malawi without requiring costly physical inspections.

The study was conducted in GVH Matola (Group Village Head Matola), which falls under Traditional Authority Matola in Balaka District, located in the Eastern Region of Malawi. Balaka District is bordered by Mangochi District to the north, Ntcheu District to the west, Machinga District to the east, Neno and Zomba District to the south.
GVH Matola is a rural community where the primary economic activity is subsistence agriculture, with smallholder farmers growing crops such as maize, groundnuts, beans, and vegetables. The area experiences a tropical climate with distinct wet and dry seasons, receiving annual rainfall between primarily from November to April. Like many rural areas in Balaka District, GVH Matola faces challenges including land scarcity, population pressure, and vulnerability to climate-related hazards such as droughts and occasional flooding.
Land in GVH Matola is predominantly customary land, held under traditional tenure systems managed by the Traditional Authority and village heads. The community relies heavily on land for food security, shelter, and income generation. However, the lack of formal land documentation and accurate cadastral records has led to increasing boundary
disputes, fragmented record-keeping, and vulnerability to land grabbing. The area was selected for this study because it represents a typical Malawian rural community facing real land administration challenges, making it an ideal location to test and implement the Matola LandInfo web-based cadastral parcel information system.

Traditional authority: TA Nsamala

District: Balaka

Coordinates: -15.08565, 35.0101