Topic 6: Land Tenure and Land Reform

1. Land Tenure

Land tenure is the system of rights and rules by which land is owned, held, used and transferred.

Land Tenure Systems

Land Classification in Kenya (Constitution 2010)

1. Public land
2. Community land
3. Private land

The National Land Commission manages public land, and land laws such as the Land Act and Land Registration Act guide ownership, registration and use.

2. Advantages and Disadvantages of Tenure Systems

3. Land Reform

Land reform is the change in land ownership and use to improve production and fairness.

Aspects of Land Reform

1. Land adjudication: determining the rightful owners of land.
2. Land consolidation: bringing scattered plots into one parcel.
3. Land registration: recording ownership and issuing title deeds.
4. Land settlement: resettling landless people on schemes.
5. Land redistribution: sharing land more fairly.
6. Subdivision control and land use planning.

Importance of Land Reform

• Provides security of tenure.
• Allows access to credit with title deeds.
• Encourages investment and soil conservation.
• Reduces land disputes.
• Improves land use and production.
• Gives landless people access to land.

4. Land Fragmentation

Division of land into smaller parcels, often by inheritance.

Problems

• Time and cost moving between plots.
• Difficulty in mechanisation and irrigation.
• Poor supervision.
• Loss of land to boundaries and paths.
• Disputes.
• Uneconomic farm sizes.

Solutions

• Land consolidation.
• Education on keeping viable farm sizes.
• Alternative livelihoods to reduce pressure on land.
• Land laws controlling minimum sizes.

5. Land Settlement Schemes

Government and organisations buy and subdivide large farms for landless Kenyans.

Problems

• Inadequate funds for infrastructure.
• Corruption in allocation.
• Poor farmer training and extension.
• Environmental degradation on marginal land.