Landesa Landesa partners with governments and local NGOs to ensure the world’s poorest families have secure land rights, which develops sustainable economic growth and improves education, nutrition, and conservation

Land is the principal source of livelihood and wealth for the majority of Kenyans. Violations of land rights, including the rights of generations of Kenyans displaced through both colonial-era and more recent evictions, are one of the key unresolved issues in Kenya. Poor governance of the land sector has enabled political elites to gain control over vast swaths of land at the expense of rural communities. Grievances over land rights have played a major role in the sporadic violence that plagues the country, such as the 2007-2008 post-election violence.

In the last decade there have been attempts at comprehensive land reform that would allow for final and fair determination of land ownership and create a system to either compensate those evicted or restore their land rights. None of these reforms has been completed. In December 2009, the Kenyan Parliament approved a new Land Policy that lays the foundation for significant progress in addressing Kenya’s struggles over land.

Current program:

The assessment and design of land tenure, forestry management, and rural livelihoods, Upper Mara River, Mau Forest, Kenya.

In March-April 2010, Landesa collaborated with USAID, ARD and the Kenyan government to assess land tenure, livelihoods, and forestry management in the Mau Forest. The forest is the source of at least 12 major rivers, most notably, the Mara River, which feeds the Masai-Mara National Reserve (famous for its wildebeest migration), Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park, and Lake Victoria. In recent years, the Mara’s flow has declined, jeopardizing the health of these national treasures and the flow of tourist money into Kenya. To protect this resource, the government of Kenya has instituted a conservation and reforestation initiative in the Mau Forest Reserve . Communities throughout this region are expected to be impacted by the initiative, with more than 34,000 households likely to be displaced. Going forward, Landesa’s role will be working to assist the government in mitigating the impacts of the conservation initiative on land rights, including reducing the number of landowners subject to eviction through the use of conservation easements, helping to resettle those who will have their land titles revoked, and improving women’s access and rights to land.