Weak land tenure system slows down economic growth

The on-going wrangles between the National Land Commission and the Ministry of Land highlight the emotive nature of land issues in the country. This dispute aside, it is important to understand how land issues stunt development.

One of the problems with land tenure in Kenya is the reality that ownership of tracts of land is not necessarily associated with having title deeds.

Further, even if private land has established owners, it is well known that some of it has been grabbed, including public and communal land, sparking outcry in local communities.

This further muddies the waters with regard to establishing clear proof of ownership. How do these issues affect economic development?

First, in many parts of Kenya, land owned by individuals is usually passed down from parents to children. Therefore, in some communities if you ask locals to whom a certain tract of land belongs, there may be local consensus on ownership.

However, in many cases the owner of the land does not necessarily have the legal title deed proving and establishing them as land owner. Tracts of land in rural areas are affected by this problem of traditional ownership of land with no legal title.

This creates several problems with economic impacts. If a rural smallholder farmer, for example, doesn’t have legal title but actively farms his tract of land, he cannot use that land as collateral for a loan to improve inputs into his farm to get better yields and thus income.

As a result, the farmer tills his land, often using basic and outdated methods of farming, unable to afford inputs thereby condemning him to low yields and the perils of unpredictable weather.

Further, when legal title is lacking, it is difficult for many smallholder farmers to come together, consolidate their small parcels of land to create a large enough tract that can be farmed more efficiently.

In short, the land cannot be used to its full economic potential. Further, it can be argued that agricultural and food security issues are linked to the amorphous nature of land tenure in parts of Kenya.

Second, if parcels of land exist without legal owners, that land ceases to be an asset that can be effectively traded and used for commercial purposes such as industrial development.

Investors may want to build a factory in a certain county but if the ownership of the land in which they are interested has contested ownership, the investors will not put their money there but will instead move on to an area where land ownership is clear.

Therefore, counties in which land wrangles are particularly virulent ought to be aware that this fact make them less attractive to investors.

Finally, it is a well-known fact that land issues in Kenya were the root cause of the tribal clashes in 1992, 1997, 2002 and even informed the post-election violence of 2007/8.

We have proven ourselves willing to kill one another in the name of land. This is a shame because not only is there a loss of precious life, but the resulting instability negatively impacts economic productivity and scares investors away.

This confluence of factors makes it clear that there is a need for the country to have the courage to expeditiously and fairly resolve the existing land disputes.

Failing to do so is a sure way of ensuring land issues continue to stunt the country’s economic development.

Ms Were is a development economist. Email: [email protected]