How land speculators are wreaking havoc in Mount Kenya region
Rising food insecurity in parts of central Kenya is due to the emergence of property companies that are buying land for speculative purposes, a new report by the Central Kenya Development Network (CKDN) says.
The little available land in the region, which is among the most fertile in the country, it shows, has been bought and subdivided by the dealers who now occupy extensive tracts of land awaiting subdivision and sale.
In a paper titled: Food Insecurity in Central Kenya; The Causes and the Remedy, Eveline Kibuchi, a member of the CKDN board of directors says food insecurity in the region, and most parts of Kenya, is attributed to either the abuse of existing land laws, or failures in implementation.
Entire country
“The once agriculturally viable land has now been sliced into small handkerchief-sized one-eighth plots which have littered the entire country,” she adds in the paper.
Kibuchi points out that this is more prevalent in the agriculturally productive counties in the former central province region of Kenya which include Nyeri, Murang’a, Kirinyaga, Nyandarua and Laikipia.
The Constitution of Kenya, Lands Act (2012), National Land Policy (2009) and National Land Use Policy (2017) have all identified subdivision of agricultural land as an issue that requires policy attention.
Kibuchi says that this practice is not only eroding the foundation of the country’s agriculture sector but also threatens food security and the sustainable future of the nation. While phrases like “Buloti Maguta Maguta (prime plots)”, a popular phrase used to advertise for plots in Kenya and mostly linked to residents of the central part of Kenya for their perceived affinity to land, may seem hilarious, she believes this is the perfect scenario being experienced across the country.
“The sale of plots has become a lucrative business with advertisements dominating the airwaves from TVs, radios to social media platforms,” she notes, observing celebrities are making a killing for advertising the remaining stock.
Article 60 of the Constitution of Kenya provides that land shall be held, used and managed in a manner that is equitable, efficient, productive and sustainable. The Article also empowers Parliament to provide for minimum and maximum acreage regarding private land.
Despite Kenya having good land policies that clearly guide land administration, including subdivisions, big land companies still buy huge chunks of previously agriculturally viable land and subdivide it into small units.
“Left unchecked, this subdivision of land will see the whole agriculturally productive land turn into deserted graveyards which benefit no one apart from the excitement and warmth of owning a title deed,” Kibuchi says.
