When American singer, songwriter and dancer, James Brown, sang ‘this is a man's world, this is a man's world’ he might have had Kenya in mind.
Only one percent of women in Kenya own land legally, according to the National Land Commission (NLC).
Professor James Tuitoek, a commissioner with the National Land Commission says there is an urgent need to address the anomaly in terms of land ownership.
“Currently only one percent of women in the Country who are involved in farming own land and there is need to address this anomaly,” he said while speaking in Great Rift Valley Lodge in Naivasha during a workshop on land and governance organized by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and ActionAid.
The Commission blames backward cultural beliefs and weak policies for the low percentage ownership with experts warning that the trend poses a major threat to the Country’s food security.
Tuitoek noted that there is a need to enact friendly policies to protect women so that they could also own land as per the constitution.
To make matters worse, land for farming is declining by the day as the demand for housing continues to push investors into real estate.
“We have done a study on formulation of land and food security in the country and we are working with Counties to control mushrooming of informal settlements,” Tuitoek added.
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