Land tenure and land degradation in eastern Africa The context of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification Elin Cohen
Working Paper No. 15, 2002
Regional Land Management Unit (RELMA)
Published by Regional Land Management Unit (RELMA) ICRAF House, Gigiri P.O. Box 63403 Nairobi Kenya © 2002 Regional Land Management Unit (RELMA), Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) Editing and Layout: Kimunya Mugo The contents of this publication may be reproduced without special permission. However, acknowledgement of the source is requested. Views expressed in the RELMA series of publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of RELMA/Sida.
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RELMA Working Paper Series 2001 Water Balance Accounting for designing and planning rainwater-harvesting systems for supplementary irrigation Johan Rockström WP No. 14 Tree Nursery Trade in Urban and Peri-urban Areas: A Survey in Nairobi and Kiambu Districts, Kenya Caleb Basweti et al. WP No. 13 Market Status of Avocado and Associated Products in Kenya Dora Magana-Mugambi. WP No. 12 Study on the Nutrition Value of Avocado and Properties of Avocado Oil Lisa Eriksson. WP No. 11 Use of Lactoperoxidase in Milk Preservation: Report on a Regional Workshop Held in Nairobi, March 2000 Aichi Kitalyi. WP No. 10 1999 Inventory of Potential Palatable Range Grasses in Southern Province, Zambia Evaristo C. Chileshe and Saeli Inambao. WP No. 9 Economic Potential of Natural Woodlands as a Component of Dryland Farming Systems in Kibwezi Division, Makueni District, Kenya Lucy Emerton. WP No. 8 On-farm Woody Biomass Surveys (1993 and 1998): A Case Study from Nakuru and Nyandarua Districts in Kenya P.M. Njuguna et al. WP No. 7 Macadamia Production and Market Organization Study in Kenya Anthony M. Maina. WP No. 6 Charcoal Trade in Kenya Fridah W. Mugo. WP No. 5 1997 Workshop on Livestock, Mbarara, Uganda: October-November 1995 A. de Kartzow (ed.). WP No. 4 1996 A Pilot Study on Soil Conservation Structures as a Source of Fodder for Smallholders Tekie Gebregziebher. WP No. 3 1995 Proceedings of the Second RSCU Extension Network Meeting: March 1995, Arusha, Tanzania Maimbo M. Malesu. WP No. 2 1994 Proceedings of the First RSCU Extension Network Meeting: May 1994, Nairobi, Kenya Anthony Maina. WP No. 1
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Contents RELMA Working Paper Series
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Contents
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Acronyms
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Word list
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Foreword
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Executive summary The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification Security of tenure 1. Introduction Desertification 2. The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) UNDP’s Office to Combat Desertification and Drought (UNSO) Mainstreaming dryland issues
viii viii viii 1 1 3 4 4
Reducing vulnerability
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Improving local governance for natural resource management
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3. Institutional framework to combat desertification Institutional framework to combat desertification in Kenya Institutional framework to combat desertification in Uganda Institutional framework to combat desertification in Tanzania Institutional framework to combat desertification in Ethiopia
5 5 6 7 8
4. Land tenure in Kenya
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Women and land rights Trust land Trust Land Act Land Adjudication Act
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Land (Group Representatives) Act
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5. Enclosure of land in West Pokot District
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6. Land tenure and combating desertification in Kenya
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Private land Registration of title deeds Fragmentation of agricultural land Short-term leases of agricultural land Group ranches Disputed boundaries and memberships Size of the group ranches Adjudication of land from group ranches Group representatives Trust land The County Council 8. References
15 15 15 15 16 16 16 16 16 17 17 18
Bibliography National Action Plans Personal communication
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Appendix: UNCCD Articles 1 to 6
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Acronyms DANIDA EPA FAO GTZ L.A.A MAAIF NGO NEMA NSC PRSP RELMA R.L.A Sida UNCCD UNDP UNEP UNSO USAID Vi-TPP
Danish International Development Agency Environmental Protection Authority (Ethiopia) Food and Agriculture Organization German Technical Cooperation Land Adjudication Act (Kenya) Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (Uganda) Non-governmental organization National Environmental Management Authority (Uganda) National steering committee Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers Regional Land Management Unit Registered Land Act (Kenya) Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa The United Nations Development Programme United Nations Environmental Programme UNDP’s Office to Combat Desertification and Drought United States Agency for International Development Vi-Tree Planting Programme (presently the Vi Agroforestry Project)
Word list Convention:
A legally binding agreement between independent states to carry out activities sponsored by an international organization. Customary law: A long established tradition or usage that is consistently and regulatory observed and recognized by the concerned community. Intestate: A person who has not made a will. Joint ownership: The property is owned jointly, and no owner is entitled to any separate share. As a consequence, the property can only be disposed of if all the joint owners agree. While still alive, a joint owner may transfer his/her interest to all the other owners but to no other person. Upon the death of a joint owner, his/her interest of the property will be vested in the surviving owner or owners jointly. Ownership-in-common: Each owner is entitled to an undivided share of the property. Upon the death of an owner, his/her share is treated as part of his/her estate, and his/her heirs will therefore inherit the share. Statutory law: A written law passed by the legislative body of a country. Tenure: Tenure signifies the right to hold property, whether it is as leasehold, freehold or user right. Trust land: Land hold in trust by the County Council for the residents of the land.
Foreword Out of the five major agreements from the United Nations’ Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is the least recognized internationally. Agenda 21, the forest principles, the Convention on Climate Change and the Convention on Biological Diversity are of interest for almost all nations. The UNCCD on the contrary, concerns directly only certain countries that are affected by desertification, and most of them are developing countries. However, for the countries affected by desertification, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, degradation of arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs) is a truly fateful issue. The UNCCD is therefore considered by many to be the most important document from the Rio summit for the developing world. The ASAL opportunities and problems have for a long time been high up on the agenda in RELMA’s work plan. Therefore, it was very natural for Sida and the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs to ask for RELMA’s competence when Sweden chaired the European Union (EU) during the first half of 2001. As a part of our work plan, RELMA studied the eastern African UNCCD national action plans before the Director of RELMA took part in the working group inter-session meeting in Bonn, Germany in March 2001, where the African national action plans were discussed. During the meeting in Bonn, it was very striking how strongly land tenure issues featured in the presented national action plans. People living in areas affected by desertification must feel substantially land-secure if any positive impact is expected. However, we know that only little work is currently taking place in most countries regarding land tenure development. The question is why? Land tenure issues, which we view as policy questions crucial for and related to sustainable land management, are often looked upon as “politics” and considered to be very culturally sensitive. Elin Cohen (Master of Law) with good knowledge on issues concerning land tenure in Kenya was hired as a consultant to study and analyse the situation. Obviously, there exist no simple solutions for the best land tenure system in the eastern African ASALs. On the contrary, a set of different measures depending on the present situation, history and culture will most likely be appropriate. People’s trust in the tenure system, whether it is customary law or statutory law, is very crucial. Such trust can only be earned after a substantial time when people experience security of tenure, not only “in theory” but “in reality”. Åke Barklund Director, RELMA
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Executive summary The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) cuts across many sectors and a multi-stakeholder approach for the national action plans process is therefore of great importance. Many countries place this national coordinating body in the ministry of agriculture, which tends to primarily comprehend dryland issues as they relate to agriculture. There is therefore an advantage if the national framework involves as many relevant ministries as possible. In Uganda, several ministries form the national coordinating body and the Ministry of Finance is charged with the overall supervision of the activities of the national steering committee. Even though the UNCCD has been open for signatures for 10 years and in force for 5 years, a low knowledge-level regarding the convention persists among donors, governments and policy-makers, as well as the population in affected areas. In Ethiopia, the field office of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) organized donor forums in order to sensitize donors about the UNCCD and awareness-creation campaigns have been held in affected areas in Kenya. These activities represent good examples of actions, but there is still a great need for a broader knowledge about the UNCCD. The UNCCD recognizes—in its non-binding preamble—that without substantial financial aid from donors, it will be difficult for developing countries to implement commitments under the convention. The lack of knowledge about the convention combined with the lack of resources presents a big problem for the implementation. Donors need to get more actively involved and affected countries have to find new approaches to fund and implement these activities. The national coordination bodies could for example approach the ministry of finance, which can put forward requests for funding in the bilateral discussions with donors. Uganda and Tanzania have adopted an efficient method, where the funding does not come through a national action plans implementing body, but the national coordinating body identifies and coordinates already existing funded activities. The UNCCD calls for a bottom-up approach where local land users participate in the planning and implementation of appropriate actions. Already existing structures among local users such as the elder’s council, common interest groups, women’s groups and local NGOs should be involved. In Ethiopia, where farmers and pastoralists are not organized into common interest groups, it is important to mobilize and organize these groups to represent their interests in the national action planning. Furthermore, it is essential to ensure that women are represented, as this is a field traditionally dominated by men. The decentralization process in Tanzania and Uganda gave local communities more power and responsibilities to manage their resources. However, renewed efforts need to focus on the education and training of the communities to empower them to manage the environment as a sustainable source of livelihoods.
Security of tenure For the past half-century, western scholars have believed that in order for natural resources to be secure, property needs to be registered and held privately. However, experiences from the African continent have demonstrated that there are widespread failures when registering transfers and successions of private titles. In addition, widespread corruption has lead to the unfair appropriation of land, and has reduced trust in the land registry systems.
A landholder’s willingness to invest and improve land is influenced by his/her perception of various risks. These include the landholder’s perception of how long the land can be used, as well as the freedom to use and dispose off the land. One common assumption is that private land ownership increases the titleholder’s access to credit. However, in a study carried out by the World Bank and the Land Tenure Center (University of Wisconsin, USA) in several African countries including Kenya, the researchers did not find a significant relationship between the possession of a title deed and use of formal credit1. This study concluded that the transformation of customary land tenure to a private ownership alone would not lead to the development of an active rural credit market. In Kenya, large-scale landholders with good market access have easy access to credit facilities. The movement of cattle enclosures in West Pokot (Kenya) demonstrates that there are advantages for land users to hold land individually or as a group rather than to be a user of trust land. In general, enclosures on individual holdings posed fewer difficulties of who could do what on the land as the owner could easily identify the advantages, such as rehabilitation of the land. For many group ranches, the movement of enclosures created a demand for formal titles. This evolution towards individual land tenure will in the long run ensure that the land users have security of tenure. However, the process is long and some members of the group ranch might not be satisfied with the piece of land allocated to them. Some group ranches decided to divide the land into different zones, certain areas for enclosures and other for communal grazing. With this arrangement, the community could plan these zones in such a way that everybody has access to the public facilities. This indicates that it is not necessary to sub-divide land in order to rehabilitate it. The trust land tenure arrangement in West Pokot proved to be an obstacle for the movement of enclosures as they were constructed without consideration of any legal rights. The county council holds trust land for the benefit of all residents, and an individual can therefore not prevent other residents from using it. Furthermore, as the members of the county council do not depend on the surrounding natural resources, they have little understanding of the responsibilities they have by holding the land in trust for the local residents. The lack of personal responsibility and involvement in the trust land system presents a problem for the local natural resource management. In order to permit land users to benefit from the resources and to create incentives for investment, it is important to consider the conversion of trust land into group ranches or local trusts. Land tenure is a politically sensitive issue, but accepting and implementing a flexible land tenure system can somehow defuse it. Private ownership and customary tenure has to be allowed to coexist and both systems need to be enforced. The case from West Pokot illustrates the need for a flexible tenure arrangement, as the outcome of the tenure arrangements was different among the group ranches. For the land users who chose individual tenure, the registration system and the administrative institutions need to be reformed and reinforced to facilitate the registration process and provide a good maintenance of the system. The group ranches that choose to maintain the common ownership must be allowed to do so, leaving privatization as an option. Both customary and statutory tenure need to provide for a stable and reliable system in order for the users to trust the arrangement, this trust takes time to create.
1
Bruce, J. and Migot-Adholla, S. 1993. Searching for Land Tenure Security in Africa. World Bank. Washington D.C.
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1.
Introduction
Security of land tenure is one of the important factors in the mitigation of land degradation. The lack of clear land tenure systems hinders the implementation of long-term soil and water conservation practices. Secure access to land is essential for the land users to be willing to invest in activities that conserve and/or improve the land, since the benefits from such investments usually take several years before their impact is evident. Approximately 65% of Kenyan land is held in trust. Most of the trust land is located in the arid or semi-arid areas of northern Kenya. Trust land will therefore be the focal discussion regarding land tenure in Kenya. In the last ten years, substantial areas of land in East and Southern Africa have been enclosed inter alia for rehabilitation. VI Agroforestry Project (previously Vi-TPP) facilitated a programme to address land degradation issues among pastoralists in West Pokot. Some land was enclosed for rehabilitation and as the advantage of enclosures became evident, members of the community expressed their interest to do the same. Enclosures were made on private land, group ranches, and trust land. The advantages and difficulties associated with enclosing land will be further discussed. Finally, some examples will be used to illustrate and highlight obstacles in the land tenure system in Kenya for combating desertification.
Desertification Desertification in the context of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) defined as “land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities”. Land degradation means the reduction or loss in the above areas of the biological or economic productivity and complexity of the land, resulting from land use or a combination of human activities and habitation patterns, such as soil erosion caused by wind and/or water. The United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) estimates that 25% of the earth’s total land area is threatened by desertification; approximately 20% of the world’s population lives in these areas. There is a strong connection between drylands and poverty. Desertification reduces the agricultural output in countries that rely on drylands for their food production. People abandon degraded land and either move to the cities or to another dryland area, which eventually become overpopulated and a new degradation cycle begins. Desertification affects about 80% of Kenya’s total land area, an area where 8–10 million of the inhabitants of the country reside (30% of the total population). The majority of the population in these areas is pastoralist or semi-pastoralist2. Soil degradation in Kenya is mainly due to erosion caused by wind and water. Water erosion prevails in the intensively farmed areas. Land degradation is often intensified in these areas through inappropriate cultivation practices and/or over-cultivation. Wind erosion is the main cause of
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Ministry of Environmental Conservation. 1999. Kenya National Report on the Implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. National Environment Secretariat, Nairobi. p. 21.
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degradation in the arid and semi-arid parts of Kenya. Overgrazing, which leaves the soil unprotected from the disastrous impact of the sun and wind, leads to accelerated land degradation3. Agricultural production is declining and the current annual growth of the sector (in Kenya) is below 1%. Increasing population and lack of growth in other sectors create an increasing pressure on natural resources, resulting in declining soil fertility and general environmental degradation 4.
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Lang, C. 1995. Environmental Degradation in Kenya as a cause of Political Conflict, Social Stress and Ethnic tensions. ENCOP Occasional Paper No.12, Center for Security Policy and Conflict Research Zurich/Swiss Peace Foundation Berne. Zurich/Berne. p. 1. 4 Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. 2000. Project Document, National Agriculture and Livestock Extension Programme. July 2000–June 2003. Nairobi. p. 12.
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The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)
The United Nations’ Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) was enforced on December 26, 1996. The financing mechanism was the most debated issue during the convention negotiations. Developing countries called for binding obligations that the developed countries to provide new funding for the prevention and reduction of land degradation. The donor countries asserted that additional funding was not necessary. The convention states that developed countries promise to provide substantial funding, but not to provide any additional funds. The convention grants the development of national action plans a central role in the strategy to combat desertification. The purpose of the national action plans is to identify the factors contributing to desertification and practical measures necessary to combat desertification. The convention places emphasis on the development process of the national action plans than on the actual contents of the plans. The regional implementation annex for Africa has more details and lists special measures that should be included in the national action plans. Article 8 of the annex provides that the national action plans shall, as appropriate, include adjustment of institutional and regulatory framework of natural resource management to provide security of tenure for the local population. The convention has adopted a “bottom-up” approach for the design and implementation of the national action plans. The national action plans shall provide for an effective participation at the local, national and regional levels for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the local populations, both women and men and particularly resource-users, both farmers and pastoralists in policy planning, decision-making and implementation of the national action plans5. The convention also recognizes the value of local knowledge in natural resource management and the parties commit themselves to protect and promote such local knowledge and practices6. Article 3 of the UNCCD articulates the following four principle themes: • Local participation in planning and implementation of programmes to combat desertification. • Improved cooperation and coordination at regional and international level of financial and other resources. • Enhancement of the cooperation among government, communities, NGOs and landholders and the establishment of better understanding for the value of land and scare water resources. • Recognition of the special needs and circumstances of affected developing countries. Article 4 sets out a number of general obligations for the signatory parties. The parties shall adopt an integrated approach addressing the physical, biological and socio-economic aspects of desertification. The parties shall also integrate a strategy for poverty eradication and establish an enabling international economic environment in the efforts to combat desertification. In article 5, it is outlined that the affected country parties will give due priority to combat desertification and allocate resources in accordance to their capacities. The parties shall also promote awareness and facilitate the participation of the local population and address the underlying causes, 5 6
United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). 1996. Article 10 (f). United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). 1996. Article 16 (iv) (g).
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specifically the socio-economic factors, contributing to desertification. Furthermore, the affected countries shall provide an enabling environment by strengthening, as appropriate, relevant legislation and, where they do not exist, enact new laws and establish long-term policies and action programmes. Article 6 establishes the obligation of the developed country parties to provide substantial financial resources and other forms of support to assist affected developing country parties to develop and implement their own long-term plans to combat desertification.
UNDP’s Office to Combat Desertification and Drought (UNSO) The United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Office to Combat Desertification and Drought (UNSO) has helped more than 50 governments to develop their national action plans. UNSO is now moving from a project-oriented approach to a new integrated programme. The programme is grouped into three areas: • Mainstreaming dryland issues. • Reducing vulnerability. • Improving local governance for natural resource management. Mainstreaming dryland issues Some very good national action plans have been developed, but the implementation has often been slow. The national action plans are normally developed by the ministries of environment or agriculture without much involvement form other relevant ministries. As more and more countries develop poverty reduction strategy papers, mainstreaming dryland issues into the poverty reduction strategy papers will be a principal focus for the implementation of the national action plans. The poverty reduction strategy papers describe a country’s macroeconomic, structural and social policies to promote growth and reduce poverty. The government prepares the poverty reduction strategy papers with the participation from the civil society and development partners. The poverty reduction strategy papers provide the basis for debt relief and allow donors to plan and coordinate their aid commitments. Tanzania and Uganda are currently in the process of mainstreaming dryland issues into their poverty reduction strategy papers. Kenya has a good emphasis on environmental issues in their poverty reduction strategy papers but little resources are allocated for this area. Reducing vulnerability The aim is to decrease the dryland-population’s vulnerability for desertification and drought. UNSO’s strategies include drought mitigation, adaptation to climate change and conservation of the local biodiversity. Improving local governance for natural resource management There is need for the establishment of clear norms and regulations regarding land tenure and access to natural resources are recognized as essential elements to combat desertification. This third approach involves participation of grassroots groups in the local policy process and the use of local environmental knowledge.
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Institutional framework to combat desertification
The institutional framework to combat desertification in Kenya is examined below. The national action plans of Uganda, Tanzania and Ethiopia have also been studied to facilitate a comparison and analyse of possible different approaches to manage dryland issues in the region.
Institutional framework to combat desertification in Kenya In Kenya, drylands cover about 60% of the total land area. They are mainly found in the northern, northeastern and extreme southern parts of the country. A national coordinating body is designated to coordinate all desertification-associated activities within all government ministries and other actors. It also forms a part of the national environment secretariat in the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources. The national coordinating body has established a national steering committee, which meets on monthly basis. The national steering committee includes representatives from the relevant ministries, national universities, national coordinating committee on desertification, other NGOs, and United Nations organizations. Ideally, the national coordinating body should operate under a land use policy, but there is no such policy in Kenya. The Ministry of Lands and Settlement established a task force to develop a land use policy in the beginning of 2001. At local level, district anti-desertification committees formed in certain districts constitute subcommittees to the already existing district development committees. Committees have been formed in Samburu, Turkana, Marsabit, Mwingi Makueni and Kitui. District committees—supported by the community members trained by the national coordinating body—assist the communities to implement their ideas on how to combat desertification. Currently, UNDP finances projects in Turkana and Taita Taveta districts. Due to lack of resources, the national coordinating body is only working with these two district anti-desertification committees. The traditional social controls at local level are rapidly breaking down. Kenya has not decentralized governance to this level, and therefore there are no systems to reinforce or replace the traditional control arrangements. Furthermore, the level of education is low among the pastoral communities in the dry areas, and there are few alternative livelihood opportunities apart from raising livestock. According to the national coordinating body, land tenure is not adequately addressed in Kenya’s national action plan due to the complexity of the issue and the lack of a land use policy. Furthermore, the development of a land use policy is placed under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Lands and Settlement and not the Ministry of Environmental and Natural Resources7. In summary, there are weak institutional frameworks, poor funding and fragmentation of key control and management elements among the various ministries responsible for environmental issues. It is also noted that there are few efforts to ensure that sound environmental management is incorporated into the operational and organizational structures of the various ministries responsible for environmental issues. The National Environment Action Plan process initiated in 1995 is yet to have any impact. Furthermore, the expected national regulatory mechanism, the National Environmental Management
7 Personal communication. Kaburu, H. Environmental Officer/UNCCD Desk Officer, Ministry of Environmental and Natural Resources, Nairobi. 2002.
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Authority (NEMA) has not been created8. It is obvious that environmental issues currently rank low in the Kenyan Government agenda. In order to coordinate donor aid and environmental interventions, a donors’ coordination committee on environment was formed. The committee is supposed to meet on quarterly basis, but the meetings have so far been irregular. Projects are also funded through bilateral agreements between the Government of Kenya and donor countries. The national action plan provides a list with the name of the programmes, the allocation and the funding agency. According to the national coordinating body, the greatest challenge for the implementation of environmental interventions is the lack of understanding on issues of desertification among the ministries involved (led by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources) and little support from donors. During 1997/1998, the national coordinating body received USD 190,000 from UNSO, USD 30,000 from the Government of Australia and USD 5,000 from the Government of the Netherlands. These resources are now exhausted. The Kenyan Government provides the national coordinating body with just enough resources to cover its basic administrative operations, but there is no facilitation for activities or field trips.
Institutional framework to combat desertification in Uganda Drylands cover about 30% of Uganda’s total land area. The drylands stretch from the northeast to the southwest part of the country. This area is commonly referred to as the “cattle corridor”. In Uganda, the national coordinating body for the UNCCD consists of the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF), with representatives from the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, the Disaster Preparedness Council, the private sector and town and county planning boards. The national steering committee comprises of 15 representatives from various government departments, 3 NGO representatives and 1 UNDP envoy. The national steering committee mandate is to guide policy formulation and advise the government on matters concerning implementation of the UNCCD. The Ministry of Finance Planning and Economic Development, the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) and MAAIF are charged with the overall supervision of the activities of the national steering committee. District steering committees on desertification have been established in 9 districts. The national action plans present a list of funded and ongoing projects in agriculture and natural resource management that embody the UNCCD principles. The national coordinating body aims to integrate these projects into the national action plans. In 1988, a committee was established under the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) to investigate the possibilities of land law reform in Uganda. The outcome of the study was the formulation of a new land act in 1998. This act provides for the tenure, ownership and management of land. The main innovative features of this act are that it seeks to decentralize land administration, strengthen security of tenure to all land users under a pluralistic tenure system and redress historical imbalances in relation to land ownership. The National Environment Statute (1995) constitutes the framework for the management of the environment and natural resources. The statute establishes that NEMA coordinates, monitors and harmonizes the integration of environmental issues in Uganda.
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Personal communication. Kimaru, G. Soil Conservation Advisor, RELMA. 2002.
The Government provides office space and remunerates the government officials involved in the setting up of the national action plan. The national action plan’s secretariat has also received funding from UNDP, UNSO, GTZ, DANIDA, USAID, FAO, UNCCD Secretariat, Lutheran World Federation, World Vision, Econews Africa, the World Conservation Union, the Netherlands Development Cooperation and the Australian Government. In 1999, the donors had committed a total of USD 211,500.
Institutional framework to combat desertification in Tanzania In Tanzania, forests and woodlands cover 46% of the total land area, grasslands cover 40%, 8% is agricultural land and the rest is covered by water. About 60% of the total land area is infested with tsetse flies, which hamper agricultural and livestock production. An estimated 60% of the country is affected by desertification problems. The national coordinating body in the UNCCD is made up of relevant ministries and institutions and is chaired by the Permanent Secretary of the Vice President’s Office. The main task for the national coordinating body is to coordinate and guide the national action plan process and approve policy and legal measures to create an enabling environment. The national steering committee consists of 13 members from various institutions; the Director of Environment of the Vice President’s Office chairs the national steering committee. Tanzania has also set up a national technical committee of 15 members from the donor community, NGOs, the private sector and relevant ministries. The Division of Environment (Vice President’s Office) has the main responsibility for the implementation of the national action plan. The national steering committee and the national technical committee described in the preceding paragraph undertook an extensive consultative process in 13 regions to identify, raise awareness and sensitize stakeholders about desertification. The consultative process was also used to collect data relevant for the issues that needed to be incorporated into the national action plan. The outcome was a comprehensive list identifying the problems in the various regions and possible actions to undertake. Currently, the lack of a clear land tenure system is a disincentive for conservation of the natural resources by land users. The national steering committee and the national technical committee recommended forming a law review commission to revise ineffective laws and to enforce efficient laws. Furthermore, the outcome of the consultative process displayed the need to clearly define the governing tenure in each part of the country, whether it is customary tenure or statutory tenure. A Presidential Commission of Inquiry on Land Matters was established in 1991 in Tanzania. The result of the commission’s investigation was the enactment of the Land Act and the Village Land Act in 1999. The Land Act regulates general land (land governed by statutory law), while the Village Land Act affects village land (land governed by customary tenure). The national action programme is a part of the national development objectives. All the stakeholders should therefore see the national action plan as a part of their development programme. The national action plan stresses that the programme is not a new initiative but an effort to coordinate stakeholders’ proposals and donor-funds to maximize the utilization of available resources. For this purpose, the national action plan has identified existing funded programmes related to desertification.
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Institutional framework to combat desertification in Ethiopia Of the total land area of Ethiopia, only 15% is under cultivation, while 51% is permanent pasture; 12% comprises forests and shrubs and 19% of the land is defined as not utilizable9. The arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas of Ethiopia account for about 70% of the total land area; characterized by very high temperature and low and erratic rainfall distribution. The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) forms the national coordinating body in Ethiopia. EPA is the federal organ for coordinating and regulating environmental management, including legislation, strategies, action plans and policy-making. The national steering committee is composed of representatives from EPA, other government organs, research and academic institutions as well as NGOs. However, farmers and pastoralists are not represented; the reason is—according to the national report of the implementation of the UNCCD— that these groups are not organized. The UNCCD should be implemented through a “bottom-up” approach. However, due to the lack of grass-root organizations in Ethiopia, it is difficult to implement the UNCCD and also to set up the national action plan. The national coordinating body has carried out a review of environmental legislations. The analysis indicates that the effort to improve and modernize the country’s environmental laws has not been systematic and comprehensive. The forestry and water resource legislation are, for example, not accompanied by implementation regulations. Furthermore, there is a lack of operational policies and strategies in areas such as forest, land, soil, water, and wildlife resources. In Ethiopia, land is publicly owned and the individual is only given rights of access to utilize the land. In theory, the present land tenure system gives assurances of ownership to the output from the land, to soil and water conservation structures as well as trees. In practice, two important factors increase insecurity of tenure; the customary tenure that is widely practiced but is not legally recognized and secondly, the frequent reallocation of land to other parties is a common practice. Pastoral communities practice communal land ownership. Customary land rights are however not legally recognized, which often leads to the loss of land through encroachment by the so called private developers—often with a “silent consent” from the Government or local authorities—and alienation of the pastoralists. Pastoralists are, as a result, confined to the drier and marginal areas, which increase overstocking, overgrazing and land degradation. The draft Rural Land Use and Administration Policy is an effort to ensure equity through land redistribution. However, it still does not assure security of tenure. Reallocation of land occurs from time to time and it is a serious disincentive, which discourages long-term improvements in a particular piece of land. The NAP points out that although redistribution may sometimes be necessary, care must be taken to balance both the equity and security concerns10. The Federal Rural Land Administration Proclamation also presents a problem for the security of tenure. The proclamation provides that farmers and pastoralists, both men and women, have the right to get sufficient land for their subsistence for free. They should not be evicted from such land except cÉÇÉê~ä=aÉãçÅê~íáÅ=oÉéìÄäáÅ=çÑ=bíÜáçéá~K=NVVUK=k~íáçå~ä=^Åíáçå=mêçÖê~ããÉ=íç=`çãÄ~í=aÉëÉêíáÑáÅ~íáçå=sçäìãÉ=fK=qÜÉ=pí~íÉ=lÑ=k~íìê~ä= oÉëçìêÅÉë=få=^êáÇI=pÉãáJ^êáÇ=^åÇ=aêó=pìÄJeìãáÇ=^êÉ~ëK=båîáêçåãÉåí~ä=mêçíÉÅíáçå=^ìíÜçêáíóI=^ÇÇáë=^Ä~Ä~K=éK=QK== 10 Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. 1998. National Action Programme in Combating Desertification, Volume III. Gap Analysis and proposed approaches to Combat Desertification. Environmental Protection Authority. Addis Ababa, p. 5. V
during the total or partial redistribution of holdings. In case of loss of tenure, the new owner should pay the old owner for any improvements made on the land. The national action plan recognizes that more effort is required to raise awareness among farmers and pastoralists in the drylands of their rights to land and the utilization of closed, enclosed and forested hillsides. Lack of awareness about the existence of such rights discourages individuals from undertaking soil and water conservation measures. The UNDP field office in Ethiopia coordinates donor funding for the national action plan and has organized several meetings with the donors. During the initial meetings, donor representatives had very limited information about the UNCCD. In May 1999, there were still no additional funds available, but the donor community were now considering how they should proceed to meet their conventional obligations to provide financial assistance. Ethiopia received USD 365,000 for the national action plan preparation in 1999.
9
4.
Land tenure in Kenya
To date, there are approximately 70 laws that regulate land and land use in Kenya. As part of the ongoing constitutional review and the Presidential Commission on Land Law Systems in Kenya, land reform is currently an important topic of debate. There are three different land types of in Kenya: government land, private land and trust land. The Government owns public land, private holders own private land, and the county councils hold trust land in trust for the residents. Most land in the arid and semi-arid parts of the country is trust land; trust land will therefore be in focus for the further discussion.
Women and land rights The contribution by women to economic production in Kenya is essential, as women carry out about 80% of the agriculture work, but less than 4% of the women have land registered in their own names11. Many women work and live on their husband’s piece of land, but are upon divorce or the husband’s death left with limited access, ownership or user rights to the land. As most Kenyan women do not work in regular cash-generating jobs, they do not have enough money to purchase land. Consequently, inheritance constitutes the most important, and often only, form of transfer of land to women. When a person without a will dies, the surviving spouse is entitled to the personal and household effects of the deceased and a life interest in the intestate estate 12. The widow/widower does not inherit the estate but holds the property in trust for the children. The estate is then equally divided among the children. However, it is important to note that certain areas of the country are exempted from the above provisions concerning the distribution of agricultural land13 and livestock. The exempted areas are situated in regions of trust land and include Wajir, West Pokot, Turkana, Tana River, Garissa, Marsabit, Isiolo, Mandera and Lamu14. The deceased's customary law is instead applied15. Since most of the land in these areas is trust land inhabited by pastoralists or group ranches with many members, the distribution of property to individual persons—whether male or female—as laid down in the Succession Act may not be appropriate. The customary law may instead be better adapted to the local circumstances. However, since most customary laws disinherit women, the provision in the Succession Act exempting certain areas should also state that there should be equal inheritance of this land by both women and men. Furthermore, the exemption of livestock from the general rules of distribution of property in the Succession Act may constitute a major disadvantage for women as livestock often represent the most valuable property among the pastoralists.
11
Earth Care Africa. 1997. Women and Environmental Governance in East Africa. Nairobi. Government of Kenya. Section 35(1) of the Law of Succession Act. 'Agricultural land' here means land used for agricultural purposes which is not within a municipality or a township, but does not include land registered under the provisions of any written law, e.g. agricultural land situated in trust land areas. 14 Government of Kenya. Legal Notice 94 of 1981. 15 Government of Kenya. Section 33 of the Law of Succession Act. 12 13
Trust land The Trust Land Act grants the county councils the authority to administrate the land for the benefit of the residents. In Kenya, 95% of the trust land is found in the following districts: Moyale, Wajir, Samburu, Tana River, Marsabit, Garissa, Turkana, Isiola, Mandera and Trans Mara16. Customary law prevails over these laws when trust land is being considered. Land Adjudication Act and the Land (Group Representative) Act regulate registration of individual titles to plots of land within the trust land. When a title is issued, either to a group or to an individual, the land is converted from trust land to private land. Once the land is privately owned, customary law is no longer applicable. Trust Land Act All authority to administer trust land is vested on the local authorities—the county councils—which hold the land in trust for the benefit of the residents. 17 The county council shall give effect to such rights, interests and other benefits in respect of land according to African Customary Law 18. Trust land can be temporary converted to private land. A piece of land can be set aside to any person with the purpose of using the land in a manner that is likely to benefit the persons ordinarily resident in that area. The president or the County Council decides if and to who trust land should be set a side for alienation. Once the area is set apart, any rights or other benefits previously vested on a tribe, group, family or individual under African Customary Law, is extinguished. Full compensation has to be paid to any resident of the land set apart19. The alienation is in theory temporary since the land shall be reverted back to trust land when the legitimate purpose of the alienation comes to an end20. In practice, this regulation opens up channels of corruption at the expense of the local people, since neither reversion of the land back to trust land nor compensation hardly ever occur 21. Land Adjudication Act The Land Adjudication Act was passed to provide for a system of adjudication, demarcation and registration of titles to trust land areas22. The Minister of Lands and Settlement decides when it is appropriate that a particular area is ready for determining and register the rights and interests of the inhabitants. Upon issuing of a title, the land becomes private land and customary law ceases, therefore, to apply to such land23. The act recognizes joint ownership, ownership-in-common and ownership in groups 24. If a group under customary law has exercised rights over land, which according to the Act shall be recognized as ownership, the group shall be declared the owner of the land. A group is defined as a tribe, clan, section, family or other group of persons, whose land under customary law belongs to all persons in that group. When a group is recorded in the Adjudication Register, they are qualified to register as a group under the Land (Group Representative) Act25.
16
Lumumba, O. 1997. Who Owns This Land? – A Guide to Understanding the law of Trust Lands in Kenya. Kenya Human Rights Commission. Nairobi. p. 1. 17 Government of Kenya. Trust Land Act (T.L.A) 1939, revised 1962 and 1970 (Cap 288). 18 Government of Kenya. Article 115(2) of the Constitution of Kenya. 19 Government of Kenya. Art 117 of the Constitution of Kenya and section 7-10 of the Trust Land Act. 20 Government of Kenya. Section 119 of the Constitution of Kenya. 21 Personal communication. Lenaola, I. Member of the Constitutional Review Commission of Kenya, Nairobi. 22 Government of Kenya. Land Adjudication Act 1968, revised 1977 (Cap 284). 23 Court Case of DC Kaimbu vs. R ex-parte Ethan Njau, 1960 E.A. 109. 24 Government of Kenya. Section 23(4) of the Land Adjudication Act. 25 Government of Kenya. Subsidiary legislation to the Land Adjudication Act, Second Schedule.
11
Land (Group Representatives) Act Group ranches are situated in areas mainly inhabited by pastoralists. Individuals of a pastoral tribe who can be registered as members of that particular ranch own the ranches (which were previously part of the trust land) 26. Three to ten people are registered as representatives of the group ranch. There is no limitation to how many members a group ranch can have. All persons who are recorded in the Adjudication Register as having an interest in the group ranch shall be entitled to become members of the ranch. Membership can be obtained upon the representatives’ accreditation, a court decision or inheritance from a person who was recorded in the Adjudication Register27. The group ranch is required to elect a management committee annually. The group management committee is among other things, responsible for their members to manage the land and livestock in accordance to sound principles of land use, range management, animal husbandry and commercial practices. Legally, the land within the group ranch is no longer trust land since the county council does not hold the land in trust any more. Thus, customary law does not govern group ranches. The Land (Group Representative) Act allows for subdivision of ranch land into individual private ownership. Even though customary law is not applicable to group ranches, in practice customary law is normally used to demarcate the individual plots upon subdivision. 28
26
Government of Kenya. Land (Group Representatives) Act 1968, revised 1970 (Cap 287). Government of Kenya. Subsidiary legislation to the Land (Group Representative) Act, Second Schedule. 28 Personal communication. Lenaola, I. Member, Constitutional Review Commission of Kenya. 2001. 27
5.
Enclosure of land in West Pokot District
West Pokot District is situated in the northwest part of Kenya, along the border with Uganda. Of the total land area in the district, 3% has a high production potential, 6% has a medium potential, 28% is marginal land and 44% is considered rangeland. The remaining 19% is either covered by forest or unsuitable for agricultural use for other reasons29. West Pokot District is cited here as an example of the earlier-discussed land tenure issues. Individual private ownership is prevalent in areas with a high agricultural potential, while group ranches and trust land dominate the drier areas. West Pokot is one of the exempted areas to the Succession Act regarding inheritance of agricultural land and livestock; customary law is instead applied. According to the custom, only male members of the family can inherit land. Women normally get user rights to land belonging to their husbands or fathers. Traditionally, the primary use of enclosures is for food production, although they are also used for grazing. Thorny twigs and branches from local trees are used to make the enclosures. Livestock is allowed into the enclosures after maize, beans, finger millet and sorghum are harvested and during the dry season. The Vi Tree Planting Programme (Vi-TPP), presently the Vi Agroforestry Project, started to enclose pasture in public areas such as schools and churches. No grazing was allowed within the enclosure and the grass, shrubs and trees recovered after approximately three years. The enclosures were then used as demonstration sites to the local community. By observing the rehabilitation of the land within the enclosures some pastoralists became interested in enclosing their land. After another two years or so, the neighbours saw the advantage of the enclosure system and desired to establish their own. Enclosures were made on private land, group ranches, and trust land. The movement of enclosures had its advantages and disadvantages depending on the tenure arrangements. In cases where individuals held land, the enclosure process did not meet any major difficulties since the land ownership was clear. The enclosure adds value to the land and provides the owner with better control and management of the natural resources. After the enclosure demonstration, some members of the group ranches became interested. Some group ranches decided to divide their land into different zones, certain areas were allocated for settlement while others were reserved for communal grazing. The constraint facing this arrangement was that some groups were not able to regulate this new set-up; the zone for settlement could for example eat into the grazing zone. The advantage on the other hand was that the management committee could identify public facilities and common resources such as water and provide for access to such facilities in the planning of the different zones. Other group ranches decided to demarcate the group ranch in order to enclose individual land parcels. In 1997, several group ranches decided to subdivide the land. Since the process of adjudication can take more than 20 years, the individual households have in the meantime user rights to their holdings. Adjudication, however, easily becomes an inequitable process where certain members of the group, based on power, status and influence, will be granted better land than others. Moreover, not all members want to enclose the land. Some people have large herds of livestock for their assigned plot; others view the capital investment in establishing the enclosure as too expensive for 29
Makokha, W. et al. 1999. We Work Together–Land Rehabilitation and Household Dynamics in Chapareria Division, West Pokot District, Kenya. RELMA Technical Report No. 22. Nairobi. p.6.
13
them. There are also pastoralists who fear alienation and social pressure if they do not herd their animals in a large group; while others view that the establishment of enclosures requires too much work. Enclosures on trust land are more complicated since there is no identified owner of the land. The enclosures of trust land in West Pokot were done without any legal right. The County Council can set apart an area of trust land for enclosure to one or more persons for a purpose that is likely to benefit the people ordinarily resident in the area. If the County Council had set apart an area of land any previously rights to that land would be extinguished. However, the County Council in West Pokot did not set apart any land for this purpose, therefore, since trust land is held in trust for the benefit of all residents, an individual cannot lock out other users. The enclosure of land in West Pokot resulted in improved productivity, range conditions and carrying capacity for grazers (the number of animals that can graze the land without over-grazing). With available pasture in the enclosures near the homesteads, there was less need for the men to travel long distances in search of pasture. Thus, as the men spent more time at home, they could perform some of the tasks that were usually carried out by women, such as cultivating the enclosed areas. Finally, the enclosures significantly reduced the land degradation in the area.
6.
Land tenure and combating desertification in Kenya
Different land tenure systems pose varying difficulties to the establishment of sustainable natural resource management. Many pastoral people, in particular the Maasai, do not view land as a capital asset, but as something one cannot claim ownership to. Pastoralists have therefore in numerous cases been dispossessed of their land. For example, the Maasai of Kajiado in the southern part of Rift Valley have received cash in exchange for a thumbprint on a land transfer form. They sold the land in the belief that the transaction did not take away their right to the land; as a consequence, they believed that they would still let their herds graze the land.
Private land Registration of title deeds A study carried out by the World Bank and the Land Tenure Center in 1994 shows that 50–70% of land transactions in Kenya have not been reflected in the land register30. The reasons given for this were negligence of the register personnel and inadequate resources, but more importantly the landowners’ negligence to provide information of transfers. The fact that transfer of land is not reported to the land register reflects unawareness of that land transfers should be reported, but it may also reflect lack of trust in the registration system. Fragmentation of agricultural land Agricultural land is to a great extent privately owned land. The growing population is increasing pressure on agricultural land, bringing about sub-division of holdings into small units. Fragmentation of agricultural land in dry areas accelerates land degradation. In areas where shifting cultivation is used, the plots have to be big enough to allow for the land to rest and rejuvenate. There is no land use policy in force that regulates sub-division of this land in the perspective of avoiding land degradation. Short-term leases of agricultural land There is a widespread custom among Maasai landowners regarding the leasing out of agricultural land. The leaseholder holds the land for one or two years with the interest to harvest as much as possible during the period for the leasehold. As a consequence, the leaseholder lacks incentives to invest in long-term land improvement31. Furthermore, the profit is usually transferred to other parts of the country and not reinvested in the area32.
30
Bruce. J. and Migot-Adhola, S. 1994. “Searching for land tenure Security in Africa”. World Bank. Washington D.C. Personal communication. Kiara, J. K., Eriksson, A. and Mbote, F. Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Nairobi, 2001. 32 Krugmann, H, Towards Improved Indicators to measure Desertification and Monitor the Implementation of the Desertification Convention. www.idrc.ca. p.10. 31
15
Group ranches Disputed boundaries and memberships About 75% of the disputes that arise under the Land (Group Representatives) Act concern the right to obtain membership in the group ranches. The representatives of the group have a considerable control over the entitlement to membership. A group ranch is located in the arid area just north of Isiolo. Located a short distance to the south is land held by individuals and used for agricultural production. Several attempts to subdivide the group ranch have failed because different tribes lay claim to the land and it has been difficult to identify the real members of the group ranch. As a consequence of the dispute, the group ranch is not properly managed, the land is overgrazed and there are very few trees. In addition, there is no clear demarcation between the ranch and the adjacent land owned by the Kenyan Army. Size of the group ranches Most group ranches are adequate for the members at the time of demarcation. However, there are several factors that may result in that the reduction in size of the group ranch. Adjudicated individual holdings adjacent to a group ranch can encroach into the group ranch’s land. Furthermore, group ranches with good grazing conditions, access to water and a marketplace, etc., tend to get overpopulated. This is caused by general population growth, but also because people from outside move into the ranch. Many group ranches allow people to temporarily use the land, but there is a growing problem with temporarily users not vacating the ranch after their period of grazing is over. Squatters were recently killed at Seketet Group Ranch in Samburu District when they refused to move out. Adjudication of land from group ranches Once the adjudication procedure under the Land Adjudication Act is final, the title is registered according to the Registered Land Act. Even though the title can be obtained through fraud or a similar action, the validity of the first registration cannot be challenged. The first registration can only be annulated by the Parliament. The Parliament passed an amendment to the Land Adjudication Act to annul a first registration in Ngong just west of Nairobi in 1999, however that was a unique case 33. A case from Ndoto Group Ranch in Samburu District illustrates the abuse that may occur regarding adjudication and how a registered title under Registered Land Act cannot be challenged. In 1981, nine well-known inhabitants in Samburu District presented themselves to the adjudication committee and requested to be allocated plots. Out of total 54,000 acres, the nine people were allocated a total of 14,000 acres. In 1993, the rest of the inhabitants became aware of the subdivision and the adjudication committee eventually realized the absurdity of this allocation. They decided to reduce the acreage for the nine people to 20 acres each. Three of the nine persons abandoned their claim to the adjudicated plots from 1981, meanwhile the remaining six persisted their claims. Out of those six, one got his adjudicated plot from 1981 registered as an individual title under the Registered Land Act. The five remaining are still claiming the land, but so far without any success. In 1993, the group representatives of Ndoto Group Ranch filed an objection to the Adjudication Officer against the five’s claim. There has been no sitting adjudication officer since the beginning of the 1990s and, therefore, the case has not progressed any further since the objection was filed34. Group representatives 33
Personal communication. Lenaola, I. Member, Constitutional Review Commission of Kenya, Nairobi. 2001. Lenaola, I., Jenner, H.H., and Wichert, T. 1996. “Land Tenure in Pastoral Land”. In In Land we Trust, edited by Juma, C. and Ojwang, J.B. Initiatives Publisher. Nairobi. p. 250. 34
There are two main problems regarding group representatives. The group representatives play a very important and complex role, thus many understand not their function and responsibility vis-à-vis the members, the laws, the district commissioners and the land. Because of the growing complexity, younger members of the community with formal education become group representatives. There is however no traditional role of younger members being involved in the decision-making process in the community. An attempted (and later halted) sub-division of a group ranch in Narok in Maasai land demonstrates the erosion of the elders’ power. The older group representatives held the most important posts, such as the chairman and the treasurer. However, they were made by the younger members to sign documents for sub-division of the land, since they could not read, they placed their fingerprint signatures without fully understanding the contents in the documents they were signing.
Trust land The County Council According to the Trust Land Act, customary law should govern trust land. The governance by the County Council is however alien to traditional systems, and customary law is therefore in reality not accurately practiced. Maralal in Samburu District was a holding area with forest some 25 to 30 years ago. The local population carefully monitored the quantity of the different species of trees they felled. The very same area today lies bare, the trees having been cut down indiscriminately. The County Council has not intervened—and has in some cases authorised—the cutting down of the forest. The members governing the County Council do not depend on the surrounding nature for subsistence and they, therefore, have little understanding of the responsibilities they have of holding the land in trust for the local people35.
35
Personal communication. Lenaola, I. Member, Constitutional Review Commission of Kenya, Nairobi. 2001.
17
8.
References
Bibliography Bruce, J. and Migot-Adholla, S. 1993. Searching for Land Tenure Security in Africa. World Bank. Washington D.C. Danish, K. International Environmental Law and the Bottom-Up Approach: A Review of the Desertification Convention, www.ijgls.indiana.edu/vol.13/no1/Danish Earth Care Africa. 1997. Women and Environmental Governance in East Africa. Nairobi. Government of Kenya. Legal Notice 94 of 1981. Government of Kenya. Section 33 of the Law of Succession Act. Government of Kenya. Article 115(2) of the Constitution of Kenya. Government of Kenya. Article 117 of the Constitution of Kenya and Section 7-10 of the Trust Land Act. Government of Kenya. Land Adjudication Act 1968, revised 1977 (Cap 284). Government of Kenya. Land (Group Representatives) Act 1968, revised 1970 (Cap 287). Government of Kenya. Section 119 of the Constitution of Kenya. Government of Kenya. Section 23(4) of the Land Adjudication Act. Government of Kenya. Section 35(1) of the Law of Succession Act. Government of Kenya. Subsidiary legislation to the Land Adjudication Act, Second Schedule. Government of Kenya. Subsidiary legislation to the Land (Group Representative) Act, Second Schedule. Government of Kenya. Trust Land Act (T.L.A) 1939, revised 1962 and 1970 (Cap 288) of the Constitution of Kenya. Krugmann, H. Towards Improved Indicators to measure Desertification and Monitor the Implementation of the Desertification Convention. www.idrc.ca. p. 10. Lang, C. 1995. Environmental Degradation in Kenya as a cause of Political Conflict, Social Stress, and Ethnic tensions. ENCOP Occasional Paper No.12. Center for Security Policy and Conflict Research Zurich/Swiss Peace Foundation Berne. Zurich/Berne. p. 12. Lenaola, I., Jenner, H.H., and Wichert, T. 1996. “Land Tenure in Pastoral Land”. In In Land we Trust, edited by Juma, C. and Ojwang, J.B. Initiatives Publisher. Nairobi. p. 250.
Lumumba, O. 1997. Who Owns This Land? A Guide to Understanding the law of Trust Lands in Kenya. Kenya Human Rights Commission. Nairobi. p. 1. Makokha, W., et al. 1999. We Work Together–Land Rehabilitation and Household Dynamics in Chapareria Division, West Pokot District, Kenya. RELMA Technical Report No. 22. Nairobi. p. 6. Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. 2000. Project Document, National Agriculture and Livestock Extension Programme, July 2000 – June 2003. Nairobi. Njoka, J. 1998. A Case Study of Land Rehabilitation in West Pokot District, Kenya, RELMA (unpublished document). Nairobi. United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). 1996. Article 10 (f). United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). 1996. Article 16 (iv) (g).
National Action Plans Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. 1999. Environmental Protection Authority, National Report on the Implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. Addis Ababa. Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. 1998. National Action Programme To Combat Desertification Volume I. The State Of Natural Resources In Arid, Semi-Arid And Dry Sub-Humid Areas. Addis Ababa. Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. 1998. National Action Programme in Combat Desertification, Volume III, Gap Analysis and proposed approaches to Combat Desertification, Environmental Protection Authority, Addis Ababa. Government of Kenya, Ministry of Environmental Conservation. 1999. Kenya National Report on the Implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. National Action Programme to Combat Desertification, National Environment Secretariat. Nairobi. Government of Uganda, Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries. 1999. A National Report to the Conference Parties on the implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Uganda. Entebbe. United Republic of Tanzania, Vice President’s Office. 1999. Proposed National Action Programme To Combat Desertification. Dar es Salaam.
Personal communication Barklund, Å. Director, RELMA, Nairobi. 2001. Dobie, P. Director, UNDP’s Office to Combat Desertification and Drought (UNSO), Nairobi. 2001. Eriksson, A. Programme Advisor, National Agricultural and Livestock Extension Programme (NALEP), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Nairobi. 2001.
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Kaburu, H. Environment Officer/UNCCD Desk Officer, National Environment Secretariat, Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, Nairobi. 2001. Kiara, J. K. Coordinator of NALEP, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Nairobi. 2001. Kimanzu, N. Regional Project Coordinator, Vi Agroforestry Programme, Kitale. 2001. Kimaru, G. Soil Conservation Advisor, RELMA, Nairobi. 2001. Kitalyi, A. Animal Husbandry Advisor, RELMA, Nairobi. 2001. Lenaola, I. Member of the Constitutional Review Commission of Kenya, Nairobi. 2001. Lumumba, O. Coordinator Kenya Land Alliance, Nakuru. 2001. Mbote, F. Head of Land Development Division, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Nairobi. 2001. Njoka, J. Department of Range Management, University of Nairobi, Nairobi. 2001. Nyagah, V. Project Coordinator of CCD in East and Southern Africa, UNDP’s Office to Combat Desertification and Drought (UNSO), Nairobi. 2001. Nyberg, T. Project Coordinator, Vi Agroforestry Programme. 2001. Ong, C. Agroforestry Advisor, RELMA, Nairobi. 2001.
Appendix: UNCCD Articles 1 to 6 Article 1 Use of terms For the purposes of this Convention: (a) "Desertification" means land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities; (b) "Combating desertification" includes activities which are part of the integrated development of land in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas for sustainable development which are aimed at: (i) Prevention and/or reduction of land degradation; (ii) Rehabilitation of partly degraded land; and (iii) Reclamation of desertified land; (c) "Drought" means the naturally occurring phenomenon that exists when precipitation has been significantly below normal recorded levels, causing serious hydrological imbalances that adversely affect land resource production systems; (d) "Mitigating the effects of drought" means activities related to the prediction of drought and intended to reduce the vulnerability of society and natural systems to drought as it relates to combating desertification; (e) "Land" means the terrestrial bio-productive system that comprises soil, vegetation, other biota, and the ecological and hydrological processes that operate within the system; (f) "Land degradation" means reduction or loss, in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas, of the biological or economic productivity and complexity of rain-fed cropland, irrigated cropland, or range, pasture, forest and woodlands resulting from land uses or from a process or combination of processes, including processes arising from human activities and habitation patterns, such as: (i) Soil erosion caused by wind and/or water; (ii) Deterioration of the physical, chemical and biological or economic properties of soil; and (iii) Long-term loss of natural vegetation; (g) "Arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas" means areas, other than polar and sub-polar regions, in which the ratio of annual precipitation to potential evapotranspiration falls within the range from 0.05 to 0.65; (h) "Affected areas" means arid, semi-arid and/or dry sub-humid areas affected or threatened by desertification; (i) "Affected countries" means countries whose lands include, in whole or in part, affected areas; (j) "Regional economic integration organization" means an organization constituted by sovereign States of a given region which has competence in respect of matters governed by this Convention and has been duly authorized, in accordance with its internal procedures, to sign, ratify, accept, approve or accede to this Convention; (k) "Developed country Parties" means developed country Parties and regional economic integration organizations constituted by developed countries.
Article 2 Objective 1. The objective of this Convention is to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought in countries experiencing serious drought and/or desertification, particularly in Africa, through effective action at all levels, supported by international cooperation and partnership arrangements, in the framework of an integrated approach which is consistent with Agenda 21, with a view to contributing to the achievement of sustainable development in affected areas. 2. Achieving this objective will involve long-term integrated strategies that focus simultaneously, in affected areas, on improved productivity of land, and the rehabilitation, conservation and sustainable management of land and water resources, leading to improved living conditions, in particular at the community level.
Article 3 Principles In order to achieve the objective of this Convention and to implement its provisions, the Parties shall be guided, inter alia, by the following: (a) The Parties should ensure that decisions on the design and implementation of programmes to combat desertification and/or mitigate the effects of drought are taken with the participation of populations and
21
local communities and that an enabling environment is created at higher levels to facilitate action at national and local levels; (b) The Parties should, in a spirit of international solidarity and partnership, improve cooperation and coordination at sub-regional, regional and international levels, and better focus financial, human, organizational and technical resources where they are needed; (c) The Parties should develop, in a spirit of partnership, cooperation among all levels of government, communities, non-governmental organizations and landholders to establish a better understanding of the nature and value of land and scarce water resources in affected areas and to work towards their sustainable use; and (d) The Parties should take into full consideration the special needs and circumstances of affected developing country Parties, particularly the least developed among them.
Article 4 General obligations 1. 2.
(c) (d) (e) (f) (g) (h) 3.
The Parties shall implement their obligations under this Convention, individually or jointly, either through existing or prospective bilateral and multilateral arrangements or a combination thereof, as appropriate, emphasizing the need to coordinate efforts and develop a coherent long-term strategy at all levels. In pursuing the objective of this Convention, the Parties shall: (a) Adopt an integrated approach addressing the physical, biological and socio-economic aspects of the processes of desertification and drought; (b) Give due attention, within the relevant international and regional bodies, to the situation of affected developing country Parties with regard to international trade, marketing arrangements and debt with a view to establishing an enabling international economic environment conducive to the promotion of sustainable development; Integrate strategies for poverty eradication into efforts to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought; Promote cooperation among affected country Parties in the fields of environmental protection and the conservation of land and water resources, as they relate to desertification and drought; Strengthen sub-regional, regional and international cooperation; Cooperate within relevant intergovernmental organizations; Determine institutional mechanisms, if appropriate, keeping in mind the need to avoid duplication; and Promote the use of existing bilateral and multilateral financial mechanisms and arrangements that mobilize and channel substantial financial resources to affected developing country Parties in combating desertification and mitigating the effects of drought. Affected developing country Parties are eligible for assistance in the implementation of the Convention.
Article 5 Obligations of affected country Parties In addition to their obligations pursuant to article 4, affected country Parties undertake to: (a) Give due priority to combating desertification and mitigating the effects of drought, and allocate adequate resources in accordance with their circumstances and capabilities; (b) Establish strategies and priorities, within the framework of sustainable development plans and/or policies, to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought; (c) Address the underlying causes of desertification and pay special attention to the socio- economic factors contributing to desertification processes; (d) Promote awareness and facilitate the participation of local populations, particularly women and youth, with the support of non-governmental organizations, in efforts to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought; and (e) Provide an enabling environment by strengthening, as appropriate, relevant existing legislation and, where they do not exist, enacting new laws and establishing long-term policies and action programmes.
Article 6 Obligations of developed country Parties In addition to their general obligations pursuant to article 4, developed country Parties undertake to: (a) Actively support, as agreed, individually or jointly, the efforts of affected developing country Parties, particularly those in Africa, and the least developed countries, to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought; (b) Provide substantial financial resources and other forms of support to assist affected developing country Parties, particularly those in Africa, effectively to develop and implement their own long-term plans and strategies to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought; (c) Promote the mobilization of new and additional funding pursuant to article 20, paragraph 2 (b); (d) Encourage the mobilization of funding from the private sector and other non-governmental sources; and (e) Promote and facilitate access by affected country Parties, particularly affected developing country Parties, to appropriate technology, knowledge and know-how.
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