Gender and Livelihoods: Engendering Dialogues: Understanding how local institutions affect women's access to land resources and household food security in semi-arid Kenya

Engendering Dialogues: Understanding How Local Institutions affect Women’s Access to Land Resources and

Household Food Security in Semi-Arid Kenya

June Po, M.S.Gordon Hickey, Ph.D.KARI-McGill Project

Innovating for Resilient Farming SystemsMay 2nd , 2014

International Food Security Dialogue 2014Enhancing Food Production, Gender Equity and Nutritional Security in a Changing World

Smallholder farmers in semi-arid Kenya

• Unpredictable rain seasons in semi-arid midlands

• Food insecurity for smallholder farmers

• Low adoption of innovation, technology

• New constitution &

customary institutions

• Complex social-ecological system

1. CONTEXT 2. CONCEPT 3. METHODS 4. OUTCOMES

Makueni

International Food Security Dialogue 2014

Research Motivation

• When women have better control of household resources, there is better food provision to household members

• Less is understood about the relationship between women’s access to land resources within a patrilineal society to resilience in livelihoods and nutritional security



Research QuestionHow local institutions on access to land resources affect livelihood strategies for female smallholder farmers in semi-arid Kenya?


Definitions

• Local institutions (North 1990)

• Access (Ribot & Peluso 2003)

• Land resources (FAO & UNEP 1999)

• Sustainable livelihoods strategies (Chambers & Conway 1992; Scoones 1998)




District SublocationCommunity

MeetingsIn-depth

InterviewsFocus group discussions

Women Men Mixed Women Men Mixed

Makueni Mumbuni 1 1 20 2 2 0Makueni Kitandi 1 1 20 2 2 0

Kathonzweni Thavu 1 1 20 2 1 1

Kibwezi Kathekani 1 0 0 1 2 1

Total 7 60 16

Methods

1. Customary Norms on Women’s Land Entitlement

2. Attitudes towards Daughters’ Land Inheritance

3. Emerging Themes from Cases of Tenuous Access



Findings

Customary Norms on Women’s Land Entitlement“Whoever marries has a piece of land”

• Wives use land for cultivation via husband, parents-in-law

• Wives hold customary ownership after the spouse dies

• Access to land stops when ties are severed with husband’s family or clan (Mbui ya Ulee “Goat of Refusal”)



Customary Norms on Women’s Land Entitlement“Whoever marries has a piece of land”

• Wives use land for cultivation via husband, parents-in-law

• Wives hold customary ownership after the spouse dies

• Access to land stops when ties are severed with husband’s family or clan (Mbui ya Ulee “Goat of Refusal”)


• Unmarried or divorced women access land with much constraints from family members

• If a man marries more than one wife, the man is not entitled to another piece of land from his father

• Access to harvest depends if land was allocated


Attitudes towards Daughters’ Land Inheritance“It is like murder!”


• Interpret clause with additional conditions – marital status• Inequality or Equity “she cannot have two farms”

• Analogy with educating every child “a child is a child”

• Constitution as a foreign institution “it is theirs, not ours”


Attitudes towards Daughters’ Land Inheritance“It is like murder!”


• Interpret clause with additional conditions – marital status• Inequality or Equity “she cannot have two farms”

• Analogy with educating every child “a child is a child”

• Constitution as a foreign institution “it is theirs, not ours”

• The traditional values prevails “The constitution is new, but we have practiced the Kamba traditions for long”

• Fear of losing ancestral land “...she might sell the piece [I] have given her and go to stay with the husband”

• Kenyan president signs bill making polygamy legal April 28 th, 2014


Emerging Themes from Cases of Tenuous Access• Customary rules adherence often depends on available resources“If the land is large, she can have [a piece]”

• Land subdivision is often left until parents passed away as a mechanism of control and security for parents

“They can solve the problem after I pass. I will not be there to see the family disputes”



Emerging Themes from Cases of Tenuous Access• Customary rules adherence often depends on available resources“If the land is large, she can have [a piece]”

• Land subdivision is often left until parents passed away as a mechanism of control and security for parents

“They can solve the problem after I pass. I will not be there to see the family disputes”

• Family peace is a higher priority “...in two to three days, [the wives will] start conflicts. There will be conflicts

every day.”

• Self-reliance for land; community cohesion for labour“I’ve taken you to school, go and buy your own land.”“Even if they separate, let her search for another husband. Because she

moved out of the family, let her just go and look for another man and get married to him... or search for a job, but not to come here [asking for land].”



Shaping of Resilience Mechanisms through better understanding of local institutions

• Access to land resource within deep-rooted customary norms

• Gender dynamics in access of land resources within sustainable livelihood framework

• Existing local institutions e.g. women self-help groups that help in labour, financial and physical capital that enhance resilience against long term challenges


Future Directions

• Access mechanisms used to navigate local institutions

• Quantitative associations between women’s access to land resources and childhood nutritional security

• Contextual land titling processes and rural livelihoods

• In-depth case studies that can inform policy makers, practitioners, and farmers


Thank you!Kenya Agricultural Research Institute

Prof. Gordon Hickey

Prof. John Galaty

Prof. Sarah Turner

Sustainable Futures Research Lab

Canadian International Food Security Research Fund

Sponsors

Host

University of Alberta





How do female smallholder farmers access land resources within local institutional processes and cultural norms?



Technology

Gender and Livelihoods: Engendering Dialogues: Understanding how local institutions affect women's access to land resources and household food security in semi-arid Kenya