|
AGRICULTURE, LAND TENURE
AND ACCESS
Land tenure and access to resources are critical to the
success of agriculture. Currently land tenure and
property rights are a blend of the traditional system,
the colonial system and the post-independence government
policies. Colonialism stripped people of their
traditional rights to resources more so to land, forcing
them into unproductive areas with poor soils and low
rainfall. The result has been overcrowding in some
areas and low crop yields due to overuse of soils and
poor investment into the soil.
Tenure systems in the basin include state, freehold,
communal and open access dating back to the
colonial era. Under state property regimes, the main
landuse categories are forests, parks and conservation
areas where the state either directly manages
and controls the use of resources through government
agencies or leases the resources to groups or
individuals with rights for a specified period.
Communal or common property is private property
for a group of co-owners, each of whom has
rights and duties within the regime. Common interests,
common cultural norms, indigenous authority
systems and some interaction among community
members characterise common property regimes.
Freehold system gives the bundle of rights to the
owner. An owner has clearly defined rights and title
deeds. In such a system borrowing for financing agricultural
activities can be done based on title deeds.
Lack of security of tenure reduces the farmers’
interest in working the land in a sustainable way.
Security of land is a determinant of food production.
Sustainable agriculture can best be achieved
when people have equitable rights to land in addition
to other agricultural resources.
|
