The Origin of Gender Disparity in Land Ownership and Control in Kenya: The Case of Nandi District 1954-1963

Abstract

The 2010 Constitution of Kenya put in place clauses that support gender equality in land ownership and control but this has not led to women enjoying secure and equal rights to land. Women are the majority in the agricultural sector but their role is confined to provision of labour on land owned by a male member of the family. This paper adopts a historical perspective to trace the origin of this problem. It explore show the Swynnerton Plan of 1954 collaborated with patriarchy to close out women from owning and controlling land and how this influenced gender relations in agricultural production in Kenya and Nandi District in particular. The paper is an outcome of oral data collected in the field, archival material from Kenya National Archives and secondary data, mostly books and journals on the subject from various libraries. The main argument is that political, economic, social and ideological factors interacted in a complex manner and influenced men and women ownership of land. Gender relations are essentially perceived as inequitable power relations and in the Nandi society; women had less power than men.