Open Access Journal Article

Gender Disparities in Land Rights a Myth or a Reality? Case studies of the situations in Kenya and Tanzania

by Sule Ayannor Issaka a,* orcid
a
Geography Institute, University of Cologne, Koln, Germany
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
JEA  2023 2(3):36; https://doi.org/10.58567/jea02030008
Received: 11 April 2023 / Accepted: 22 May 2023 / Published Online: 9 June 2023
View Full-Text
Download PDF

Abstract

All things being equal, and in a truly democratic world, one will expect that the fact that women are the majority in almost every single community of the world should guarantee them at least equal control or ownership over resources and enjoy most of the rights and privileges in that particular community. But things seem not to be working that way as evidence from the literature shows that women are always relegated to the background when it comes to the issue of control or ownership over, and sometimes even access to property in most societies which include the right to own and use land. This undoubtedly has a consequence on the productive and overall development of such a community. In recent times, the issue of gender discrimination, disparities, and inequalities has attracted the attention of researchers over the past decade with enormous literature in this area. There are, however, few studies that provide a comparative analysis of the situation between two or more countries. This paper seeks to fill this void of knowledge based on a review of relevant literature on land rights with an emphasis on the situations in Kenya and Tanzania. The results have shown the prevalence of four types of land rights such as communal property rights, non or open-access property rights, state or crown property rights, and private property rights. The results have further indicated that the controversial land rights of Kenya have led to the reduction in the lands of certain groups of people, increasing land disputes, and also discriminating against women in their land rights. In the case of Tanzania, there were several cases of bias against women concerning the ownership of land, especially under the customary system of Tanzania. Issues of discrimination against women were also identified in the inheritance laws of the land which is a paramount feature within the norms and cultures of the people of Tanzania. The lack of equal access to land by women in both countries is found to harm productivity in several sectors of their economies, especially in agriculture. Policymakers are therefore admonished to ensure equal access by both genders to land as this will lead to efficiency in the management and usage of land which is certainly good for sustainability in the development of any economy.

Keywords: Land rights; gender; equality; access; development;
Copyright: © 2023 by Issaka. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

Share and Cite

ACS Style
Issaka, S. A. Gender Disparities in Land Rights a Myth or a Reality? Case studies of the situations in Kenya and Tanzania. Journal of Economic Analysis, 2023, 2, 36. https://doi.org/10.58567/jea02030008
AMA Style
Issaka S A. Gender Disparities in Land Rights a Myth or a Reality? Case studies of the situations in Kenya and Tanzania. Journal of Economic Analysis; 2023, 2(3):36. https://doi.org/10.58567/jea02030008
Chicago/Turabian Style
Issaka, Sule A. 2023. "Gender Disparities in Land Rights a Myth or a Reality? Case studies of the situations in Kenya and Tanzania" Journal of Economic Analysis 2, no.3:36. https://doi.org/10.58567/jea02030008
APA style
Issaka, S. A. (2023). Gender Disparities in Land Rights a Myth or a Reality? Case studies of the situations in Kenya and Tanzania. Journal of Economic Analysis, 2(3), 36. https://doi.org/10.58567/jea02030008

Article Metrics

Article Access Statistics

References

  1. Agarwal, B. (1994). Gender and command over property: A critical gap in economic analysis and policy in South Asia. World Development, 22(10), 1455–1478. https://doi.org/10.1016/0305-750X(94)90031-0
  2. Aliber, M., and Walker, C. (2006). The impact of HIV/AIDS on land rights: Perspectives from Kenya. World Development, 34(4), 704–727. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2005.09.010
  3. Alston, P. (2005). Ships passing in the night: the current state of the human rights and development debate seen through the lens of the Millennium Development Goals. Hum. Rts. Q., 27, 755. https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.journals/hurq27&i=763
  4. Baumeister, R. F., and Leary, M. R. (1997). Writing Narrative Literature Reviews. Review of General Psychology, 1(3), 311–320. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.1.3.311.
  5. Benschop, M. (2002). Rights and reality: are women’s equal rights to land, housing, and property implemented in East Africa? Un-Habitat. https://books.google.de/books?id=4o1qUAVJyrQC&lpg
  6. Binswanger, H. P., and Deininger, K. (1993). South African land policy: The legacy of history and current options. World Development.21 (9),1451–1475. https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=Binswanger
  7. Coombe, R. J. (1998). Intellectual Property, Human Rights and (and) Sovereignty: New Dilemmas in International Law Posed by Recognition of Indigenous Knowledge and the Conservation of Biodiversity. Ind. J. Global Legal Stud., 6, 59. https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.journals/ijgls6&i=65
  8. Deere, C. D., and Leon, M. (2003). The gender asset gap: Land in Latin America. World Development, 31(6), 925–947. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0305-750X(03)00046-9
  9. Feder, G., and Feeny, D. (1991). (1991). Land tenure and property rights: Theory and implications for development policy. The World Bank Economic Review, 5(1), 135-153.
  10. Ikdahl, I., Hellum, A., Kaarhhus, R., Benjaminsen, T. A., & Kameri-Mbote, P. (2005). Human rights, formalization, and women's land rights in Southern and Eastern Africa. University of Nairobi. http://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke/bitstream/handle/11295/55127/Human%20rights
  11. Kameri-Mbote, P. (2006). Women, land rights and the environment: The Kenyan experience. Development, 49(3), 43–48. https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.development.1100274
  12. Kariyasa, K., and Dewi, Y. A. (2011). This document is discoverable and free to researchers across the globe due to the work of AgEcon Search. Help ensure our sustainability. Journal of Gender, Agriculture and Food Security, 1(3), 1–22. file:///C:/Users/admin/Downloads/Hoag.pdf
  13. Khasiani, S. (1992). Groundwork: African women as environmental managers. http://hdl.handle.net/11295/38621
  14. KNBS. (2019). 2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census Results.
  15. Leavens and Anderson. (2011). Gender and Agriculture in Tanzania Gender issues in land policy and administration. 134, 14. https://evans.uw.edu/sites/default/files/public/UW_EPAR_Request_134_Gender and Ag_04102011.pdf
  16. Libecap, G. D. (1993). Contracting for property rights. Cambridge University Press.
  17. Magambo, E. F., and Nyamwesa, A. M. (2022). Gender Gap in Asset Ownership: Tanzania State of Play. African Journal of Applied Research, 8(1), 351–361. https://doi.org/10.26437/ajar.03.2022.23
  18. Mallya, E. (2005). Women NGOs and the Policy Process in Tanzania : The Case of the Land Act of 1999. African Study Monographs, 26(4), 183–200. https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=a546226bda4c8b279484ba1320dfcdf6dec1aaea
  19. Merry, S. E. (2006). Transnational human rights and local activism: Mapping the middle. American Anthropologist, 108(1), 38-51. https://doi.org/10.1525/aa.2006.108.1.38
  20. NBS. (2022). 2022 Tanzania in figures. https://so04.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/colakkujournals/article/view/255274
  21. North, D. C., and Thomas, R. P. (1973). The rise of the Western world: A new economic history. Cambridge University Press. https://books.google.de/books?id=MEh_54l-dK8C&lpg=PP9&ots=d4fRzpawSQ&dq
  22. Peterman, A. (2007). Women s property rights and gendered policies : Implications for women’s s long - term welfare in rural Tanzania Research Questions. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7679.2012.00588.x
  23. Rao, N. (2006). Land rights, gender equality, and household food security: Exploring the conceptual links in the case of India. Food Policy, 31(2), 180–193. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2005.10.006
  24. Rocheleau. (1995). Gender, Environment, and Development in Kenya. Lynne Rienner Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781685856007
  25. Snyder, H. (2019). Literature review as a research methodology: An overview and guidelines. Journal of Business Research, 104(March), 333–339. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.07.039
  26. Sorrenson, M. P. K. (1967). Land reform in the Kikuyu country. Land reform in the Kikuyu country. https://www.cabdirect.org/cabdirect/abstract/19681800083
  27. Swinnen, J. F. (1999). The political economy of land reform choices in Central and Eastern Europe. Economics of transition. 7(3), 637-664. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0351.00029
  28. Tripp, A. M. (2004). Women’s movements, customary law, and land rights in Africa: The case of Uganda. African Studies Quarterly, 7(4), 1–19. https://asq.africa.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/168/v7i4.pdf