President William Ruto has proposed land consolidation to discourage the subdivision of family farms into smaller plots, saying population growth is putting pressure on agricultural land.

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

Speaking during a church service in Kakamega on Sunday, October 11, he said families could build homes in organised settlements while preserving larger portions of land for food production and cash crops.

Ruto warned that continued subdivision could leave families with too little land for farming, affecting their ability to grow food, cultivate coffee and plant vegetables for income.

“Instead of you, as a parent, cutting down three acres to plant or build a house, we can continue to plant those three acres so that the children can come and live here,” Ruto stated.

📌 What You Need to Know

“So that we don't fall because the fields that we use to grow food, we have cut down, and people are living. We want to continuously begin the process of land consolidation so that we can avoid land fragmentation and we can live in settlements so that we can get land to grow food, to grow crops, to grow crops so that we can have money,” he added.

He urged families to consider settlement arrangements that accommodate growing households without requiring parents to subdivide their farms whenever their children need land to build homes.

Ruto said the approach would balance housing needs with agricultural production, allowing families to establish homes while retaining enough farmland to support their livelihoods.

He added that Kenya must find ways to accommodate its growing population without reducing the land available for farming, particularly as families expand across generations.

Under the Land Consolidation Act, Cap. In Kenya, 283, there is a legal framework for consolidating scattered parcels, determining land rights, and registering ownership in designated areas.

The process involves recording existing interests, surveying and demarcating land, consolidating parcels, and preparing an adjudication register, which affected parties can challenge within the prescribed 60-day objection period.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke