The experience with land settlement

Land settlement is one of the major, if not the main, rural development activities at the Kenya Coast. Since independence 16 settlement schemes have been started with a total of 17,000 plots for an estimated135,000 inhabitants. The historical background of population and settlement in the Coast are reviewed together with land tenure and land allocation procedures. The experience with the schemes in Kwale and Kilifi Districts is discussed together with the more recent schemes in Lamu District. The failure of the –largest – scheme at Magarini is discussed in view of a combination of constraints namely the marginal environment as well as inappropriate technology that was used (in particular affecting water and labour supply) together with land tenure problems and project management issues. Reviews of farm characteristics at other schemes also point at farm labour as a major bottleneck. The issue is raised of the optimal plot size that is given out; plots, so far, have been larger than the customary holdings in the rural areas. Regarding Kenya's land policy, the fundamental question remains whether the primary objective is population settlement or agricultural development.