LAND TENURE, WILDLIFE AND PROPERTY RIGHTS RELATIONSHIPS
Name
Walden
NASC 1001 - Environmental Science
2022
LAND TENURE, WILDLIFE AND PROPERTY RIGHTS RELATIONSHIPS
Land tenure includes both formal and informal rights and obligations concerning individuals and
groups and land and natural resources. Further these rights and obligations concern the acquisition,
use, preservation and transfer of specific land or products of the land. Such rights may be
disaggregated, so that rights of use, for example, may include cultivating annual or perennial crops,
grazing, hunting, collecting fuel wood or water, transiting or building. Rights of transfer include
sales, rentals, gifts, inheritance or mortgages (Haugerud, 1989). According to Seno & Shaw (2002)
customary land tenure of the kerio valley communities was based on communal ownership of the
land where tribal elders controlled the use of the natural resources by manipulating grazing
strategies. They allowed grazing in specific areas during the dry season and other areas during the
wet season. Certain areas were set aside for calves, sick animals, and small stock like goats and
sheep (Galaty, 1992; Seno & Shaw, 2002).
In Kerio valley basin where rainfall is scarce and much of the landscape is considered arid and
semi-arid, livestock herding is an efficient form of land use (Fratkin, 1994). Unlike agricultural
communities who do not migrate, livestock herders are able to adjust to the area’s unpredictable
rainfall patterns by migrating to seasonal grazing areas and water holes. To ensure continued
production of forage for their livestock, the traditional grazing strategies of the kerio communities
involved moving herds and people from dry-season grazing areas based at permanent water sources
to temporary wet-season pastures near temporary water points. Reliance on livestock allows these
communities to abstain from utilizing wildlife for subsistence. Wildlife consumption was
considered a taboo except in times of food scarcity, usually during the dry season (Berger, 1993).
According to Mearns (1999) livestock presence on the rangelands of Africa can be beneficial to the
landscape and wildlife populations. Some researchers have credited the lack of conflict between
kerio valley communities’ livestock and wildlife with their traditional migration schemes and
grazing strategies (Berger, 1993; Okello, 2005). Traditional pastoralism, as a land use, is considered
compatible with and complimentary to wildlife conservation (Mizutani, Wayumba & Mwenda,
2006).
According to Homewood & Rodgers (1984), in their study of the Ngorongoro Conservation area in
Tanzania (a pastoralist/wildlife conservation area) enumerated the fact that traditional subsistence
pastoralism when carried out in conjunction with wildlife conservation, worked for the long-term
benefit of both of these land uses. Gadd (2005) in a similar study in Liakipia District in Central
Kenya found that livestock herders were more tolerant of wildlife than agricultural farmers. Despite
being a relatively efficient land use and compatible with wildlife conservation, the Kerio valley
communities’ changing lifestyles coupled with land tenure issues is threatening the valley landscape
that also affect migrating wildlife populations (Nightingale & Western, 2006)
2.8 SOCIAL AND CULTURAL ISSUES IN LAND TENURE
The rural to urban push in search of employment opportunities has led to the migration of the male
population to urban centres leaving their families in the rural areas. Such an arrangement guarantees
the family social security in the event of loss of a job or retirement. This "dual economy" system
gives indigenous people the right to a piece of land in the communal area even if they are gainfully
employed elsewhere. It is often argued that such an arrangement leads to serious competition for
limited resources as more people may claim pieces of land for cultivation and grazing rights for
security and not for productive purposes. Families are patrilineal among the dominant population
groups. In the event of a marriage, men pay a bride price to the family of the prospective wife. This
gives the man uxorial rights to that woman for as long as the couple is married.
Furthermore, the traditional land tenure system does not allow women to own land. These factors
tend to adversely affect the status of women in society. Notwithstanding, the situation is changing
as the crucial role of women in the various spheres of economic life including natural resource
conservation and sustainable use is being recognized. There are also a number of traditional values
that have assisted in the sustainable use of natural resources in Rimoi. These include;
Traditional rules and regulations that forbid the cutting of fruit trees and other "sacred" tree
species for uses such as fuel wood and construction and
The use of one side and position of a tree to harvest roots or bark for traditional medicines.
This deterred people from exploiting the same tree before it had sufficiently regenerated.
Unfortunately, some of these traditions are being broken down in Rimoi area
