Better lives through livestock
Land Use Planning: Conflict Management Tool in
Pastoral Areas in Kenya
Charles Kagema & Munira Jadeed,
National Land Commission (Kenya) Directorate of Land Use Planning
NAIROBI
IGAD High-Level Regional Conference on Land and Conflict,
Kampala, 24 – 27 October 2022

OVERVIEW
• Context of land use planning
• Categories of land use plans
• Community Land Act
• National Land Commission guidelines on pastoral Areas
• Land use planning process
• Deliverables
• Uptake of CSP in counties
• Planning as a tool for Conflict management
• Case Studies and Lessons

Context of Land Use Planning
Land Use
Planning
(a). Universal/Global
Values and Principles
(b).
The Kenya Constitution
2010
(c).
Sectoral Policies and
Legislation
(d).
Site Specific values
and Constraints
(e)
Citizen
Aspirations
and concerns

Local plans.
• Short terms
• Sectoral
• Urban areas
• Rural planning
• Zoning plans
• Special planning
areas
• Pastoral areas
• Action area
NSP
• Long-term.
• Nation-wide/
territorial
• Broad policies
• Trajectories
• Illustrative
• Inter-county
• International/ cross-
boundary issues
CSP
• Regional
• County specific
• 10years period
• Specific to county
endowment/issues
• Inter-county
• cross-border
Broad Policies
Specific/Implementable/
Targeted
Categories of Land Use/Spatial Planning
Levels:

Community Land Act of 2016
Section 19(1) of the Community land Act of 2016 : A registered community may, on its own motion or at the request of the county
government, submit to the county government a plan for the development, management and use of the community land administered by the
registered community for approval.
Sec 19(2) states that: Before submitting a plan to the county government under subsection (1) a registered community shall—
(a) consider any conservation, environmental or heritage issues relevant to the development, management or use of the land;
(b) incorporate in the plan a statement that it has considered those issues in paragraph (a) when drawing up the plan;
(c) consider any environmental impact plan pursuant to existing laws on environment;
(d) comply with the values and principles of the Constitution;
(e) seek ratification from the members of the registered community; and
(f) be bound by any approved relevant physical development plan.

National Land Commission Guidelines For CSP in Pastoral Areas

Key questions

Key Considerations For Spatial Planning In Pastoral Areas
Institutional set up
Land Tenure-Community
land
Local knowledge
Multi level nature of
pastoral areas

Approaches
Under CSP framework, the 10 yrs plan entails the following methodologies:
• GIS based
• Multi disciplinary/cross sectoral involvement
• Participatory and inclusivity
• Multi-functionality of land and Ranking of land uses
• Ecosystem based-attaching value to ecosystem

Land Use Planning Process
Note
Public participation is a
key process in each and
every stage of the
planning process

Land Use Zoning
Deliverables/ Outputs of Land Use Planning

Zoning as per Community Land Act of 2016
Section 29 (1 and 2) : land use designation
(1) A registered community may reserve special purpose areas including—
(a) farming areas;
(b) settlement areas;
(c) community conservation areas;
(d) access and rights of way;
(e) cultural and religious sites;
(f) urban development; or
(g) any other purpose as may be determined by the community, county government or national
government for the promotion of public interest.

Other deliverables of the land use planning
• Strategies (sectoral)
• Regulatory frameworks
• Capital Investment plan
• Plan implementation framework

Uptake of CSP in Pastoral Areas Counties:
Achievements:
• Lamu
• Baringo
CSP prepared and approved
• Makueni
• Kilifi
• Tana Delta – Special Area
Lamu faced a choice: ignore nature in the SP and pay a heavy price,
even in the short-term. Or it use the SP to ensure that Lamu
develops and safeguards its natural assets and, in doing so, helps
to secure a prosperous and resilient future. • A range of measures
was incorporated into the CSP to achieve this, including planning
and designing development to avoid and/or mitigate impacts to
natural capital; restoring critical assets; and identification of long-
term natural capital investment requirements via the CSP’s Capital
Investment plan

Land Use /Spatial Planning as a Conflict Management Tool

Overview:
 Land-related conflicts are complex and multilayered all over the worl.
 In Kenya it is land conflict that shaped the struggle for independence. And up to now land is a
key pillar of political discourse
 Land in Kenya is symbolic – it is everything; interests vary
 Land Use Planning is a governance tool – good land governance widely acknowledged but with
limited commitments
 Land Use - arbitrate between competing uses/ interests, based on evaluation of land and land-
based resources
 Focus is on the nexus – role in conflict management

Land use Conflicts
• Land use conflicts are defined as interaction between groups of people with an interest
in how land is used. Reference is made on the difference in perception, particularly in
terms of timeframe between parties in land use conflicts.
• From literature it is found that, there is no universal pattern and hence no universal
prescription for resolving conflicts in land use.
• This appears to be partly due to the heterogeneity of both the natural environment and
cultural influences.

Causes of land use conflicts:
• Colonial Promulgated policies and practices that alienated people from their customary land (planned resettlement
schemes involving forceful evictions and repatriations)
• Historical injustices
• Conflicts of interest
• Competition over land and resources
• Poor urban land governance(policies, leadership)
• Disputes between pastoralists and settled farmers
• Unreliable land information-(Land records may be out of date, inaccessible or missing, and boundaries can be
inaccurately mapped. Community understanding of borders may also not align with the official government position)

CaseStudy: NairobiNationalParkandneighboringhumansettlements
…… the main type of conflicts were the human-wildlife conflicts emanating from human activities being carried out in areas
adjacent to the park which ultimately interfered with the park`s ecosystem. These activities were mainly residential and
commercial uses of land. Most areas that experienced conflicts were found to be the areas south of the park, comprising the
larger Olekajuado Trust Lands and in areas which fall under the wildlife dispersal areas. It was also observed that the rates
of land use conflicts occurrences were higher during the rainy season.
Moreover, findings revealed a cause-effect relationship between land use change and land use conflicts. There was
significant reduction of agricultural lands with an increase in commercial and residential areas in the rangelands and into the
buffer zone of the park both in Machakos and Kajiado Counties in the years 2012- 2014. During this time, conflicts around
the park were on the rise too. Furthermore, proposed land use planning policies were not readily implemented and hence their
inability to address challenges around protected areas. The study concluded that while conflicts were as a result of human
interference with areas around protected areas, land use and land cover changes and inadequate land use policies on the
other hand, acted as catalysts and could be mitigated through planning and enforcement of the plans.
Source :MWENDWA, GRACE A. (2019)

Case Study: Laikipia County (Agriculturalist/ Conservancies Vs Pastoralists)
• Land use conflicts exemplified by:
• pastoralists versus conservancies
• Agriculturalists/ pastoralists
• Agriculture vs wildlife
• Exacerbated by:
• climate change
• Institutional changes
• Cultural dynamisms

When and how Land Use Planning can be used to intervene?
• During plan preparation (consultative & participatory)
• Plan approval (scrutiny, notifications, publicity)
• Plan implementation (involvement, consensus)
• Management of day to day development of an area

When and how Land Use Planning can be used to intervene?
Source: CSP tool kits National Land Commission

Key Intervention Measures:
• Land use planning as tools that strengthen land governance
• Spatial Plans reconcile land use with environmental concerns and resolve potential conflicts between
sectoral interests and potential.
• Managing the increasing competition between land uses, and balancing different stakeholders’
interests, requires efficient allocation of land resources.
• Provides for delineation of community lands through participatory process. In areas where proper
delineation of community land has been done, they are reduced cases of land conflicts reported.
• CSPs can help to protect the land-based resources that livestock production depends upon, as well as
strategically guiding investments for development of the livestock sector in pastoral areas.
• Well-targeted investment can build on pastoral systems to improve management practices and
increase the health and productivity of the land and livestock

• Spatial plan advocates for the implementation of principles of land use policy which
encourages sustainable and efficient use of land and land based resources. This entails
keeping the number of livestock that can the area manage(Carrying Capacity). A spatial plan
provides for the number of livestock per acre in order to ensure sustainability.
• It also provides for the creation of conservancies, wildlife corridors and livestock corridors.
(ensure environmental sustainability and the numerous cases of human wildlife conflicts).
• Ensures even distribution of resources and services e.g. health and education. (helps in
solving conflicts over water points and as well reduces overcrowding of people in one place).
This will have a huge impact on sustainability of land based resources.
• A spatial plan provides for new and improved linkages i.e. transport and communication
networks in the county. This will help security agencies to easily respond in cases of
banditry attack and tribal clashes over grazing land

Key Land Use Planning Intervention Measures:
S/No Cause of Land Conflicts Intervention Measures Examples Challenges
1. Poor land governance (haphazard,
indiscriminate, wanton use)
- Plan-guided
developments
- Create Plan
implementation units to
champion plan
implementation
- Zoning/ ring-fencing
fragile areas
• In adequate/lack of budgeting
to planning
• Conflict of interest
• In adequate capacity to
decision makers
2. Conflicting Interests (e.g.
environmentalists versus investors; )
- Reconciling conflicting
interests through
empirical evaluation,
assessments
- Ecosystem based
planning
- Designating appropriate
areas for land use
- Attaching
environmental and
economical value
services to each land
use
In adequate capacity in the field
of ecosystem based approaches
In adequate and meaningful
participatory approaches to
planning
3. Unreliable land information • Undertake an upto date
survey on pastoral
areas resources
• Counties to invest in
new technologies-GIS
LAB
• Create office to
champion the process
• In adequate budgetary
allocation
• Missed priorities
4. Disputes between pastoralists and
settled farmers
• Spatial Planning
• Negotiation skills
largely used
• Use of other ADRs
• Stock routes are
mapped in a plan and
strategies provided for
• Climate change
• Conflict of interests
• External forces

Conclusion

MARHABA
/ASANTE