The Swynerton Plan And Political Economy Of Land In Kenya: A Historical Perspective

Abstract

One of the enduring legacies of colonial policies was the placement of patriarchal factor in the determination of African economies. This notion about the normative roles of women and men occupied the forces behind the formation and perpetuation of colonial policies relating to agricultural and environmental development. These policies not only dispossessed women from inheritance but also changed the farmer’s attitudes on land and its resources and how they managed it to the detriment of the environment and food security. In particular, the introduction of cash crops that was accompanied by changes in land tenure increasingly resulted even in greater gender differentiations. Cash cropping precipitated and, often, rested on changes in gendered divisions of rights over land, labour and products and in the nature of the domestic unit. This brought about commoditization and the introduction of private rights in land and labour and adversely affected women's access to and rights in the means of production. In this paper therefore, we examine historical and some contemporary policy discourses on land tenure and reform in Kenya and their implications for women's interests in land. We pay particular attention to the effects of the Swynnerton plan land policy and introduction of cash cropping in post-war era. The paper calls for a stronger focus on gender equity – on securing equal land rights for both women and men – in order to achieve sustainable positive change in broader social and political relations. Keywords: Land, Labour, Economy, Gender, Policy, Women