| dc.description.abstract | Kenya has a 50 year history of ongoing land reform. However, with
multiple land tenure systems, including customary and statutory
systems, past tenure reforms have not resolved inherent land ownership
problems. These problems include weak land administration, inaccurate
recording of established occupancy rights, landlessness and land
disputes, and disempowerment of women and children through denial
of their land rights. Various aspects of land reform have been studied
previously, but not in the context of the relationship between security
of land tenure and the poverty situation. Poverty levels remain high
despite economic progress, owing to various factors, among them weak
land rights. Since land is a critical factor of production, prevailing land
rights may affect household production and economic welfare. This
study examines the potential link between ownership of a title deed as a
proxy for land rights and consumption expenditures or poverty. Using a
recent household survey data, the effect of ownership of titled land and
household poverty as represented by consumption expenditure is tested,
while controlling potential endogeneity of the tenure variable. | en |
