For rural women in Kenya, secure access to land rights doesn’t come easily. Though the current Kenyan constitution declares women equal to men when it comes to land, this right has not been fully realized in many areas.
That’s why work done by the Seattle-based non-profit Landesa, and other organizations like it, is so important. Landesa is one of the grantees in the GAAP portfolio, working in Odisha and West Bengal, India. Their project focuses on micro-land ownership to reduce poverty, and also works to build homestead capacity for food production.
More broadly, Landesa conducts research and advocacy work on land rights for the rural poor, especially for women and girls. Not only does the organization work with governments to develop new laws and programs that strengthen the rights of existing landholders and broaden access to land rights for the poor, they also work to educate men and women on their rights under law and the resources available to ensure that they are recognized.
For a recent article and short video by Bloomberg News on Landesa’s work in Kenya, follow this link: Bloomberg News video: Maasai Women Seek Land Rights as Gender Gap Slims