North Rift Dialogue on Land & Security

Apr 12, 2016 - Apr 15, 2016 | Initiatives for Land, Lives and Peace
Kabarnet, Kenya
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The Governments of Baringo and Elgeyo Marakwet Counties, supported by six other counties Nandi, Samburu, Trans-Nzoia, Turkana, Uasin Gishu and West Pokot, and in partnership with Initiatives for Land, Lives and Peace, the National Land Commission of Kenya, Initiatives of Change and Caring for Environment for Development will hold: An International Dialogue on Land and Security in Kabarnet, Baringo County. 

Land is an important and highly contested resource within Baringo County and its neighbours. The rehabilitation of degraded lands offers an immense opportunity for improving food security, water security and employment in the North Rift region of Kenya. At the same time, building trust between communities and within various land users is equally crucial in ensuring long-term sustainability and peace within the region.

These issues will feature at the International Dialogue on Land and Security, to be held at the Rift Valley Hills Resort, Kabarnet, Baringo County. Approximately 100 local and international experts and participants will attend this pioneering Dialogue, themed presenting the latest debates on land, food, water, climate and human security.

Initiatives for Land, Lives and Peace and Initiatives of Change Kenya have been active in North Rift since 2012.  The impact of the ILLP approach in Baringo County – linking trust-building with land restoration – was commended by UNCCD as an example of good practice.

This Dialogue is designed to support and complement Kenya’s National Land Reclamation Policy (2013) which aims to “reduce development conflicts and competition over resources” (p10) that have arisen due to “lack of confidence building and conflict resolution in the sub-sector” (p26).  Similarly, it is hoped that the Dialogue will contribute to the National Policy on Peace-Building and Conflict Management (2011), which recognises that the “unsustainable utilisation of environment … leads to depletion. This has precipitated conflicts over access, control and ownership, frequently degenerating into violent conflicts within and among communities. Over time, climate change has increasingly led to changes that created a nexus between climate change and conflict” (p15: para 44).

The proposed Dialogue will have significant implications, not only for the future of North Rift, but for Kenya and the sub-region.