Analysis of the roles of rural community stakeholders in implementation of National Land Use Policies in north rift region of Kenya

Abstract

Rural community involvement on matters land use policies and their implementation and specific roles of various actors have not been clearly defined in Kenya. This study analysed the specific roles of stakeholder in the implementation of land use policies in the North Rift Region in Kenya. The objective that guided this study was: To analyse roles of rural community stakeholders in the implementation of national land use policies. The paper was guided by bottom-up approaches to policy implementation and Communicative Action Theory. Mixed research design and comparative case study and pragmatic research paradigm were adopted. The study was conducted in Sekerr Ward in West Pokot County, Sitatunga Ward in Trans Nzoia County and Ziwa Ward in Uasin Gishu County. The target population were the local bureaucrats, legislators, ordinary citizens and non-state actors. A sample size of 417 was arrived at from the target population of 40,666. It was revealed that local bureaucrats implemented decisions made by the County Technical Implementation Committee- including aligning the policies to Governor’s manifestos; ordinary citizens for each ward agreed that they contributed in management of natural resources as follows: Sekerr-33.1%, Ziwa- 27.6% and Sitatunga- 40.9%. In Sekerr, locals used indigenous knowledge to manage natural resources like land, forest and water catchment areas, while in Sitatunga and Ziwa Wards, the residents relied more on local government officials. The study concludes that the roles of rural community stakeholders are still evolving processes that require improvement. The study recommends that the Kenyan Government should ensure that the roles are clearly defined and the rural community should be given their space in matters implementation of land use policies in their localities in the best ways known to them.