In East Africa, land means food, dignity, and peace. Yet too many smallholder farmers and pastoralists —and particularly women in these communities— lack secure rights to their land. Landesa works in Kenya and Rwanda to transform the complex systems that result in weak land rights for millions of rural residents and grow an environment where communities can invest in their future.

Landesa’s holistic approach addresses land reform at a variety of levels to create lasting change. In Kenya, Landesa works with the Ministry of Lands to accelerate implementation of the Community Land Act and reform policies to improve smallholder farmers’ access to land administration services. This year, the Multi-Stakeholder Platform, a regular convening of 30 government representatives, grassroots women, youth, smallholder farmers, and civil society organizations launched by Landesa and Kenya Land Alliance, contributed to the review of Kenya’s draft National Land Policy and implementation of the women’s land rights agenda. At the community level, in an effort scalable nationwide, Landesa trained 260 paralegals in three counties on land succession. More than half of these newly minted paralegals are women.

In Rwanda, Landesa provided technical and financial support to the Ministry of Environment to develop a Prime Minister's Order relating to protection, conservation, and efficient use of land. Landesa collaborated with the National Land Authority to sensitize 2,115 land administration duty bearers—42% of whom were women—on land law and land-related disputes. Landesa also worked with the Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board to incorporate inclusive and secure land rights for smallholder farmers in agricultural productivity initiatives.