Access to land and land based resources among women in pastoralist and forest-dependent communities in East Africa

Draft reportResearch was conducted in three East African countries: Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Findings illustrate how women’s entitlements are mediated through sub-national/ethnic citizenship with implications on their national citizenship and human rights. Law, policy, and practice have excluded women in land ownership and control and made their access tenuous. For instance, the Law of Succession Act (Kenya, 1981) exempts pastoralist regions from application of the Act, giving pastoralist communities in Kenya the freedom to apply their own customary laws. In virtually all the communities concerned, there is no recognition of marital property and inheritance rights for daughters