Feature: Kenyan farmers blame poverty on lack of title deeds

For the past 25 years, James Wanjala, a farmer in northwestern Kenya, has always stared at poor yields from his five acre land.

The peasant farmer in Kobos village grows maize on his farm and harvests about 35 bags of maize every season. The harvest translates to 7 bags from every acre.

It is from the maize that Wanjala supports his children. However, he said the proceeds from the crop were not even enough to meet the their high school tuition fee.

Wanjala bought the land from cooperative society and he is yet to receive a title deed for it.

It could have been possible for Wanjala to go for a loan from any financial institution to help him engage in a more productive farming.

"The only way to raise fee for my children is to depend of maize production because I don't have money to turn round my farming activities," lamented Wanjala.

He said it has been a challenge to seek a loan without a document to place as a surety.

"I wish the title deed. I could approached a bank to give me a loan to engage in more productive farming which will earn me more income to meet my family financial needs," he said.

The peasant is among thousands of land owners in Trans-Nzoia county lacking the legal ownership document.

Statistics show nearly 80 percent of farms in the area do not have title deeds.

The area with high agricultural potentials was inhabited by white settlers before it was taken up by natives. Lack of this legal document has been blamed for causing poverty in the county.

County governor Patrick Kheamba said the majority of the residents have not secured legal documents for their land, which has made it difficult for them to go for credit facilities to develop their farming.

"Despite prided as the country's food basket we have nothing to celebrate because the large population live in abject poverty. They lack tile deeds to place as a surety in banks and secure loans to transform their farming activities," said Khaemba.

The official said lack of title deeds have also led to land feuds.

For the past months, the county government has stepped up campaigns towards securing title deeds for local farms. The governor petitioned the national government to deploy surveyors to help in the titling of the farms in the county.

"We have received over 20 surveyors to support the titling of the farms to facilitate the issuance of title deeds and my government has catered for the cost of documents," Khaemba said recently.

So far the county government has secured and distributed over 300 title deeds to some farms in the area.

At Kapkoi village where the residents have benefited from the title deed program, some residents are in the process of seeking loan banks to improve their economic activities.

Local resident John Kamau told Xinhua that he has already secured a loan and put the money in cereal business.

"God answered our prayers. We have been longing to get legal documents for our land and I have secured a loan from the bank using my title deed. I have put the money on buying and selling maize and beans," said Kamau who operates the cereals business.

Kamau said the title deeds was key to the farmers' income.

"Lack of title deeds has been a big challenge to development here. Whenever I go to the bank to request for a loan, you are ask to provide a title deed or a logbook for your car. Things are going to change for the better," he said.

Trans-Nzoia has high poverty level and rising cases of child abuse. Endit