We need a power shift to communities, especially to women, in managing climate resources
January 28, 2025
National Peasants UPR 4th Cycle Feedback Workshop
August 6, 2025
The Government of Kenya has been asked to ensure peasants get access to land, fast-track community land registration, and protect indigenous seed and breed systems in the search for right to food.
Access to land is fundamental for peasants including indigenous peoples and smallholder farmers to realise the right to food, Centre for Minority Rights Development and Act for Change Trust, the organisations that support Kenya’s minority and indigenous populations, have told Kenya whose Constitution guarantees land rights.
Pastoralists, forest communities, and fisher peoples are some of the groups in Kenya who have been fighting for land rights with minimal success even after the enactment of a Constitution celebrated across the globe on its Bill of Rights 15 years ago.
Land is critical for the right to food, and, therefore, the government should protect peasants’ land rights in line with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other Rural Workers (UNDROP),” said CEMIRIDE Team Lead Nyang’ori Ohenjo at 49th UPR Pre-Session in Geneva this week.
The Kenyan government has not fully executed judgments in favour of land rights claims, including the Endorois Decision by the African Commission on Peoples and Human Rights (ACPHR) and the Ogiek judgments by the African Court on Peoples and Human Rights (African Court), they said in a statement.
Among other woes, these communities continue to be evicted while fisher peoples face restricted access to traditional waters due to resource nationalization, especially through mega development projects.
The organisations have petitioned the government to enforce land laws; fully implement all court decisions favoring indigenous peoples and local communities’ claims; and implement co-management frameworks on resource benefits sharing in the quest for protecting right to food.
Such frameworks, they added, should cover, among others, the ancestral pastoralists and hunter-gatherer lands, fish landing sites, and fishing grounds.
To enhance sustainable agricultural practices, Kenya should implement the recently launched agroecology strategy to stimulate agroecological and organic production that are known for nourishing land crops for years.
They asked the government to “incorporate indigenous knowledge and technologies to enhance environmental conservation and protect traditional resources and habitats in compliance with Articles 16 and 20 of UNDROP”.
On climate change, CEMIRIDE and Act for Change Trust are advising the implementation of the Climate Change Indigenous Peoples Engagement Framework and adoption of a mandatory framework for involving indigenous peoples and local communities in decision-making on resource use.
To enhance resilience of livestock and food systems to climate change, there is a need to strengthen the capacities of communities and counties to handle disasters such as establishing warehouses for food and fodder while equipping pastoralists to effectively deal with livestock emergencies.
