Description
It is widely recognised in Kenya that there's an urgent need to address and resolve the problems created by the HIV/AIDS epidemic in all spheres of social and political life. This study explores the relationship between
HIV/AIDS and land rights in Kenya, with a particular focus on women as a socially vulnerable group. There has long been anecdotal evidence to the affect that AIDS can severely disrupt the relationship of people to their land, in particular that of AIDS widows and orphans, but prior to this study there had been little research into how exactly this happens, and how frequently.

Combining participatory research techniques, household surveys, and in-depth person-to-person interviews, the study examines three village case studies in different parts of Kenya, and attempts to distinguish the role
of HIV/AIDS in recipitating or aggravating tenure insecurity from other influences. The three sites that were ultimately identified were located in Embu, Thika and Bondo Districts, in Eastern, Central and Nyanza Provinces respectively.

The primary objective is to understand the relationship between the AIDS-affected status of households and individuals and changes in their land tenure status, if any. This requires identifying both the personal
factors that make some people more vulnerable than others and the contextual factors - including legal, economic and cultural - that condition that vulnerability. An important methodological component of the
study is that it does not confine itself to AIDS-affected households only, but compares affected with non-affected households.

This study makes a contribution to both the privatisation debate and the issue of women's land rights, examining the interrelationship between gender, land rights, and systems of land tenure and land administration.

Contents
1 Introduction

2 Literature review
2.1 Review of recent studies linking HIV/AIDS to land tenure in Africa
2.2 What is left to learn?

3 Context
3.1 The evolution of the land question in Kenya
3.2 Debates regarding tenure change and growing population density
3.3 Demographic change in Kenya and the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic
4 Methodological approach and overview of fieldwork
4.1 Methodological challenges
4.2 Research tools
4.3 Study sites
4.4 Overview of fieldwork conducted and problems encountered

5 Research findings Embu District
5.1 Background on Embu District
5.2 Recap of the fieldwork
5.3 Population and livelihoods profile
5.4 Land tenure, use and administration
5.5 Morbidity, mortality, and HIV/AIDS
5.6 Case studies
5.7 Conclusion: the impact of HIV/AIDS on land tenure in Kinthithe

6 Research findings Thika District
6.1 Background on Thika District
6.2 Recap of the fieldwork
6.3 Population and livelihoods profile
6.4 Land tenure, use and administration
6.5 Morbidity, mortality, and HIV/AIDS
6.6 Case studies
6.7 Conclusion: the impact of HIV/AIDS on land tenure in Gachugi

7 Research findings Bondo District
7.1 Background on Bondo District
7.2 Recap of the fieldwork
7.3 Population and livelihoods profile
7.4 Land tenure, use and administration
7.5 Morbidity, mortality, and HIV/AIDS
7.6 Case studies
7.7 Conclusion: the impact of HIV/AIDS on land tenure in Lwak Atemo

8 Overview and synthesis of research findings
8.1 Characteristics of the research sites
8.2 The impact of HIV/AIDS on land ownership, land access and land rights
8.3 Land-related coping strategies of AIDS-affected households
8.4 Implications of land-related coping strategies for productivity and food security
8.5 Land administration and its impact on the tenure security of the vulnerable
8.6 Forecasting the impact of HIV/AIDS on land rights into the future
8.7 Why the discrepancy between these findings and the perception at large?
8.8 Conclusion

9 Policy implications
9.1 Policy context
9.2 Legislative considerations
9.3 Land administration
9.4 Consciousness raising

Appendices
Appendix 1 Map of Kenya showing district boundaries and location of study site districts
Appendix 2 Key informants at national level and at district government level
Appendix 3 Recommendations
Appendix 4 Detailed tables based on in-depth interviews
4.1: Embu (Kinthithe) land allocation, use and tenure issues
4.2: Embu (Kinthithe) impact of HIV/AIDS on land use and tenure of affected households
4.3: Thika (Gachugi) land allocation, use and tenure issues
4.4: Thika (Gachugi) impact of HIV/AIDS on land use and tenure of affected households
4.5: Bondo (Lwak Atemo) land allocation, use and tenure issues
4.6: Bondo (Lwak Atemo) impact of HIV/AIDS on land use and tenure of affected households

References