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Transcript/Script((PLAYBOOK SLUG: Kenya Women’s Land Rights (TV)
HEADLINE: Global Campaign Gives Impetus to Women’s Land Rights in Africa
TEASER: Many African women work on farms, but few have legal rights to the land they farm, including in Kenya despite laws guaranteeing women’s land rights.
PUBLISHED AT: 03/15/2022 at
BYLINE: Juma Majanga
DATELINE: Nairobi
VIDEOGRAPHER: Jimmy Makhulo
PRODUCER:
SCRIPT EDITORS: MAS, BR
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA Original
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV X RADIO __
TRT:
VID APPROVED BY:
TYPE: TVPKG
EDITOR NOTES:))
((INTRO))
[[Most African women work on farms, but few have legal rights to the land they farm, including in Kenya despite laws guaranteeing women’s land rights. Implementation of the law remains a challenge which a women’s land rights group hopes to change. Juma Majanga reports from Nairobi.]]
((VIDEO-VOA: BEATRICE KIGANDI IN EMOTIONAL INTERVIEW WITH VOA-various))
((NARRATOR))
Beatrice Kigandi fights tears as she recounts how associates of her late husband colluded to defraud her of land following his death.
The widow and mother of seven says she battled in court for eight years to regain her land.
((Beatrice Kigandi, Widow of Landowner (Swahili, 18 secs))
“It’s a big problem for us women. You can’t own your land because you are a widow. You keep being told that the land is not yours, yet you have lived there for years. So, I plead with our president to help us so that we can own our lands.”
((VIDEO-VOA: WALKING CUTS OF PEOPLE IN THE STREETS OF NAIROBI, JUDY THONGORI AT HER OFFICE -various))
((NARRATOR))
Kenya, like many African countries, has strong laws that guarantee women’s rights to land ownership. But many women still face obstacles before they can exercise these rights.
Having contributed to the development of some of these laws, Senior Counsel Judy Thongori says there is still a long way to go.
((Judy Thongori, Family Matters Lawyer)) ((English, 15 secs))
“As somebody says, the more things change, the more they remain the same. So that even as the laws are in place, there is still a continuous struggle by women to access property, by women to access justice in property matters.”
((Esther Murugi, National Land Commission of Kenya)) ((English, 22 secs))
“For us who are in the land sector, I think one of the assignments that we should undertake is to ensure that we have the right statistics so that we know what women actually own. And then we can be able, first to protect that and then to move on to make sure that the figures rise beyond the 2% that we know.”
((VIDEO-VOA: LARGE PARCELS OF LAND, WOMEN CULTIVATING LAND, BYROLES FROM ‘STAND FOR HER LAND’ LAUNCH-various))
((NARRATOR))
Most women in Africa, like Kigandi, work in agriculture to provide for their families and the community. But they still have trouble accessing their legal and social rights to land ownership. A global women’s land rights campaign dubbed ‘Stand for Her Land’ is championing these rights.
((Frances Birungi, Uganda Community Based Association for Women and Children (UCOBAC)) ((English, 25 secs))
“We need to invest more in transforming some of these norms, in transforming some of these practices and make them more progressive so that we can move to the next level. So that we can eradicate poverty, so that we can have increased food security, so that we can have gender equality, but also very importantly, so that we can have climate resilience.”
((VIDEO-VOA: WOMEN HARVESTING CHILLI FROM A FARM, FOOD ARVEST BEING TRANSPORTED ON DONKEYS-various))
((NARRATOR))
The Food and Agricultural Organization, FAO, estimates that closing the gender gap on land ownership could increase yields on women-owned farms by 20 to 30 per cent and reduce the number of hungry people by 100 to 150 million people.
((Judy Thongori, Family Matters Lawyer)) ((English, 15 secs))
“It is desperate, it is drastic. Some people just give up and live in their own situation. And you know what happens? The next generation, then that woman’s next generation and the one after. They’ll not go to school. So, they remain in that basic level of poverty. When we want to change this country, we must seriously be considering how to look into women’s access to property rights and access to justice.”
((VIDEO-VOA: WINNIE WORKING AT HER CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS MANUFACTURING COMPANY-various))
((NARRATOR))
While more countries have made progress putting in place policies and laws guaranteeing women’s land rights, advocates say more work is needed before women like Beatrice Kigandi can enjoy their rights.
((Juma Majanga, for VOA News, Nairobi))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)Nairobi
BylineJuma Majanga
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
