Impact of Land Privatization on Cooperation in Farm Labor in Kenya

Establishing private property in land through registration and titling has been promoted in developing countries due to the anticipated benefits of private ownership in access to credit, productivity enhancing investments, and productivity gains. Evidence of such benefits is limited, however. In thi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Human ecology : an interdisciplinary journal 2012-02, Vol.40 (1), p.69-79
Main Authors: Grimm, Elaine M, Lesorogol, Carolyn K
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural land
Anthropology
collective action
Collective farms
Cooperation
Crops
Data processing
Developing Countries
Economic development
Environmental Management
farm labor
Farms
Farmworkers
Geography
Households
Human ecology
Kenya
Labor economics
Land management
Land tenure
Land use
LDCs
Livestock
Ownership
Pastoralism
Private land
private ownership
Privatization
Productivity
Property
Ranches
ranching
Social Sciences
Sociology
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Summary:Establishing private property in land through registration and titling has been promoted in developing countries due to the anticipated benefits of private ownership in access to credit, productivity enhancing investments, and productivity gains. Evidence of such benefits is limited, however. In this paper, we examine a related question: What is the impact of privatization on cooperation in farm labor? Data collected in 2005 from Samburu District in Kenya is analyzed, comparing one community where land has been privatized to a second where land is communally held in a group ranch. It is hypothesized that households with title deeds are less likely to cooperate in farm labor than households without deeds. The hypothesis was confirmed, as the odds of cooperating in communal farm labor are 93.0% lower for households with deeds compared to those without. This effect has negative implications for collective action efforts in Siambu.
ISSN:0300-7839
1572-9915
DOI:10.1007/s10745-011-9454-3