A group of Kenyan policy-makers and influencers of policy, representing a range of ethnic, religious, and social backgrounds, met in Nairobi under the auspices of the Institute for the Study of African Realities, the Sychar Centre and Concordis International, to reflect on the issue of land grievances in Kenya. With the benefit of insight from four expert speakers, extensive discussion allowed the participants to seek proposals to help resolve the conflict between differing viewpoints, and its negative effects on Kenyan society.

Land reform remains a deeply emotive issue in Kenya, with significant differences between the stated and perceived objectives of the National Land Policy. Concordis sponsored a conference where heads of local communities heard from experts and debated the issues amongst themselves to arrive at recommendations to help improve the situation.

Discussion of policies for the migration of pastoralists into the Upper Nile, including a plan for communication and cooperation to help secure migration agreements. Organised to promote peaceful co-existence between pastoralists and local indigenous populations during the seasonal migration of pastoralists.

This conference featured Kenyans from a range of different groups and backgrounds. They reflected on the different conceptions of Ethnicity and Nationhood in Kenya, tensions between these two concepts and recommendations for how these could be addressed going forward.

The violence following Kenya’s 2007 general election spread quickly across parts of the country and partly may be attributed to land issues. Several sources attribute sub-optimal use of land and the spiritual, cultural, and religious values attributed to it as barriers to peace and development.