

Evans Ahao—TMG
Women and Youth in Bungoma county and western region at large have been encouraged to actively participate in land ownership hence reducing economic dependency and addressing injustices in property rights.
This call came when women and youths across Bungoma held a sensitization meeting with opinion leaders and Non-governmental organisations to pave the way for grassroot sensitization.During the meeting in Bungoma town at Sawana Hotel, participants were urged to familiarize themselves with rights of land ownership that will give equal land access in the society.
The event, organized by the Shibuye Community Health Workers, brought together women from across Bungoma county with the goal of empowering them through legal and civic education.According to organizers led by Violet Shibutse, women and youths face a lot of challenges when it comes to land ownership. Challenges such as cultural norms, denial of land inheritance rights and limited awareness about land registration are barriers that hinder women and youths to own land and make them productive,

“Many places in Kenya women are not titled to own land due to cultural norms surrounding our societies, it is very sad to see women are at the forefront in land activities such as cultivating coffee and Sugarcane as casual workers but they don’t have direct participation in owning the products and even the land.
“Women are now set to benefit not only in the rights of land ownership but also how they can make it productive which will boost their standards of living. This partnership will bring in other organizers who will play other roles such as Empowerment for women’s resilience which will give civic education to women across Western region.
They have also been called to participate in leadership and decision making so their voices can be hard practically instead of waiting for men to push them to access their rights. The project dubbed women empowerment for women resilience is expected to expand its roots to the grassroots level this year with a vision to change the historical societal cultural believes.