Meru South District - UNDP-UNEP Poverty-Environment Initiative

CHAPTER 3: HUMAN SETTLEMENT AND INFRASTRUCTURE
3.1 Human Settlement and Planning-Introduction
Rational planning of land is important for two basic reasons. First, productive land
resources are becoming increasingly scarce due to urbanization, land degradation and
pollution. Land use planning is therefore imperative for sustainable development in the
context of a limited resource. Secondly, land use often entails the generation of
environmentally adverse side effects. Land use controls are therefore necessary to
anticipate in order to pre-empt negative impacts.
3.1.1 Land Tenure
Three tenure systems can be recognized in Meru South and these are:-
Freehold land:
Confers absolute title to the owner and around 68% of land is owned this way.
Lease hold:
Around 1% of land is owned this way and is mainly in urban land.
Customary rights/Trust land
Approximately 30% of land is owned this way in the District in trusteeship of Meru
South County Council. The whole of Igamba Ng’ombe and the lower parts of Chuka and
Magumoni Divisions represent the main land tenure systems.
Proportion of Land Tenure Systems in
Meru South
17
freehold
leasehold
trust land