Vision :A well managed environment where land, mining and natural resources are utilized sustainably to create wealth for the citizens of the county.
Mission: Enabling environment created for accelerated investments on land, mining and natural resources to achieve rapid industrialization of the county.
The strategic goals for the Department are:
The Department derives its mandate from the major sub-sectors, i.e., lands, mining, environment and natural resources.
Land sector
Mandate include Lands Policy Management, Physical Planning, Land Transactions, Survey and Mapping, Settlement Matters, Rural Settlement planning i.e. eco-village, Land Reclamation, County Spatial data and land Information System, Administration of public land in the County.
Mining
Mineral exploration, inventory and mapping of mineral resources in the County, and County level mining policy and management mining, policies on the management of quarrying and mining areas, management of health and safety standards in mines.
Environment and natural resources
Environmental management, forest development and management (including re-afforestation and agro-forestry), conservation and protection of wildlife and marine ecosystems, water catchment area conservation and coordination of climate change affairs,
Along the coastal strip and the coastal uplands, land is mainly owned by absentee landlords, leading to the squatter settlement problem. The trust and government land within these areas have since been adjudicated and government settlement schemes established. In the drier areas of the Nyika Plateau in Kinango, Kasemeni, Samburu Ndavaya and some parts of Lunga Lunga Divisions land is held in trust and under group ranches. Land is viewed as communal asset where every member of the community has the right to use it. In most areas adjudication has not been done. Most of the group ranches currently are non-functional and this has resulted in unplanned human settlements in the land. The land is also used for small scale farming, mining and quarrying as well as settlements.
Mean Holding Size
Land as a resource is evidently under-utilized in Kwale County. According to 2005/06 Kenya Integrated Household Budget Survey (KIHBS) the main holding size is 4.4 acres.
Percentage of Land with Title Deeds
Only 22.5 per cent of the land in the county has title deeds. Most land in Kinango, Msambweni and Matuga Sub-counties do not have title deeds.
Incidence of Landlessness
There is a high incidence of landlessness and squatters in Kwale County. Most households are landless specifically in Matuga and Msambweni constituencies. Such households are clearly vulnerable because of their low incomes and inaccessibility to land.
Land Ownership
Most smallholders who are the majority farmers do not have title deeds. Only 22.5 per cent of the farmers in Kwale have title deeds to their farms. Most of them are squatters who may be evicted at any time thus limiting the farmer’s capacity to use land for sustainable development. Consequently, this has led to poor land use systems leading to environment degradation which further limits the exploitation of county potentials. Further, the lack of tittles limits farmers’ ability to access credit facilities as they cannot use the land as collateral.
Fish production has also been hampered by the illegal acquisition of fish landing sites by unscrupulous private developers. The few fish landing sites that are not yet grabbed are at risk of being illegally acquired as they lack proper documentation.
Strategic Objectives |
Interventions |
Indicators |
Mining |
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Develop a mineral resource map for Kwale County |
Produce a resource map indicating details of the mineral types in Kwale County. |
Resource map for mineral deposits in the County |
Gazette all the mineral deposit sites identified |
Gazette notices for deposit sites |
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Make land accessions on vulnerable areas that are identified to be rich in mineral deposits |
Land accession documents for vulnerable deposit sites |
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Formulate and implement mineral resources development and exploitation policy Promote and implement mechanisms for sustainable mining activities. |
Develop a policy documents that guide surveying, prospecting, and mining of minerals |
Relevant policy documents |
Develop guidelines for artisanal mining and community engagement in mining |
Relevant guidelines document |
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Establish a mining task force to monitor miners adherence to policies and guidelines |
Operating task force |
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Ensure rehabilitation/restoration of all mining sites as per the EMP in the EIA. |
Maintain records of mining activities including the EMP |
Updated mining activity records and follow up plans |
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Progressive monitoring of the mining and rehabilitation/restoration as per the EIA/EMP |
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Environment |
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Develop relevant policies and guide lines for the environmental issues. |
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Establish sensitization and community awareness campaigns to enlighten the community on environment and related agenda. |
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Identification, demarcation and fencing protected areas to discourage straying wild life. |
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Develop tree growers initiatives to cater for timber, poles and fuel resource needs as a buffer for the indigenous forests. |
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Rehabilitate degraded forest areas and other landscapes as per historical ecological constituents |
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Land |
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Update agro-ecological zones for the County land area to inform relevant socio-economic activities |
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Adjudicate the relevant land for distribution to native communities.
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Establish sensitization and community awareness campaigns to enlighten the community on land acquisition process and management. |
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Establish taskforce to investigate past land dealings and injustice, for correctional action, and irresponsible office bearers taken to task. |
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Relevant County executive office fully mandated to transact land issues. |
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