Engendering the Gusii in colonial land policies between 1920 and 1939

The nascent discussion around colonial policies on the questions of land access, ownership and control in Kisii County has persisted. It emerges that the institution of colonial policies in these formative years had the collateral effect of constricting women’s access, control, ownership and utilization of land as it became more contested and competitive. The analysis in this article is situated within the colonial agrarian policies context instituted and implemented between 1920 and 1939.The key policies in question were informed by the post-world war I economic meltdown dynamics which compelled the official enunciation of the dual policy. The paper interrogates the fundamentals of these policies and assesses the extent to which they impacted on Gusii women’s access, control and utilization of land in Kisii County. Further, the dramatics of the Great Depression on overall colonial agrarian policies in rural Kisii that bestowed an imprint on issues of women’s access, control and utilization of land are explored. The article critiques the alterations or contradictions exhibited in colonial agrarian policies in the wake of African household response to the measures instituted earlier to stem-off the negative consequences engendered by the Great Depression on the rural Gusii economy in the period. The article also evaluates the effects of the control strategies on Gusii women pertaining to land access, control and utilization.