"Large Scale Land Acquisition for Investment in Kenya: Is the participation, and benefits of affected local communities meaningful and equitable?"

…[A]lthough prior illustrations of land deals included foreign acquisitions (e.g. Dominion farms), a government economic policy focusing on mega-infrastructure projects was driving (or expected to drive) a much higher pace of land acquisitions either for primary infrastructure, or for the economic activities that flowed from the primary infrastructure. This is in the context of the Lamu South Sudan Ethiopia Transportation Corridor (LAPSSET) project, which is a flagship means for realization of Vision 2030; Kenya’s current national development plan. Thus, a national conversation is necessary to debate the crucial question of how to provide safeguards to protect the interests of local communities directly affected by these investments, including compensation of land that is taken, and their place in the socio-economic and environmental continuum of investment projects from design to implementation.