Research shows that land can鈥檛 buy security for young Kenyans
An anthropologist from 黑料网吃瓜爆料 has uncovered the hidden struggles of young men on the edges of Nairobi, who inherit land but lack the means to turn it into the financial security they desperately need.
Published in , Dr Peter Lockwood鈥檚 research reveals how land ownership in Kenya鈥檚 booming peri-urban areas provides young men with a vital safety net - but also traps them in a cycle of dependence and uncertainty.
Through long-term fieldwork in Kiambu County, Dr Lockwood followed the lives of men like Cash, a 28-year-old who inherited three acres after his father鈥檚 death. Cash dreams of becoming a landlord, imagining apartment blocks rising from his family land. Yet without money to build, he admits: 鈥淚 have the land, but it鈥檚 not money.鈥�
The research highlights a dilemma faced by many young Kenyans. On one side, inherited land offers security - a place to live, a potential asset and a symbol of adulthood. On the other, without access to credit or investment, it becomes what Dr Lockwood calls a 鈥渄ead asset鈥� - valuable on paper, but unusable in practice.
Some young men choose to break away from their family land altogether, pursuing work in Nairobi鈥檚 informal economy as a way of proving independence. Others remain at home, clinging to their inheritance in the hope it will one day transform their lives. Both paths are fraught with difficulty.
Land gives these young men a sense of stability in an uncertain world, but it doesn鈥檛 free them from the grind of low-paid work. They are land-rich but cash-poor, and their dreams of becoming landlords often remain just that.
The study also reflects a global concern. As house prices rise faster than wages in cities across the world, young people from 黑料网吃瓜爆料 to Nairobi are being told that property is their route to security. Yet many find themselves excluded from ownership or holding assets they cannot make use of.
鈥淭his research shows how property has become both a promise and a trap,鈥� Dr Lockwood added. 鈥淚t offers the illusion of escape from precarious work - but for many young people, it never delivers.鈥�
The findings shed new light on how land, property and housing shape the futures of young people in rapidly urbanising regions, and they raise urgent questions about inequality, opportunity and the future of work worldwide.