Use of GIS to Manage Community-Based Land Transactions: A Case Study of Kirinyaga Central District

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1 Use of GIS to Manage Community-Based Land Transactions: A Case Study of Kirinyaga Central District J. K. Mbui, T. M. Ng ang a, P. G. Githere Abstract The elements of Land Administration in Kenya has been very fragmented and independently operated. During institutional reforms, there is an opportunity to provide a much more integrated Land Administration service to the citizens through the formation of onestop-shops, through the integration and rationalization of land administration and land rights delivery systems. Applying GIS technology in the management of land transactions enables information to be managed more effectively and productively. Improvements are shown in the capture, storage, accuracy, completeness, integration, maintenance and analysis of data, which consequently improves the quality and communication of information. The study involved assessment of land transactions operations in Survey and Land Registration departments of the Ministry of Land and Housing in Kirinyaga Central District. The results of this study were examined and the user requirements specifications established that led to the development of this system. The main objective of the project is the generation of a GIS database for application of GIS to community-based land issues on subdivision of land, property evaluation and land transactions on buying and selling of land. The project objectively addressed the land issues through development of a GIS database that the community can use to find relevant land information with the aim of providing the community with information on land transaction issues thus eliminate fraudulent quacks or brokers who acts as land surveyors or land management agents. This was achieved by the preparation of digital map showing the cadastral boundaries of land parcels in the area and generating a GIS database that would facilitate management of community-based land transactions. Keywords: Database, GIS, One-stop-shops A. Background Information I. INTRODUCTION Land is the physical base of all human activities forming principal source of livelihood and material wealth, and invariably carries cultural significance for many Kenyans. Mbui J. K. Department of Geospatial and Space technology, University of Nairobi Ng ang a T. M. Department of Geospatial and Space technology, University of Nairobi, Tel , titus.nganga@uonbi.ac.ke Githere P. G. Department of Civil and Construction Engineering, University of Nairobi This resource has continued to play a significant role in the socio-economic and political development of the country. Therefore, its ownership, allocation, distribution and utilization are of great concern to most Kenyans. In Kenya, land issues evoke a lot of emotion. Therefore, studies in proper land use and management are of great importance especially to local communities in the rural areas where livelihood is solely dependent on land. This calls for qualified professionals in the land sector to ensure proper coordination on all issues pertaining to land in order to ensure that the interests of the community and that of the government are protected. In the hands of quacks, community members have been exposed to multiple land disputes. Kenya has not had a clearly defined or codified National Land Policy even after independence. This, together with the existence of many land laws, some of which seem incompatible, has resulted in a complex land management and administration system. In most of the Kenyan districts, the land question has manifested itself in many ways including fragmentation, breakdown in land administration, disparities in land ownership and poverty. This has resulted in environmental, social, economic and political problems including deterioration in land quality, squatting and landlessness, disinheritance of some groups and individuals, urban squalor, under-utilization and abandonment of agricultural land, tenure insecurity and conflict [1]. Reports from the various government commissions and regional workshops that were held in all the provinces of Kenya, and consultative group meetings pointed out that on a general scale there has been a systematic breakdown in the management of land administration and land delivery procedures throughout Kenya. The existing land administration and land rights delivery systems are bureaucratic, expensive in terms of transaction costs, undemocratic and prone to abuse, resulting into unnecessary 194

2 delays in the administration of land. This has made the ordinary Kenyan unable to access the relevant information necessary in land transactions and subsequently land ownership [2]. B. Land Surveying and Mapping The processes of land surveying and mapping are the backbone to an efficient land administration and management system. In addition to preparing the maps and plans to support land registration, they map the earth for land use planning. In Kenya, these processes have been hampered by slow, cumbersome and out-dated modes of operation. The Government shall establish a unitary and homogeneous network of control points of adequate density and amend the Survey Act to allow for the use of modern technology such as GPS and GIS [1]. C. Cadastral Systems The central objective of cadastral systems is to produce, maintain and distribute current and accurate geographical data in support of land registration to ensure people have security of land ownership. Currently, the amount of cadastral data held by Survey of Kenya, which is the custodian of all survey records that include survey plans, field notes, computations, registry maps and aerial photographs is immense and is stored and retrieved manually. The manual systems of managing such a huge collection of data that has accumulated over a century has progressively became very inefficient and time consuming [3]. GPS technology has been used in cadastral surveys in countries such as El Salvador, Indonesia, Morocco, Botswana, Namibia, Jordan and in a number of countries in Eastern Europe [4].There is no doubt therefore about the potential of GPS in cadastral surveying in Kenya. At the moment though, there is not much GPS activity in the area of cadastral surveying [5]. D. Land Information Management In Kenya Land information management may be defined as the effective use of land information in support of land management that entails the taking and implementation of decisions about the acquisition, use and conservation of land resources. The major objective of land information management is to utilize the available information, human and technology resources towards more effective decision making about land. Good land information management should enable the determination of and provision for the information requirements of users, including the efficient flow of information from producer to user and between users. It should also enable continuous evaluation of the information system used plus the information produced against changing user needs and provide for their updating whenever necessary [6]. E. Land Information Management Principles A Land Information Management System (LIMS) is a computer-based information system that enables the capture, management, and analysis of geographically referenced landrelated data in order to produce land information for decisionmaking in land administration and management. Land information in Kenya, is currently held mostly in paper form and managed manually. This is inefficient, time consuming and cannot support timely decision making about land. The most common form of Land Information System (LIS) are those that describe property ownership, land value, tax assessment, and property boundaries [7]. F. Geographical Information Systems Geographical Information System (GIS) is the combination of skilled persons, spatial and descriptive data, analytical methods, and computer software and hardware all organized to automate, manage and deliver information through geographic presentation.gis is a set of tools for collecting, storing, retrieving, transforming, and displaying spatial data from real world for a particular set of purposes [8]. The tool-base definition of GIS is a powerful set of tools for collecting, storing, retrieving at will, transforming and displaying spatial data from the real world for a particular set of purposes [9]. Today many organizations are moving land information into Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Land information is an integral part of government, non-profit, and private sector activities. Adopting GIS/LIS techniques can advance broader social purposes by making more effective public decisions and by using natural resources in a more optimal way [10]. G. GIS in Land Parcel Management GIS and Web services have dramatically expanded the ability to access, analyze, disseminate, and display vast quantities of data. These powerful technologies make it possible for cities, counties, and even regions to integrate their administrative databases and make parcel-level information available to the public via the Internet [11]. 195

3 Properties or parcels are the most basic "business elements" in all matters related to land in any country. Every day, planners, assessors, public works, police, elections officials and many other personnel need access to parcel maps and related information such as addresses, related permits, maps, tax rate areas, voter precincts, relation to flood zones and other natural hazards [12]. Use of GIS streamlines access to parcel-related information and consolidates maps and many disparate but important parcel related datasets into a geodatabase. Maintaining local land records in GIS saves money by automating map maintenance, speeding the enrollment of new parcels, and reducing valuation challenges [13]. A. Study Area II. METHODOLOGY H. E Government and Land Records Information E-government is using the Internet and GIS to create more effective government. The combination of readily available Internet access and maps lets governments provide a new level of service to both businesses and the public. It is making collaboration between government agencies possible in new and powerful ways. The strong data integration abilities of GIS let governments truly capitalize on data existing in legacy systems. GIS-enabled Web sites can provide services, such as online mapping, fee payment, and application submission that were not previously available [14]. E-government is a means of using Internet and GIS to create a more effective government. Typically, land records information is the most requested type of government information. The combination of readily available Internet access and maps allows governments to provide a new level of service, particularly access to parcel information, to businesses and the public [13]. Fig 1: Area of study; Kirinyaga Central District Kirinyaga Central District (Fig 1) is within the greater Kirinyaga district in the Central Province of Kenya and was formerly the Kirinyaga Central division. It borders Mt. Kenya forest on the northern part, Kirinyaga East district formerly Gichugu division on the eastern, Kirinyaga West district formerly Ndia division on the western, and Kirinyaga South district formerly Mwea division on the southern side. Most of the land in the district is highly productive and this has attracted many investors especially the upper zone where we have Tea as the major cash crops. The central part constitutes Kerugoya Township which is the headquarters of the district with most of the surrounding land being used for commercial and residential purposes. The lower zone which is between the Kerugoya township and the Kutus township, the land use is rapidly being converted from agricultural to residential to accommodate people working in these towns. The district has very many land transactions involving land subdivisions, transfers, buying and selling, charging for bank 196

4 loans etc. As a result, quacks have invaded the town claiming to be all sort of professionals. These quacks have not had any training but they claim to be land surveyors, real estate managers and agents, and in the process have led to very many land disputes among members of the community. The residents have suffered greatly from the unqualified quacks. The district is locked by endless land disputes created by these quacks. It is therefore important to have a GIS system that the can check on the above issues to protect the local community against these injustices. The project is aimed at developing a GIS database system that will help the community to curb the above vices. B. Materials and equipment The hardware used in this project included digitizers, a flatbed scanner, hand held GPS Toshiba laptop of modest specifications, and an Olympus digital camera. The software used mainly included ArcGIS 9.2 student version and Microsoft office 2003 suite of packages. C. Data Collection and Capture Cadastral maps notably the Registry Index Map (RIM) sheets that show the layout of parcels in the study area were obtain from Provincial Headquarters at Nyeri. Certificate of the official search for some parcels to verify the important parcel information that is normally registered in the Land Register for use in designing the systems database were obtained from the District Land Registration Office at Kerugoya. Photographs of the developments such as Institution, Shopping centers) on some parcels were obtained using a camera. This was done using the scanning method where data is automatically digitized in the raster format using a scanning machine. The RIM s for the study area were scanned to raster maps in preparation for the digitization process. The photographs taken were scanned to would enable incorporating the photographs of the physical facilities such as institutions into the map. D. Digitization The hard copy RIM s from the Survey of Kenya for the selected study area were scanned and saved as raster map images. The digitization process involved use of onscreen digitization capability of the ArcGIS9.2 Software. The raster images were loaded into the Laptop and georeferenced using ArcGIS9.2 georefencing tools. This was done by entering the coordinates of points on the four corners of raster map image and repeatedly pointing them carefully and accurately to ensure a relatively low root-mean-square for the dataset were achieved. The digitized spatial data was stored as point, line or polygon feature in the database. The missing data of details left out accidentally during digitization process were verified visually on the screen and entered. E. Data preparation The digitized vector data requires editing as some errors are invariably introduced. Typical errors basically includes gaps between lines that fail to meet or dangle, unclosed polygons, lines intersecting each other or meeting at wrong points, and lines with missing codes and missing labels. This was done using the ArcGIS 9.2 editor tools for trimming of overshoots of lines at intersections, deleting duplicate lines, closing gaps in lines, and generating polygons. An LIS needs to be based on accurate, large scale and upto date property mapping which is based on a reliable national mapping framework founded on a geodetic reference network [15]. The data was geometrically registered to a generally accepted and properly defined coordinate system ie World Geodetic System (WGS 84) Zone 37 Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) and coded so that they were stored in the internal database structure of the GIS. F. Creating Digital Data Sets The database was created using the Microsoft Access to enter the attribute data based on the community user needs requirements. The data was then exported to the ArcGIS as database files for the purpose joining and relating to the corresponding spatial features in the database. Some of the data here includes names of towns and institutions, names of parcels owners and their contacts, and areas of parcels and their identification numbers. G. Data checks and repairs Acquired data was then checked for consistency and completeness. This requirement applied for the geometric and topological quality as well as the semantic quality of the data. Errors were identified after which manual editing methods were applied to correct the errors. Attributes were automatically associated with features, after they were given unique identifiers. For vector data, attributes were assigned directly, to the features, while for raster the attributes were assigned to all cells that represent a feature. 197

A. Results III. RESULTS AND ANALYSIS The results were analyzed by spatial and attribute data analysis using the extract and proximity analysis tools of ArcGIS software.

management of the community land transactions. parcel is Francis Nyamu with others personal details as shown in Fig 3.

Fig 3: Parcel information for a selected land parcel offered for lease. B. Proximity Analysis The results of an analysis performed using the select by location dialogue box of ArcGIS software (Fig 4).

5 A. Results III. RESULTS AND ANALYSIS The results were analyzed by spatial and attribute data analysis using the extract and proximity analysis tools of ArcGIS software. The results included a digital topo-cadastral map of some land parcels in Kirinyaga Central District; spatial analysis on the distribution of the sale and lease property; a GIS database for the management of the community land transactions. parcel is Francis Nyamu with others personal details as shown in Fig 3. A Topo-Cadastral Maps of the area of study showing the land parcels boundaries and other topographical features e.g. Rivers, Roads located in Inoi-South locations of Kirinyaga Central District (Fig 2). Fig 3: Parcel information for a selected land parcel offered for lease. B. Proximity Analysis The results of an analysis performed using the select by location dialogue box of ArcGIS software (Fig 4). The results shows land parcels selected from the sale and lease property that are located within a distance of 500 meters from the Kerugoya-Kutus tarmac road. There are nineteen land parcels of sale property and four land parcels of the lease property within 500 meters from the tarmac. Also included are schools (Kerugoya Primary and Secondary school, Gakoigo Primary, etc.) shopping centers (Kibingo) and coffee factories (Kaitheri) that are within this distance from the tarmac. Fig 2: Topo-Cadastral Map showing Land Parcels in Inoi- South Location Fig 3 shows a selected land parcel that is offered as a lease property in which the following details can be established: Title No. of the land parcel is Inoi/Kimandi/7 with an Area of 0.4ha offered for lease, Land parcel is developed with 4500 stem of bushes, Price offered for every stem of tea bushes is Kshs 12.00, Lease period is 5 years and the owner of the land Fig 4: Sale and lease parcels within 500 meters from Kerugoya-kutus tarmac road 198

6 IV. CONCLUSION A GIS database for use in GIS application Software has been developed that integrates spatial and non spatial data required for common land transactions. It proves to be an efficient and effective platform for the management of community-based land transactions. The effectiveness of the database is based on the results obtained from this project. REFERENCES [1] Kenya Land Alliance (2007), Draft Land Policy [2] W. Olima (2007), Expert Analysis: Land Administration and Land Rights Delivery in Kenya [3] A. Njuki (2001), Cadastral systems and their impact on land administration, Kenya [4] J. N. Mwenda (2001), Spatial Information in Land Tenure Reform with special reference to Kenya, [5] G. Ogalo (2002), GPS in Cadastres: A Case Study of Kenya [6] G. C. Mulaku (1997), Land Information Management in Kenya, An Integrated Approach. ITC Journal /4, Netherlands [7] J. Antenucci, K. Brown, Croswell P. and M. Kevany (1991), Geographic Information Systems, A Guide to Technology, New York [8] K. Maulud, O. Karim, K. Sopian, Z. Darus and E. Mohd (2008), Identification of a potential wave energy location in Malaysia using GIS, Solar Energy Research Institute, Malaysia [9] P. Burrough and R. McDonnell (1998), Principles of Geographical Systems, Oxford University Press [10] S. Raghavendran (2002), Cadastral mapping and Land Information System [11] Treuhaft S. and Kingsley G. (2008), Transforming Community Development with Land Information Systems [12] Farallon Geographics (2010), Property Review and Parcel Management GIS Solutions [13] ESRI GIS Technology in Europe (2005), GIS for Cadastre Management [14] ESRI Solutions (2003), GIS Solutions for Urban and Regional Planning [15] National Research Council (1983), Procedures and standards for a multipurpose cadastre, National Academy Press, Washington D. C. 199

Directorate of Survey and Mapping NAMIBIA. Cadastral Information System. Vehupisa Kasuko Tjatindi Surveyor Directorate of Survey and Mapping NAMIBIA

Vehupisa Kasuko Tjatindi Directorate of Survey and Mapping NAMIBIA Tel: +64 61 965000 Directorate of Survey and Mapping NAMIBIA Cadastral Information System Introduction Over the past few decades cadastral