Enumeration as a Grassroot Tool Towards Securing Tenure in Slums: Insights from Kisumu, Kenya

Abstract

Community-based slum enumeration was carried out in Kisumu from 2005 to 2008 as part of a city-wide slum-upgrading initiative. This paper analyses this enumeration exercise particularly in relation to land management and tenure security. The paper draws on a peer evaluation that included interviews with slum-upgrading stakeholders as well as community-based focus group discussions, mainly with enumerators. The paper finds that, for a grassroots enumeration exercise to be successful, grassroots trust must be sustained for ongoing verification and updating of the enumeration data and the enumeration must link up effectively with the planning authorities. Broader preconditions are the coordination of the slum-upgrading initiative, and beyond this, of wider and often competing city initiatives. Key findings towards securing tenure include the importance of various forms of mobilisation that accompany enumeration and of the informal and formal knowledge generation that results from the enumeration process.