This document outlines a proposal for the In the Land of Women Project (ITLOW) to promote women's economic development and land ownership in Kenya. The proposal contains the following key points: 1. ITLOW will lease underutilized community land in Kenya's Rift Valley province and employ local women to farm high-value crops like tea and coffee. 2. In the short term, this will provide jobs and training for women farmers. In the long term, ITLOW aims to help the women gain official ownership of the land through registration. 3. Financially, ITLOW expects to break even with around 148 clients annually and generate profits to reinvest in expanding operations and helping more women. Fund

1. Every time we liberate a woman, we liberate a man. ~Margaret Mead
Felipe Bustos Luna p538 Colombia
Chris Finn p288 United States
Michaela Fountain p285 United States
Carolina Giraldo Borja p269 Colombia
Shayan Hosseini p537 Iran
Mahboubeh Javdan p535 Iran
Mengzhen Lei s383 Sweden
Frances Skilton s404 New Zealand
1

2. I EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Women produce more than half the world’s agricultural
production. Yet it is a much smaller proportion that actually has
ownership and control of the land where they work. Ownership
gives a much greater motivation for productivity and management,
for the women and their families.
The In the Land of Women Project (ITLOW) will work towards
women’s economic development by increasing their land access
and ownership. Kenya will be the focus, where around 70% of the
agricultural labor is female, yet only 1% have property ownership. In Kenya, land
ownership is a worthy achievement, as many livelihoods depend on it. So the
motivation for women to work hectare community land blocks is high. ILOTW will
promote knowledge and technology gains to increase productivity of tea leaf and
coffee crops. Global linkages will be established for trade through Export
Management Companies (EMCs). The ultimate goal for ITLOW will be to have these
women as registered land owners under Kenyan law. What used to be non-
productive, community owned land, will be under the control of knowledgeable and
skilled women.
II BUSINESS OVERVIEW
Around the globe, women are the major source for agricultural production. For
centuries, women have supported their families and communities with their diligent
work in farming and crop production. However, it is often men, namely husbands and
sons, who control the money, family property, and land rights. As a result, women
retain only a small percentage of registered land titles.
Some countries, such as Uganda, are increasing gender equality in land ownership
by revising laws, such as the modification of The Land Act of 1998. Also, Tanzania
has improved their system of registering land to women, through the passage of The
Land Act of 1999. Nonetheless, in Kenya, marriage and inheritance still determine a
woman’s property rights. This system of spousal control can still fall short, as the
land can be sold from underneath women without consent.
The ITLOW Project, based in Kenya, will help increase women’s land access and
ownership. We will exist as an intermediary between those that control large portions
of Trust Land, and women. Our organization will lease land from community
representatives and increase its utilization through the management of skilled, local
2

3. female employees. With access to global agricultural
knowledge, such as the New Zealand firm, Agritech
(http://www.agritech.org.nz/), and the local Kenya
Investment Authority, this land will be more productive.
This process will offer women in Kenya access to
knowledge, methods and technology for irrigation, cropping,
and land management. Gains will also be made in linkages
with Export Management Companies (EMCs); EMCs have global networks that can
benefit the local community and the Kenyan economy as a whole. To aid solid
property ownership, the ITLOW Project will, in the long term, help employed women
become the titleholder for a section of the Trust Land.
III LOCATION
The ITLOW Project will initially be based in the Rift Valley province of Kenya. Kenya
has a fully liberalized economy with a pro-investment government. It is also a part of
the Commonwealth, which increases access from New Zealand and elsewhere, for
capital and knowledge.
These links also help the
EMC infrastructure to
increase ITLOW’s financial
feasibility.
Rift Valley has a high
proportion of Trust Land,
around 65% (Figure 8.4),
offering sufficient access to
potential land. There are
also significant regions of
land suited to the export
crops of tea leaves and
coffee beans within Rift Valley, which makes it promising to trade with EMCs. Lastly,
the province capital, Nakuru, has infrastructure to support an office base from which
to grow our organization.
3

4. IV THE ITLOW PROJECT’S
OBJECTIVES
Short Term:
• Increase women’s abilities to produce for their families in Rift Valley.
• Increase land productivity of Rift Valley farms by applying local and global
knowledge.
Long Term:
• Have significant areas of Trust Land registered to women; currently women’s
land ownership is less than 5%, which we would like to increase to 15% in
about 5 years.
• Develop connections and a cultural acceptance that enables policy changes
at a government level.
V BUSINESS & MARKETING
STRATEGIES
Business Strategies
Our company vision at ITLOW is to utilize land that is being unexploited in Rift
Valley, to the benefit of women within that community.
Our business strategy is to rent Trust Land in a
specific community, and therefore manage it. Since
Trust Land is owned and operated by a community,
we can’t purchase the land, but rather rent it through a
negotiation between our organization and a person or
council within that community.
In the short term, our organization will provide jobs to
currently unemployed and employed women within a specific community in Rift
Valley. Women will be employed to grow coffee beans and tea leaves within our land
4

5. to provide a profit for both the employees and our company. ITLOW will provide
them with necessary training, so they can perform efficiently and productively
throughout our land. We will also partner with an Export Management Company to
ensure risk-free and profitable exporting. This entire process will not only benefit the
employed women and our organization, but also the local economy.
In the long-term, our company plans to increase land access and potential land
ownership for the employed women. Our organization will work towards greater land
ownership for women, helping them register this Trust Land in their names.
Currently, a woman in Kenya can only sign the registration if a man’s name
accompanies hers. Our company will act as a male
cosigner to allow the women to acquire a permanent
ownership title for the land.
The resources required within this venture include an
office, which will be located within Nakuru; tools, and the
advanced technology we can provide to assist with
farming on land, including tractors and chaser bins; and,
our human capital, which would consist of women from a particular community.
Challenges we foresee within this venture include: protection of our land, laborers,
and our product from potential government or guerilla raids; acquisition of land and
continued occupancy of the land; problems resulting from the cultural outlook on
women within Trust Land communities; and, upholding our relationship with a
reliable EMC as our partner in this joint venture.
Marketing Strategies
Our organization will market to unemployed and employed women in Trust Land
communities, including, but not limited to, women who have farming experience,
single mothers, widows, abused women, and younger women. We will also market to
potential Export Management Companies, who
will be selling our product to a foreign market.
Our strategy is to recruit a group of women from
a particular community of interest, and begin the
process of employing, training, and assisting
these women in the overall acquisition of land.
5

6. Once our efforts begin, women in other communities will see the advantages to this
process and want to join our cause.
Our organization does have a competitive advantage over businesses already
employing women in disadvantaged regions because we offer reasonable wages
and the ability to acquire land in the long-term. Our wages for the women we employ
will be up to three times their current earnings, and we foresee it taking less than two
years for women to be able to acquire land.
VI Financial Overview
Our operations will begin on a small scale, as it will require relatively less initial
capital investment at the beginning. After accumulated experiences, we will expand
our service region and scale gradually. The previous success of our services itself
will become a good advertisement and will also support our application for future
financing.
Sources of Capital
In the first period of business, about 16,000 KES, or $US260 will be needed to
establish ITLOW as an enterprise with an office and employees. We believe potential
support will be obtained from ProInvest, a worldwide technical aid contributor, the
Kenyan Land Trust, and the United Nations Development Programme; gender
equality is included in the Millennium Development Goals the UN is currently
targeting. Also, the Kenyan government will be sought for assistance, as it is working
towards Client Income (per person/per year)
Vision
income after selling $4,860.00
2030,
which has rent of land -$1,000.00
significant
agriculture expenses and tax -$800.00
agricultural
productive service fee -$100.00
aims, such
net income $2,960.00
as
registering
land to specific people.
Earnings
6

7. In Rift Valley province, the financial return from one hectare land with full productivity
will be $4,680 US dollars per year; one person should be able to complete the
farming work for one hectare land annually.1 Also, the rent for one hectare land will
be $1,000 US dollars annually. Thus, we estimated that for each of our clients, the
gross profit from selling cash crops, after reducing the cost of land, will be
approximately $3,600 US dollars every year. Taking other expenses into account,
such as chemical fertilizer, irrigating water, farm chemicals, etc., our clients will
benefit from over $3,000 US dollars annually after harvest. Based on this calculation,
we will charge an annual service fee of $100 US dollars per person each year. All
our services for clients are included within this charge.
Yearly Expenses
We will operate within an 80 square meter office in Nakuru; the rent of the office will
cost $35 per square meter, per year, with a 15% service tax included.2 12 employers
will be hired to work for us with an Annual Income Statement (Kenyan Shilling /KES)
average wage level at 6000 KES per
Revenue KES in US Dollar
month for each person.3 The
administration cost will be 5000 KES Service charge 7700*148 $100*148
monthly, including an electricity fee,
Total 1,139,600 $14,800.00
advertisement cost, the expenses of
low-value consumption goods, etc. Cost KES in US Dollar
Using the exchange rate of $1 US dollar
Office Rent 215,600
equal to 77 Kenyan shillings, our annual
fixed cost will be $14,800 US dollars, as Salaries 864,000
shown in the table. Administration Cost 60,000
1,139,600 $14,800.00
Break-even Point Analysis (Exchange rate at 1 US dollar =77 KES)
If we serve over 148 clients per year,
the income will be sufficient enough to sustain our project till the following year. In
regards to the projected number of potential customers, the break-even point is easy
to achieve. The extra net profit generated at the end of each year will be re-invested
to expand our service scale the following year, in order to benefit more women who
need access to land.
Fundraising
1
Organic Farming in Kenya: a growing demand for consistent supply,
http://www.uwsp.edu/cnr/gem/OrganicFarminginKenya-GrowingDemandforConsistentSupply.pdf
2
Property of Kenya, http:// www.propertykenya.com
3
Salary survey in Kenya, http://www.payscale.com/research/KE/Country=Kenya/Salary
7

8. We will expose our case to the Kenya Land Alliance4, or any of its donors, in search
of money, capital, or knowledge to implement our idea and serve women within
Kenya. We believe potential support could also be obtained from ProInvest, a
worldwide technical aid contributor, and the United Nations Development
Programme. Gender equality is included in the Millennium Development Goals that
the UN are currently targeting. The World Bank already has around $US1.4billion
invested in Kenyan projects, notably infrastructure. ITLOW could be a part of their
agricultural focus which currently has $US360million of investment. The Kenyan
government will also be a valuable link as it is working towards Vision 2030, which
has significant agricultural productive aims and they are also registering land to
specific people. Both of which are ITLOW functions that we may assist with. We
hope to collect enough funds to avoid the assistance of loans, and avoid acquiring
debt. The money collected will be used for start-up expenses5, which in total account
for almost 16000 KES.
4
http://www.kenyalandalliance.or.ke/members/index.php?flag=members&dmp=1
5
http://www.doingbusiness.org/exploretopics/startingbusiness/Details.aspx?economyid=101
8