In Kenya, as well as in other parts of the global South, the drive to expand electricity production through large-scale renewable energy projects such as wind, solar and geothermal have been widely documented, along with land-related contestations emerging from within the affected communities. However, cases where local people consent to cede land to land investors have not yet received sufficient scholarly attention. Focusing on the Kipeto wind energy project in Kenya, this paper presents a counterpoint to the theoretical postulate of ‘accumulation by dispossession’ – to show how accumulation was possible without community dispossession of land. Grounded in empirical research, the paper argues, first, that land acquisition for wind energy development does not necessarily lead to dispossession if affected populations are compensated fairly, for example with better housing, jobs, money, and importantly are allowed to continue accessing land to sustain livelihoods. Second, the achievability of Kipeto wind energy project is largely due to the company's strategic approach to land consultation and negotiation with communities, which leads to wider social acceptance of the wind energy project. Nevertheless, some landowners have expressed their dissatisfaction concerning the financial compensation mechanisms. Thus, there is need for a longitudinal study to ascertain the extent to which the project developer and landowners keep to their promises as well as to understand the long-term impacts of land deals.

中文翻译：

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肯尼亚农村地区的土地征用、可再生能源开发和生计转型：Kipeto 风能项目案例

在肯尼亚以及南半球其他地区，通过风能、太阳能和地热能等大型可再生能源项目扩大电力生产的努力已被广泛记录，同时受影响地区内部也出现了与土地有关的争议。社区。然而，当地人同意将土地割让给土地投资者的案例尚未得到学术界足够的关注。本文重点关注肯尼亚的 Kipeto 风能项目，提出了与“剥夺积累”理论假设相对应的观点，以表明在社区不剥夺土地的情况下积累是如何可能的。基于实证研究，本文认为，首先，如果受影响人口得到公平补偿，例如更好的住房、就业机会、金钱，并且重要的是允许他们继续获得土地以用于风能开发，那么征用土地并不一定会导致土地被剥夺。维持生计。其次，Kipeto风电项目的实现很大程度上得益于公司与社区进行土地协商和谈判的战略方针，从而使风电项目得到了更广泛的社会认可。然而，一些土地所有者对经济补偿机制表示不满。因此，需要进行纵向研究，以确定项目开发商和土地所有者信守承诺的程度，并了解土地交易的长期影响。