Minimum and Maximum Land Size Assessment:

A Systematic Literature Review of Emerging Thematic Issues in Kenya

Abstract

Despite decades of policy interventions and constitutional mandates in several countries, limited global consensus exists on appropriate minimum and maximum landholding thresholds to sustain agricultural productivity and household livelihoods. This study reviews the literature on minimum and maximum land sizes to identify emerging thematic patterns in rural agricultural landholding policy. The study uses a systematic literature review following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines and synthesizes evidence from 28 studies that met the inclusion criteria. The review identifies four major themes: minimum viable farm size and living income thresholds, land fragmentation measurement, land consolidation as a policy instrument, and agricultural zoning with maximum landholding ceilings. The findings show that fixed quantitative standards are unsuitable across diverse contexts, highlighting the need for land optimization strategies based on income viability, voluntary consolidation, cooperative farming, and context-specific agricultural zoning. These findings provide evidence to inform Kenya's constitutional land reforms and land policy in other developing countries.