@ Mainat. That is the most pertinent question how to define idle land. I would think for agricultural land if the land is lying fallow for more than 2 planting season and more so for land that is can be defined very productive. So no ranching in kericho!!
Commercial and residential land can have a different definition. All this need alot of consultation.

SK A.L.U.M.N.I (Alcoholic Liason and Undergarments Manager of Nakedness Internationally)

this is a very grey policy and has to many ills not to mention weaknesses. Idle land cannot be quantified by definition and one will have to go lengths of justifying such a motion on the floor of the house since majority of Kenyans invest in land with the hope of getting good returns from the very resource be it through farming,building residential homes and or even speculating (such as buying shares in NSE with the hope in the long run it will increase in value).

What is the harm of one buying land with the hope that in 5 years time it will have increased in value tenfold?

@tonystark,I beg to differ on the notion that Zambia and Malawi has become food sufficient due to the white farmers who left Zimbabwe. As a matter of fact if you read the NEPAD/CAADP policy you will realize the initiative these governments have put in place to boost food security in their respective countries. Infact Pres. Mutharika is on record having provided subsidized farm inputs to the small scale farmers and increased land under irrigation. This scheme was implemented three years in a row and has not only turned Malawi from a previously food insecure nation that had to import its food year in year out but has been very food secure for the last 3 years and even exports food to its neighboring countries like Zimbabwe. Same argument falls for Zambia,Mozambique just to name a few countries that have had their governments increasing the budgetary allocation to agriculture just about 10% of their GDP. What white farmers used to produce was rarely used for home consumption and they would repatriate almost all their earnings to their mother countries....

The fool folds his arms and consumes his own flesh. Better is one handful with tranquility than two with toil and a chase after wind!