Abstract:
Peasants in the semi arid Laikipia district in Central Kenya are exposed to many different challenges within the attempt to ensure their livelihoods. The area has a great variability in precipitation and generally low availability of water in combination with strong erodibilty of basically fertile soils. This limits the suitability of the areas’ natural resource for human use. Regarding land use and socio-economic structures, Laikipia has undergone major transformation in the 20th century which caused fundamental changes.:- as a consequence of colonial rule, pastoralists were marginalized and Laikipia was made into production basket for export, run by white large-scale farms, Laikipia became an immigration area for small-scale farms which lead to rapidly growing population, trying to secure livelihood through subsistence farming. This, in turn, produced an increased pressure on water and other natural resources, thus making it difficult for peasants to ensure their surviving. The ongoing expansion o settlements and newly forged farm-plots spreading into the vast plains towards North West Laikipia, the growing population density paired with degradation of natural resources and the lack of adequately adapted land use systems, are facts that have to be dealt with by all concerned actors. In terms of ensuring livelihood, peasants were and still among the actors most affected by the problems and developments described above. Hence, peasant activities, their strategies and adjustments on the household level are very important field of interest in research and development efforts. The approach to local development dynamics via peasants in the concrete rural context of Laikipia can be seen as a contribution to an actor – oriented understanding of the dynamics an attempt to adequately support solution-finding processes. The described situation of peasants in Laikipia , basically was the starting point for a large scale investigation on peasants ‘ livelihood strategies in 1992 and the follow up in 1997 , which were both conducted by the Laikipia Research Programme(LRP) in Nanyuki (today CETRAD) , under the lead of Prof. Dr. U. Wiesmann, entre for Development and Environment CDE, university of Bern. Those two former investigations conducted in the area, allowed a comparing glance back and therefore marked the basis for this master thesis. Hence, this study is a contribution to a long term monitoring over a period of 15 years about overall household strategies of peasants in Laikipia, aiming to create a better understanding of the process – dynamics within the strategies of action over time. The present study was concentrating on two spheres of action of peasants which are not directly related to the use of natural resources within their immediate environment: the spheres “of-farm and remittances’ and Social Networks and Ties’. The study aimed to assess thee status and changes in two fields of action within peasant household strategies on an individual level and to examine their relevance within the broader context of the overall household strategy. Moreover, the view of dynamic conditions for decision on strategies and their embedment in political, economical, and social changes or trends in the local and national focus were both goals and points of interest. The fieldwork took three months and started in November 2005. It was carried out in the two differing agro climatic study areas of the former surveys and included 30 interviews with peasant households of diverse characteristics. The samples were chosen out of the remaining 150 households of the survey in 1997.One source of information was the data and information of the semi-quantitative interviews from 1992 and 1997. To obtain data for this study, the question were partly repeated to the sample respondents which were consequently permitting a back –comparison within the eminent fields of action .The other source consisted of addition qualitative in-depth information , drawn from open questions that were integrated in the questionnaires. The combination of methods enabled more detailed analysis of complex relations among the strategies of peasant and possible reasons behind particular behaviours. The main results of the study were the following: in the field of activity ‘ Social Networks and Ties’ , a general shift from trans- spatial to space –inherent ties is taking place with increased settling time in Laikipia . That is to say that the nuclear family and neighbour have become more important than the clan, collateral relatives etc. in terms of support of material and non-material forms. However, dynamic conditions –such as access to natural resources –can substantially influence decisions regarding social networks and ties. The activities field ‘off-farm labour and remittances’ generally seemed to have become stronger and more important for the investigated households over time. But the development of this field is highly dynamic and strongly influenced by individual perceptions, societal changes and particularly the conditions an individual household is exposed to. Naturally, the ecological potential available play an important role. The question about the relation of the two focal spheres of each other and their hypothetical significance within the overall household strategy, revealed the following: a growing ‘temperateness’ towards economical viable alternatives to farming is detectable in respondents’ answers and behavior. Though, this fact should be misinterpreted as a mere wish to go for alternatives, but it is in many cases the result of changing conditions and the resulting pressure to adapt. If plans and ideas for the households’ future are regarded, a great majority of respondents wish to invest in farming-related activities – among other, but less prominent fields of action. There is no explicit abandoning of farming activities in favour of of-farm labour observable. In terms of economical support, the social networks – particularly relatives –lose importance within the household strategies and off-farm activities generally gain it. The study also reveal clear indicators for the theory of smallholders’ specialization in a certain sphere of action , according to specific ‘ Action guiding Conditions’ . This strongly underlines the issue of the highly dynamic nature of smallholder household strategies, postulated in Wiesmann (1998). In the end, the study lists experiences made during field work and in the course of data processing. It additionally presents recommendations targeted as advocacies for the third and last survey of the long term monitoring of the household strategies to be followed in 2007.
Description:
178 pages A4 report ,8 appendices,5 maps,71 Figures,4 Tables