Applying the Theory of Access to Food Security among Smallholder Family Farmers around North-West Mount Kenya

Abstract

Access to productive resources such as land and water is fundamental for households that rely on crop and livestock production for their livelihoods. Research often assumes that agricultural production—and thus, food security—are favoured by tenure security of resources (as represented by a “bundle of property rights”). However, research has not yet elucidated how food security is influenced by additional factors, represented within a “bundle of powers”. Guided by the Theory of Access developed by Ribot and Peluso, we explore the main factors in the respective bundles of rights and powers that influence household food security around north-west Mount Kenya. We interviewed 76 households—38 food secure and 38 food insecure—who were subsampled from a previous food security survey of 380 households. Results show that household food insecurity was not exclusively the result of a lack of private property rights as many farmers had retained their property rights. Instead, a major factor preventing access to productive resources was the difficulty faced by food insecure households in accessing farm technology (i.e. hand tools and implements). Access to authority and via social relations were significantly correlated with access to technology, so improving the latter must take into account the former.

Social Self-Organization and Social-Ecological Resilience in Food Systems: Lessons from Smallholder Agriculture in Kenya and Indigenous Guaraní Communities in Bolivia

“…Those belonging to WRUAs were motivated to join water projects to enhance access to water. However, power relations associated with water projects meant that smallholders were often marginalized (Kaeser 2018;Mutea, Rist, and Jacobi 2020). In Bolivia, we noted a two-fold motivation and associated benefits of social self-organization in the Guaraní food system.…”

“…In Kenya we observed high heterogeneity among the membership of smallholders and large-scale horticulture producers who also depended on the same surface water for irrigation (Peter et al 2018;Lanari et al 2018). WRUAs not only manage the water resources but also form community water projects that help the communities to access water (Mutea, Rist, and Jacobi 2020). However, a large proportion of smallholders are frequently excluded due to inability to pay monthly fees, while permits to abstract water are readily provided to large-scale producers (Ulrich 2014;Lanari 2014;Lanari, Liniger, and Kiteme 2016).…”

Effectiveness of fertilizer policy reforms to enhance food security in Kenya: a macro–micro simulation analysis

“…One of the most critical drivers of low agricultural productivity is the lagging use of modern inputs, especially fertilizers, and the lack of access to technology (Mutea, Rist, and Jacobi 2020). Traditionally, Kenya attempted to solve the issue through public input subsidy programmes.…”

Food Security Sustainability: A Synthesis of the Current Concepts and Empirical Approaches for Meeting SDGs

“…The bundles of right covers all forms of formal and informal rules or norms. However, bundle of power intercedes in analogous to right-based access mechanism to figure how resources users gain control and eventually claim benefits [52]. For example, accessing land and water for irrigation are the most significant resource in agricultural production.…”