Land and Population Problems in Kajiado and Narok, Kenya

Abstract

The physical appearance of Africa's marginal semi-arid lands shows evidence of eroding hillsides, denuded plains, large erosion shelves, and deep sheer-sided gulleys. These features manifest an imbalance between humans and the resources which support them or what some scholars have termed rural population pressure (Anzagi and Bernard, 1977; Steel, 1970). A decade ago, an International Labor Office mission to Kenya (1972: 405, hereafter ILO) noted that surface soil degradation and erosion in marginal semi-arid areas were chronic. Other symptoms of the physical destruction of the land included the drying up of streams, cultivating on river banks leading to silting of streams and dams, unchecked gullying of cultivated slopes, and sheet erosion following bad grazing practices. More recently, the World Bank (1980: 53) noted that increasing population growth in the drier areas of Kenya has led to a pressure exceeding the carrying capacity of the land, which in turn has led to lower income per capita, and even to famine. In general Kenya's rangelands are densely populated relative to pastoral areas in other African countries (von Kaufmann, 1976: 255). The government itself (Kenya, 1979a: 211) notes the urgency of dealing with social problems related to the rapid population expansion in medium and low potential areas of the country where crop production is feasible but very risky.

Proximate causes of land-use change in Narok District, Kenya: a spatial statistical model

“…The 'Land Group Representatives and Land Adjudication Act' of 1968 enabled the land to be demarcated into group ranches, which were owned and under private title by a group of registered members and managed by an elected committee. Throughout the 1980s, more and more land within the group ranches was allocated to individuals and the tendency towards complete sub-division of the ranches gained more momentum (Singida, 1984;Galaty, 1992). Important changes in land use took place in the rangelands of the study area.…”

“…North of Narok, the district capital, the Mau Uplands are the result of recent volcanic activity with highly porous and fertile volcanic ash soils (Said et al, 1997). The uplands are part of what is known in Kenya as the "high potential lands" and were extensively opened up for agriculture since the early 1960s (Singida, 1984).…”

Mobility and livestock mortality in communally used pastoral areas: the impact of the 2005-2006 drought on livestock mortality in Maasailand

“…Firstly, pastoralists maintained large herds to ensure that sufficient animals would survive to rebuild the herds after the drought (McPeak 2005). In many areas, the resilience provided by large herds has been greatly eroded because, due to demographic growth, per capita herd size has reduced (Lamprey and Reid 2004;Sindiga 1984), hence increasing vulnerability to drought. The loss of pastoral lands, which were used as drought refuges to agriculture, conservation (Homewood et al 2009;Brockington 2005;McCabe 2003) and urbanization (Behnke 2008), and sedentarization from a formerly semi-nomadic lifestyle and the associated land fragmentation and intensification of land use further reduced resilience.…”

Reweaving stakeholder networks: Promoting climate mitigation and Maasai culture using medicinal plants in Kenya

“…The Maasai of Loitoktok district come from the Ilkisonko clan (Sindiga, 1984). Due to their nomadic way of life, they have high botanical 'miti shamba' knowledge based on the rich savannah plant biodiversity for human and livestock survival (Bussmann et al, 2006).…”