Chapter 1. Families in Kenya
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01-Adams.qxd 10/11/2004 5:12 PM Page 3 CHAPTER 1 Families in Kenya EDWARD K. MBURUGU BERT N. ADAMS 1. BACKGROUND boundary being approximately 760 km), on the west by Uganda (approximately 720 km), on the The Republic of Kenya is situated on the northwest by Sudan (approximately 310 km), upraised part of the eastern portion of the and on the north and east by Ethiopia (approxi- African continent, astride the Equatorial mately 760 km) and Somalia (approximately latitude. The northernmost part of Kenya 660 km). Kenya’s southeastern extremity forms (i.e., the Ilemi Triangle) is just above 5° north part of the Indian Ocean seaboard, which is latitude, while the southernmost land (i.e., the approximately 495 kilometers long. On this small islands including Ras Jimbo to the coast is situated the magnificent seaport of south of Shimoni village, in Kwale District) is Mombasa. at 4°40′ south latitude. Longitudinally, Kenya extends from 33°83′ east longitude (i.e., from Geography Sumba, Mfangano, Ilemba, and the Pyramid Islands on Lake Victoria) to 41°75.5′ east Kenya can be subdivided into six natural longitude (i.e., the location of Mandera geographical-economic regions as follows: Town). Currently, Kenya has an estimated Coastal Belt and Plains; Duruma–Wajir Low population of 32.2 million, which is projected Belt; Foreland Plateau; the Highlands— to increase to 33.4 million by 2005 (Central comprising Eastern and Western Highlands; Bureau of Statistics [CBS], 2002, pp. 30–31). It Nyanza Low Plateau (part of the Lake covers an area of 582,646 square kilometers, Victoria Basin); and the Northern Plainlands. of which only 2.3% is water: part of Lake We will describe each of these. Victoria and Lakes Turkana (6,405 sq km), Baringo (129 sq km), Magadi (104 sq km), The Coastal Belt and Plains and other smaller lakes. Kenya is bordered on the south by This is a narrow belt, generally below Tanzania (the length of the international 152 meters (approximately 500 feet) above 3 01-Adams.qxd 10/11/2004 5:12 PM Page 4 4 AFRICA sea level. The land along this belt is famous farming, comprising the now famous tea, for its tree crops, which include coconut coffee, pyrethrum, dairy, and ranching palms, mangoes, oranges, cashew nuts, for which Kenya is known. The modified and sisal. tropical climate is healthy and energizing, and pleasant almost the year round. Duruma–Wajir Low Belt The Nyanza Low Plateau This is an intermediate belt between the more humid coastal plain and the foreland This is part of the Victoria Basin, domi- plateau. It is a dry land that is now in use for nated by the Kano Rift Valley, which runs group ranching. Along the Tana River valley, west-to-east, with its western part (Winam there is scope for more permanent agriculture Gulf) still part of the lake. The Kano Plain is through irrigation. Already irrigation has been suited for irrigation work. To the north are initiated around Bura area. The main problem richly well-watered Kakamega, Vihiga, and in land use is that the soils tend to be generally parts of Siaya Districts, with their remarkably sandy, but in the higher parts such as Shimba high rural population density. The higher Hills, cashew nuts, coconuts, and cassava are parts of South Nyanza, like its northern coun- grown successfully, as has been demonstrated terpart, form equally rich agricultural land by the Shimba Hills settlement scheme. that has yet to be fully developed. The Foreland Plateau The Northern Plainlands This plateau has an altitude of 304 to 915 This region covers practically the whole meters (approximately 997–3,002 feet) above of northern Kenya. It is united by its sea level. It is a relatively narrow belt from endless aridity, which has kept its human the Mount Kilimanjaro foothills through the population low. Nomadic pastoralism is Taita Hills northward via Kitui to beyond the normal mode of land use. The quality Garba Tula. Settlement is confined to places of the range has not been properly assessed, where water can be obtained. Wildlife domi- although efforts toward this realization nates the greater part of this region. The have been made by the Integrated Project in famous Amboseli Game Reserve and Tsavo Arid Lands (IPAL), a project supported by National Parks are situated here. the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) since 1976. Northern Kenya is still suffering from The Highlands the colonial neglect. Organized marketing This region forms the heartland of the and provision of facilities for the mobile Republic of Kenya. It is cool and, on the pastoralists is urgently needed, as one way whole, malaria-free, and is the agriculturally of reducing overstocking in a nonresilient rich part of the country. It is bisected by and essentially fragile environment. This is the Rift Valley into the eastern and western necessary to arrest desertification, which highlands. The central (or eastern) highlands is already threatening many parts of the and Mau escarpment to the west are the region. Provision of modern infrastructure “breadbasket” of the country, growing food has begun in the region. The Kapenguria– crops such as corn, wheat, potatoes, pulses, Lodwar–Sudan, Isiolo–Marsabit–Moyale, and many varieties of vegetables. Along with and Isiolo–Wajir–Mandera roads have this, there is large-scale farming and export made the region much more accessible. The 01-Adams.qxd 10/11/2004 5:12 PM Page 5 Families in Kenya 5 assistance being given to Kenya through in the north to the slopes of Nyandarua. The development aid by a number of foreign coastal belt is dominated by Mijikenda agencies, in regions such as Turkana, people, who include Giriama, Digo, Duruma, Marsabit, and Samburu, should be encour- Ribe, Chonyi, and Kauma. aged and made part of national develop- The remainder of Kenya’s Africans fall ment goals. broadly into two other linguistic groupings: the Nilotic and Cushitic. The Nilotic is repre- sented by Luo, Kalenjin, Maasai, and related The People of Kenya peoples such as Samburu, Turkana, and Teso. It is often said that Kenya is a land of The Luo occupy the Lake Victoria Basin, contrasts. This is not only true of the physical, with the rural Luo concentrating in the lower geographical, and climatic conditions of the parts of the western plateau draining into land, but also of the social, economic, and Lake Victoria. Away from the rural areas, cultural character of its people. One of the the group is now well represented in main most striking characteristics of the popula- Kenyan towns. The Kalenjin-speaking and tion of Kenya is its ethnic diversity, although the related Maasai groups have historically 98.9% of the total population is of African been pastoral people, although farming now origin and 99.7% of the total African popu- constitutes a major occupation of the groups. lation is of Kenyan origin, according to the The Cushitic group of languages repre- 1999 census. sents only 3.4% of the total population of The various national population censuses Kenya. The group falls into two distinct have divided the African population on a subdivisions. The larger subdivision includes linguistic basis. Interestingly, the social and the Somali-speaking group occupying most cultural organization of the various ethnic of the eastern portions of the arid and semi- groups is closely associated with the linguis- arid northeastern areas of Kenya. The second tic classifications. This is particularly the subdivision is to be found in the western case when we consider variations in age and portion of the arid and semi-arid region, sex divisions of labor, as well as in cultural and includes mainly the Rendille and Orma- taboos and rites of passage to be observed by speaking peoples. The Cushitic-speaking these linguistics groups. The largest of these people occupy a region that suffers from is the Bantu-speaking group, which belongs a serious moisture deficit with conditions to the Niger-Congo linguistic family. The unsuitable for agricultural activities. Bantu in Kenya form about 65% of the total The normative social structure of Kenya’s population. The present concentration of societies includes patriliny, patriarchy, and the group is largely south of an imaginary polygyny, though Edmondo Cavicchi argues line from Mount Elgon on the west, south- that in precolonial times the Kikuyu may east to Lamu on the Indian Ocean. In this have been matriarchal (Cavicchi, 1977). part of the country the Bantu are found in Kenya has a parliamentary government. varying concentrations in three main geo- Since independence in 1963, there have been graphical regions: the Lake Victoria Basin, three presidents: Jomo Kenyatta until 1979, the East Rift Highlands, and the coastal belt. Daniel T. arap Moi from 1979 to 2002, and The central group, which is the largest, Mwai Kibaki from 2002 to the present. includes the Kikuyu, Embu, Meru, Mbere, Much of the present chapter will draw Kamba, and Tharaka. The majority occupy on a study of kinship and families carried the fertile Central Highlands extending from out by the two authors during the 1990s. Nyambeni Hills in Meru and Mount Kenya Interviews were completed with 620 adult 01-Adams.qxd 10/11/2004 5:12 PM Page 6 6 AFRICA men and 644 women—84% of them being named, and the child is his, that is, part of his between 25 and 45 years of age, and lineage—though he is not forced to marry two-thirds between 30 and 40. The study the girl (1976, p. 204). involved 300+ interviews with each of the For women in the 1994 Kenya Demo- following ethnic groups: the Mijikenda of graphic and Health Survey (KDHS), median the south coast, the Akamba of east-central age at first intercourse was 16.6 years, and Kenya, the Embu on the eastern slopes of 18.8 years for marriage.