AGRICULTURAL CHANGE AMONG THE KEIYO OF ELGEYO- MARAKWET COUNTY, 1894-1990
TUM METHUSELLA KIPKEMEI C50/CE/23867/2012
A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN HISTORY OF KENYATTA UNIVERSITY.
FEBRUARY 2020
DECLARATION
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DEDICATION
To my dear parents, Edwin K.Maru and Violah Maru to whom I dedicate this thesis.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
My sincere acknowledgement goes to my supervisors Dr. Felistus Kinyanjui and Dr. Joel Imbisi of the Department of History, Archaeology and Political Studies, Kenyatta University for their keen insight and expertise which guided this study through every stage. I would also like to thank all members of staff of the History Department and School of Humanities and Social
Sciences as a whole for their varied assistance.
I am also grateful to the people who helped out in the field during data collection. I am deeply indebted to all my informants who selflessly gave their time for often unscheduled interviews.
Special gratitude to Edwin Chirchir who was of great assistance in co-ordinating and carrying out oral interviews in the field.
I acknowledge my colleagues in Murgusi High School for their moral support. I particularly want to thank Mr. Job Watima, Mrs. Tecla Kenny and Mrs. Lucy Barng’etuny for their support as my Principals in the period of study. Special gratitude goes to Mr. Watima for encouraging me to pursue this study at Kenyatta University. Special regards also goes to my classmates at
Kenyatta University for the great encouragement we always gave to one another.
This work also benefited greatly from staff members of various libraries. I would like to register my appreciation to the members of staff of Kenyatta University Library, University of Eldoret
Library, Moi University Library, Kenya National Libraries (Eldoret branch) and not forgetting
Kenya National Archives’ search room staff members for their invaluable assistance in this research.
My special regards also goes to my dear wife, Jabby Jeniter Wakhoyo for her moral support and more importantly for taking good care of our lovely daughter, Maliah Chebet.
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Last but not least, I am thankful to God for making it possible for me to undertake this study. All glory and honor goes to him.
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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
AFC - Agricultural Finance Corporation
ALDEV - African Land Development
D.C - District Commissioner.
E.M.S - Equator Saw Mill
ICRAF - International Centre for Research in Agroforestry
KFA - Kenya Farmers Association
KAR - Kings African Rifles
KCC - Kenya Co-operative Creameries
NCPB - National Cereals and Produce Board
O.I. - Oral Interview
SAPS - Structural Adjustments Policies
UCDB - Uasin Gishu Commodity Distribution Board.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION...... ii
DEDICATION...... iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ...... iv
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ...... vi
LIST OF TABLES ...... xi
LIST OF MAPS...... xii
LIST OF PHOTOGRAPHS ...... xiii
DEFINITION OF OPERATIONAL TERMS ...... xiv
ABSTRACT ...... xv
CHAPTER ONE ...... 1
1.1 Background of the study ...... 1
1.2 Statement of the problem ...... 3
1.3 Objectives of the study...... 3
1.4 Research questions ...... 4
1.5 Research premises ...... 4
1.6 Justification and significance of the study ...... 4
1.7 Scope and limitations of the study ...... 5
1.8 Study Locale ...... 6
1.9 Literature Review...... 6
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1.10 Theoretical framework ...... 13
1.11 Methodology ...... 17
1.111 Research design ...... 17
1.112 Target Population ...... 17
1.113 Sampling techniques ...... 18
1.114 Data collection and Research instruments ...... 18
1.115 Ethical Considerations ...... 20
1.116 Data Analysis...... 21
CHAPTER TWO ...... 22
THE KEIYO ORIGINS, MIGRATION AND PRE-COLONIAL ECONOMY ...... 22
2.1 Introduction ...... 22
2.2 Origin, Migration and settlement...... 22
2.3 Socio-Political Organization ...... 26
2.4 Keiyo’s Pre-colonial Economy 1800-1894 ...... 29
2.4.1 Pre-colonial Land Tenure ...... 29
2.4.2 Crop cultivation ...... 33
2.4.2.1 Soil Resource management...... 44
2.4.2.2 Organic manure application ...... 44
2.4.3 Animal Husbandry ...... 47
2.4.3.1 Pasture management ...... 53
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2.4.3.2 Controlled Access...... 54
2.4.4 Hunting and Gathering ...... 55
2.4.5 Agricultural Technology ...... 57
2.4.6 Conclusion ...... 60
CHAPTER THREE ...... 61
COLONIAL AGRICULTURAL CHANGE IN KEIYO (1894-1963)...... 61
3.1 INTRODUCTION ...... 61
3.2 The Establishment of Colonial Rule in Keiyo land ...... 61
3.3 Colonial Land policy in Keiyo ...... 66
3.4 Crop production ...... 71
3.5 Animal Husbandry ...... 80
3.6 Taxation and Labour Re-organization ...... 88
3.7 Changes in Agricultural exchange ...... 92
3.8 The War Years and its Implication on the Keiyo Economy ...... 96
3.9.1 African Land Development programme (ALDEV) 1944- 1946 ...... 103
3.9.2. The Swynnerton Plan of 1954...... 106
3.10 Summary ...... 110
CHAPTER FOUR ...... 111
KEIYO AGRICULTURE FROM 1963-1990 ...... 111
4.1 Introduction...... 111
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4.3 Crop Development in Post-Colonial Period ...... 112
4.4 Livestock Development ...... 119
4.5 Development of Co-operative Societies and Agricultural Credit Facilities ...... 122
4.6. Veterinary Services...... 125
4.7 Summary ...... 127
CHAPTER FIVE ...... 128
SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS...... 128
5.1 SUMMARY ...... 128
5.2 Recommendations ...... 133
REFERENCES ...... 134
PRIMARY SOURCES ...... 134
SECONDARY SOURCES ...... 136
APPENDIX I: Interview Guide ...... 140
APPENDIX II: Map of Study Area...... 142
Map 1: Map of Elgeyo Marakwet County Showing Divisions...... 142
Appendix III: Contour farm in Elgeyo...... 144
Appendix IV: List of Oral Sources ...... 145
Appendix V: NACOSTI Clearance Certificate ...... 148
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LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1: Crops grown in Elgeyoland in pre-colonial period...... 35
Table 2.2: Keiyo’s Agricultural calendar ...... 37
Table 2.3: Plant Species Used as Indicators of Soil Quality ...... 45
Table 2.4: Examples of Reserved Grazing and Browsing Areas...... 53
Table 2.5: Strategies used to achieve controlled access to Pasture resources ...... 55
Table 3.1: Elgeyo’s cattle count by 1922...... 82
Table 3.2: Results of Stock Census in Keiyo, 1936...... 84
Table 4.1: Maize yield in Keiyo land...... 115
Table 4.2: Population and cropping area, Keiyo and Marakwet areas ...... 117
Table 4.3: A.F.C Small Scale Loans ...... 124
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LIST OF MAPS
Map 1: Map of Elgeyo Marakwet County Showing Divisions...... 142
Map 2: Map of Kenya showing Elgeyo Marakwet County ...... 143
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LIST OF PHOTOGRAPHS
Photo 2.1: Thrashing of sorghum ...... 41
Photo 2.2: Winnowing of grains ...... 41
Photo 2.3: Stone grinding of grains...... 42
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DEFINITION OF OPERATIONAL TERMS
Agriculture: In this study it implies the cultivation of both food crops and cash crops and the keeping of livestock.
Articulation of modes of production: Refers to a process of interaction through which pre- capitalist modes of production are incorporated with the capitalist mode of production. The process leads to disruption or dissolution of ‘undesired’ elements while conserving ‘useful ones’
Dependency and underdevelopment: A condition and social process described by the neo-
Marxist school of thought which emphasizes that punitive external factors such as unequal relations in trade, taxation, are useful in explaining underdevelopment of the third world societies.
Mode of production: An economic foundation encompassing the interaction of the forces of production and their corresponding social relations of production.
Relations of production: Constitutes relations that producers enter with one another in the process of production. The relations can change or get changed in the mode of production.
Structural adjustment policies: Macro-economic policies intended for the development of the sub-Saharan Africa by donor agencies like IMF and World Bank. They constitute policies without whose implementation many Third World countries cannot receive any loans or grants from either multi-lateral or bilateral sources.
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ABSTRACT
This study focused on agricultural change among the Keiyo of Elgeyo-Marakwet County in the period between 1894- 1990. It examined the pre-colonial era in order to determine the Keiyo people’s knowledge about their agriculture and to help bring out the changes that came in with the advent of colonialism. The study examines how the capitalist economy established by British colonialism altered the pre-existing modes and relations of production in Keiyo. By analyzing the changes that transpired during the colonial and post colonial period, the research hoped to provide hints of solving the present challenges facing the economy of the Keiyo. The study intended to achieve a number of objectives , for instance; to give an account of the agricultural practices of the Keiyo prior to colonial rule, give an analysis of the agricultural changes that took place in Keiyo during the colonial period, identify and evaluate the responses of the Keiyo people to colonial agriculture and examine the relationship between the Keiyo’s indigenous pre- capitalist economy and the colonial capitalist economy and finally to provide an analysis of the agricultural changes from independence to 1990. Underdevelopment theory was utilized in the study to analyze the penetration of colonial capitalism in Keiyo’s pre-capitalist economic system. Articulation concept was applied to link the two modes of production in regards to the ownership of means of production such as land, labour and tools as well as technology. Qualitative research design was adopted. Being a historical study, purposive and snowball sampling techniques were used to sample the intended population/sample that was believed to posses the required information. The study utilized both primary and secondary data sources. Oral data was collected from informants in Elgeyo-Marakwet County whereas archival materials at the Kenya National Archives were also consulted. The findings will be of value to economic Historians in understanding trends, challenges and social economic impact of agricultural changes of the Keiyo in the period 1894-1990.
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CHAPTER ONE
1.1 Background of the study
The Keiyo (also known as Elgeyo) are an ethnic group that is part of the larger Kalenjin ethnic group of Nilotic origin. They live near Eldoret, in the highlands of Keiyo Sub-County. The name
Keiyo or Elgeyo has been used interchangeably to describe the Keiyo people. The latter name according to Massam (1968:22) is being disputed as a corruption of the former true name, which resulted from Uasin-Gishu Maasai who were neighbors of the Keiyo in the mid nineteenth century at the western side of Eldoret, being a word coined by them (Uasin Gishu Maasai) . The two terms; the Elgeyo and the Keiyo will be used interchangeably in this study although it should be born in mind that the genuine name of these people and their land is Keiyo. The Keiyo depend mainly on grains, milk and meat provided by their cattle, sheep, and goats for food.
According to Adamson (1973) the Keiyo are often described as cliff-dwellers because the hilly country forces them to cultivate their crops of maize, millet, beans and coffee on whatever ledge they can find. An irrigation system bringing water from a few mountain streams like Kimwarer makes the Elgeyo escarpment (in spite of its steepness) into one of the best watered areas of
Kenya. Keiyo people are under the obligation to maintain the ditches, and anybody failing to turn up for duty after three days’ notice, or not sending at least his sister, is fined one goat (ibid).
This evidently demonstrates a commitment on the part of the Keiyo on the activities that uplifted their livelihoods.
Africa is largely an agricultural continent. Over the years the practice of agriculture has been beset by many problems. In explaining this situation several factors have been put forward
1 including drought and increasing population. Central to this problem however lingers in the inherited colonial economic policies and practices that have affected agricultural production.
Indeed agricultural change has become a major concern for contemporary scholarship in Africa as Africa has been experiencing a state of agricultural crisis. The genesis of this crisis in Africa can be traced back to the colonial era and is therefore, a legacy inherited by the continent from the alien colonial regime (World Bank, 1983; Adedeji, 1985; Zeleza, 1986; Omwoyo, 1990).
Agricultural transformation of the African sector of the economy is a continuous process. Prior to colonial domination, agricultural transformation did occur in the African continent. This was as a result of environmental changes and population movements. Peoples’ mode of economic survival was transformed as they adapted themselves to the changing environment. African farmers for instance adapted to the climatic changes and conditions of their soils (Zeleza, 1986).
Hopkins (1973:35) argues that African indigenous economies went through major changes and therefore economic history of the period before colonialism is a process of innovation and not stagnation. Economic change therefore is the evolution of various economic activities undertaken by a people in a particular location during a given period of time. Some of the African economic activities that have undergone evolution include crop cultivation, animal husbandry, trade and hunting and gathering as well as craft and industry. This study examines the agricultural aspect of the economy with regards to the Elgeyo of Elgeyo-Marakwet County.
Ndege (1987), Ochieng’ and Maxon (1992) posit that African economies were dynamic during the pre-colonial period. These economies according to them were subjected to external forces and influences in the form of European colonial capitalism which changed the previously self- sustaining economies. In Elgeyo-Marakwet County and indeed in Kenya as a whole, the then existing resources became concentrated in the hands of a few individuals, particularly the
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Europeans settlers and colonial administrators. The articulation of Kenya’s pre-colonial modes of production with capitalism was accompanied, at times, by the use of force and what can be described as theft of indigenous productive resources by the alien forces brought in the wake of colonialism (Ndege, 1987; Ochieng and Maxon, 1992). The agricultural economy of the Keiyo was not an exemption.
1.2 Statement of the problem
Agriculture is the main stay of Kalenjin people’s economy. Production of sufficient and quality food therefore will continue to be crucial since the Kalenjin community depends on agricultural production to feed her growing population. This study addressed the Keiyo’s agriculture in the period c.1894 and 1990. The indigenous agricultural production methods and the changes brought by colonialism in the form of technology, introduction of fertilizers and land changes will be looked at. The study aims at examining the agricultural practices in Keiyo in the pre- colonial period, the agricultural transformations that occurred during the era of colonialism as well as post-colonial agricultural changes to 1990. These objectives therefore brought out the fundamental factors that led to those changes and assess the resultant impact on the Keiyo. It addressed the gap of knowledge on the development of Keiyo’s agriculture from 1894-1990.
1.3 Objectives of the study
This study sought to achieve the following objectives:
1. To investigate the agricultural practices in Keiyo in the pre-colonial period.
2. To examine agricultural change in Keiyoland during the colonial period.
3. To scrutinize the agricultural practices in Keiyo in the post independence era to 1990.
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1.4 Research questions
1. What were the agricultural practices in Keiyo in the pre-colonial period?
2. What changes did the colonial agriculture bring to the existing agricultural set up in
Keiyo?
3. Which agricultural changes occurred in post independence period to 1990?
1.5 Research premises
1. The Keiyo’s pre-colonial agriculture was diverse in nature and aimed at self sufficiency.
2. Colonialism modified and subordinated the Keiyo’s indigenous agricultural economy
3. Agricultural development accelerated between 1963 and 1990 owing to government
support to farmers through interventions like subsidies to farmers and ‘Kenyanization’ of
the highlands.
1.6 Justification and significance of the study
The study contributes to knowledge of the economic activities of the Keiyo people and also to an in-depth analysis of the impact of colonialism on economic organization of the Keiyo.
Furthermore, most studies that have been done on the Kalenjin, concentrate more on the larger sub-ethnic groups like the Kipsigis and the Nandi. Omwoyo (2000) and Tanui (2005) have dwelt much on the larger ethnic groups i.e. Kipsigis and the Nandi respectively. Little attention has been given to the smaller sub-ethnic groups like the Keiyo hence the need to research on them.
The study therefore will serve as a valuable source of reference to researchers and those seeking information about economic organization of the Keiyo. The study will be of value to economic
4 historians seeking answers about Keiyo people’s economy. Consequently, the study will make an important contribution to the growing literature on Kenyan economic history.
1.7 Scope and limitations of the study
The study is limited to the period between 1894 and 1990. The year 1894 is chosen as the starting point of this research as it is during this period that Kenya was declared a British protectorate. This provided a perfect setting under which the study of the Elgeyo pre-colonial economy may be undertaken. The research spans through a period of 68 years of colonial rule and three decades of post independence era as a basis of analyzing the direction taken by the
Elgeyo’s agriculture as it encountered and became articulated with the colonial and post colonial economy. The time scope provides enough literature of both colonial agricultural changes and post independence government initiatives on agricultural production.
The study ends at 1990. This is because the period after 1990 is seen as a different epoch as the
Structural Adjustment Policies (SAPS) began to influence Kenya’s agriculture in a different way.
Kenya was among the first nations to receive a Structural Adjustment loan from the World Bank, back in 1980 (Ann Crittenden 1980:1). However, during the 1980s, Kenya was notorious for its noncompliance on implementing SAPs even after agreeing to them and taking the associated loan money (Gurushri 1994). At the end of the decade, the government no longer controlled among other things, fertilizer prices and as well withdrew from its previous role in marketing of crops (ibid). The year 1990 therefore was viewed as appropriate time to end the study noting that from 1990 onwards the post colonial government started implanting SAPs demands as dictated by World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The period from 1990 onwards therefore would influence agriculture as farmers would not be able to access government
5 subsidies in the form of farm inputs and government veterinary services as a result of liberalization of the agricultural sector and government withdrawal from controlling agricultural prices through NCPB.
The Keiyo region of the Elgeyo-Marakwet County is a vast area and therefore this offered some limitation on the researcher in terms of coverage. The researcher however adopted the services of a research assistant in order to overcome this challenge. On language barrier, the researcher sought the services of research assistant who understood Keiyo’s language especially on deeper terminologies. However language barrier was not a big issue as the researcher understands a greater part of Keiyo’s language.
1.8 Study Locale
The study was carried out in Elgeyo-Marakwet County. As shown in the map the county borders the counties of West Pokot to the north, Baringo County to the east, southeast and south, Uasin
Gishu to the southwest and west, and Trans-nzoia to the northwest. It has a population of
369,998 with a total of 77,555 households and an annual growth rate of 2.8% according to the
2009 census. It occupies a total area of 3049.7km2 and has twenty wards. The Elgeyo country ranges in extremes of altitude between 3,500 feet at the lowest, in Kerio Valley, to 8,500 feet at the highest, at the top of Tambach escarpment. This study area is as shown in Appendix II.
1.9 Literature Review
The state of agricultural crisis in Africa has made the economic history of the continent a subject of great concern. Scholars from different disciplines have studied different aspects of the continent’s economy from the pre-colonial period to present, for instance, Allans (1977), Barker
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(1965), Bowles (1972) and Adedeji (1985). Much attention has been given to Kenya’s economic and agriculture too. The work that will be reviewed in this study will be in tandem with the set objectives and will revolve around the nature of pre-colonial agriculture, the colonial agricultural changes and after. Factors of production like labor and land in the pre-colonial and colonial period will be reviewed. Colonial policies like taxation and labor policies will also be looked at.
The study attempted to delineate the specific conditions unique to Elgeyo land.
As mentioned above, various scholars given above have investigated the economic history of
Africa. These scholars have been influenced by existing economic crisis in Africa and their works have focused on the root cause of the crisis. These studies focus on the entire continent.
Their assumption is that changes in agricultural economy were more or less uniform across the
African continent. Consequently, they have come up with holistic titles such as ‘The food Crisis and Agrarian change in Africa’ and ‘Economic Crisis in Africa’’ (Allan, 1965; Berry, 1984;
Adedeji, 1985). The aforementioned scholars have concentrated on issues crucial for interpreting and understanding economic development in Africa. Their conclusions are however most applicable at regional level and therefore cannot explain specificities of Africa (Hopkins, 1973;
Brett, 1979 and Cowen, 1982). This is so because agricultural changes are regional specific and therefore needs systematic local examination. The agricultural transformation of the Keiyo has to be looked at independently as the environmental conditions and factors that brought about changes might be different with various regions in Africa and Kenya in particular.
Tempany (1958), writing on agriculture as an aspect of African pre-colonial economy, put across that pre-colonial African agriculture was made up of backward form of shifting cultivation. He dismisses any form of change in the pre-colonial agricultural economy of Africa. Jones (1984) holds the same view that agriculture in Africa was traditional, static and showed very little
7 qualities of change. These writers believed that, in spite of the rapid evolution since then, traditional or indigenous agricultural systems of 1900 were comparable to those seen today.
Hopkins (1973:35) holds a different view. He postulates that various systems of agriculture existed in Africa and that pre-colonial agriculture exhibited innovativeness and not stagnation.
The study hoped to find out as to whether Keiyo’s agriculture had a form of change as experienced in other parts of Africa or if it was a static economy as asserted by Tempany (1958) and Jones (1984) with regards to African agricultural economies in general.
Zeleza (1986) posits that African land practices reflected the ability of African farmers to manipulate the environments’ capacity for regeneration. He goes on to say that African farmers adapted to the climatic variations and the conditions of their soils. He asserts that by the beginning of the nineteenth century, farmers in various parts of Africa had long learned how to manipulate and exploit their respective ecosystems, each of which demanded different forms of land management. This work, though dealing with Africa in general, will inform the study on a variety of risk aversion mechanisms employed in times of crisis by Africans in general. It is a point of concern to this study to establish system of risk aversion mechanisms employed in times of agricultural crisis brought about by poor climatic conditions, epidemics and other forms of disruptions in Elgeyo before the onset of colonialism.
Wickins (1981), writing on the pre-colonial economic systems in Africa points out that the economic unit was normally the family or homestead and that membership of a group (ethnic, community, clan, lineage and village) only conveyed the right to participate in the use of its ancestral land without giving permanent right to a specific area. Snell (1950) agrees with this. He argues that men with families to support or who had recently married cultivated additional land on an allotment basis. The elders selected the site for new land each year, sub-dividing them into
8 contiguous strips and allocating them to the householders. This works illustrates land systems and land use in Africa as a whole. The study therefore attempted to fill the gap on land system in
Elgeyo as well as how the changes in land system/ownership brought about by the colonial and post-colonial land policies affected the Keiyo’s economic production.
Great work on colonial capitalism and how it transformed African agriculture and economy has been done. A few examples include Rodney (1972), Leys (1975), Brett (1993), Njonjo (1981),
Maxon (1992) and Bowles (1972). All these works will be useful to the study by providing a general view on the impact of colonial capitalism on African agriculture as the writers have handled the topic from the angle of under-development and articulation of modes of production theories. Their explanation provided useful insights into the study and their conclusions which are acceptable at the national level, were also tested against the background of lower and smaller unit of study, in this case the Elgeyo agriculture.
According to Rodney (1972), the labor that worked the land in pre-colonial Africa was generally recruited on family basis. A single family or household would till its own plots and it would also be available to share certain joint farming activities with other members of the extended family or clan. Annual hunting and river fishing were also organized by a whole extended family or village community. This provided a pool of labour that made economic activities more efficient and increased output. This work was used in the research as collaborative work to provide insights on pre-existing labour systems in Africa prior to the introduction of western capitalism through colonialism and to show how the new capitalist labour system affected agricultural production in the African sector. It was very crucial in this research in analyzing the role played by colonialism in transforming labor systems in Africa.
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Bowles (1972) while applying the Under-development theory to indigenous agriculture in Kenya argues that Africa’s most productive agricultural land was taken away and handed over, through legislations, to large-scale settlers who were to provide crops for export. The indigenous people were dislodged from their land and their food cultivation suppressed in the alienated areas. They were oriented through their labour to work on export crop production on the plantations instead of food production at home, and as a result food production declined. Bowles analysis gives important insights like the impact of depriving the people factors of production the resultant effect on food production. It interests this study to look at the changes in food production in
Elgeyo-Marakwet County as it got integrated in the colonial and post colonial economy.
According to Maxon (1992), the colonial conquest of Kenya after 1895 not only established alien political domination, but also created conditions conducive to the penetration of western capitalism. According to him, the British colonial rule in Kenya altered the indigenous economic pattern and brought households into the world capitalist system. This had considerable impact on most African communities. He posits that capitalist penetration of the traditional economies greatly accelerated during this period. The imposition of colonial rule according to him ‘effected’ the articulation of indigenous modes of production and integration of African economies into the western capitalist system. Maxon’s work was of great significance to the study as it gave more light on how colonialism and capitalism impacted or changed the Elgeyo’s indigenous agricultural set up. It brought about important reflections of the relationship between pre- capitalists modes of production in the Elgeyo’s indigenous agricultural economy and the capitalists system introduced through colonialism.
Leys (1975), argues that by mid 1920’s, more than half of the able-bodied men in the two largest agricultural communities (Kikuyu and Luo), were estimated to be working for Europeans. He
10 continues to assert that within a space of a generation, they had effectively been converted from independent peasants producing cash crops for new markets, into peasants dependent on wage- labour. The result according to him was a spectacular distortion of their economic structure.
Leys’ work illuminates the changes and distortions brought into the traditional labour system during the colonial period in Kikuyuland and Luoland and how such changes affected their economy. It interests this study to look at the distortions in Keiyo’s labour system and how it impacted on their agriculture.
Brett (1993) observes that the economic underdevelopment of the Africans corresponded straightforwardly to the thriving progress of the European. He argues that external dominance and internal dependence created a situation which inevitably transformed the entire social fabric of the people whose countries are now underdeveloped. He argues that export-oriented economies had to be created, traditional social structures modified and existing political authorities made to accept their subordination to the foreign invader. He alludes that the contact with the west was essentially exploitative. This shows underdevelopment in its pure form, which requires proper analysis of colonial policies which were tilted towards favouring the settlers while exploiting the Africans and curtailing their effort to progress. Brett’s analysis however centres its elucidation of underdevelopment on the world system theory. His work gives a generalized view of economic development in colonial Kenya with no attention to particular communities. This study attempts to fill this gap by looking specifically at the Elgeyo’s agricultural development.
Omasaba (1997) examines economic change in Bunyore during the colonial period. She argues that colonial rule had a significant revolutionary impact on the pre-colonial economic systems of the Abanyole. The introduction of new crops, new farming methods, settler domination, new
11 land ownership system, taxation, the introduction of wage labour, western education, new crafts and industry and the growth of trade and commerce exposed the pre-colonial economy to strong external influences that led to modification and subordination of the Abanyole economy. Her study is quite enlightening and depicts peripheral role that African economies played during the colonial era. Though Omasaba’s work touches on various agricultural transformations in the colonial period, it only concentrates on the Abanyole and therefore this study aimed at filling the gap that exists on the part of the Keiyo. Omasaba’s work is however relevant to this study as it deals with same agricultural issues that this study looks at, though from a different geographical area as well as a different community.
Mwanzi (1977) discusses the history of the Kipsigis - a sub-ethnic group of the Kalenjin. He underscored the transformation of the Kipsigis and the evolution of various agricultural activities like pastoralism. He argues that the evolution of pastoralism among the Kipsigis was a steady process. A number of clans had goats and sheep before they traded them for cattle. These clans were those who inhibited the southern border of the country, close to southern Mau escarpment.
He argues that the spread of cattle was also facilitated by the Swahili traders who brought cattle from Maasai and other places to the Kipsigis country and traded them with ivory. This depicts an economic evolution or agricultural transformation as a result of contact with other communities.
He also argues that the Kipsigis raided their neighbours such as the Gusii for cattle. The following statement serves to illustrate this point:
The Kisii at Gasage and Kabianga had grown in numbers. Although both groups had once been together, the Kabianga Kipsigis became very jealous and started to steal the cows of Gasage Abarangi. (Mwanzi, 1977:164)
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It was this encounter that provided the source of cattle. The study examined the evolution of cattle keeping as an agricultural activity among the Elgeyo too. This work therefore provided a useful guide as regards to ways of acquiring cattle in the pre-colonial period.
Chebet and Dietz (2000), writing on the history of the Keiyo during the pre-colonial period noted that the Keiyo were pastoralists who also practiced crop production. The strength of this work is that it gives an African perspective of the history of the Keiyo people. Their work however is not specific on agriculture as this is mentioned in passing. This study intended to look at agricultural changes that were ushered in during the period 1894-1990 in detail. It interests this study to examine how Keiyo’s agricultural activities were transformed as they interacted with the colonial capitalist economy and post-colonial period. Their pieces of work acted as a complimentary to this study more so with regards to the Keiyo’s pre-colonial economy which this study hoped to use it as a base to bring out the changes that transpired during the colonial and post colonial era.
1.10 Theoretical framework
This study was guided by two theoretical frameworks that is, underdevelopment and articulation of modes of production. Underdevelopment theory arose as an attempt by various scholars to explain the cause of underdevelopment in Developing Countries including Africa. They came with this theory to counter the ideas of Modernization theory which glorified westernization as the only way that underdeveloped countries in Africa could attain development of greater magnitude. Underdevelopment is the concept that resources flow from a “periphery” of poor and underdeveloped states to a “core” of wealthy states, enriching the latter. It is a central contention of this theory that poor states are impoverished and rich ones enriched by the way poor states are integrated into the “World System”. Modernization theory which underdevelopment paradigm
13 was against held that all societies progress through similar stages of development. Consequently, today’s underdeveloped areas are thus in similar situation to that of today’s developed areas at some point in the past. The task of helping the underdeveloped areas out of poverty therefore according to Modernization is to accelerate them along this supposed common path of development. This is to be achieved by various means such as investment, technology transfers, and closer integration into the World market. Underdevelopment theory on the other hand rejected this view arguing that underdeveloped countries are not merely primitive versions of developed countries but have unique features and structures of their own; and, importantly, are in the situation of being the weaker members in a world market economy (Newschool, 2009).
Frank (1967), a proponent of Underdevelopment theory states that underdevelopment is a concept based on the global relation of economic domination and exploitation by the more economically powerful countries. As a result of the unequal distribution of power and resources, some countries have developed at a faster pace than others. He argues that we cannot formulate an adequate development policy for a majority of the world’s population without knowing how their past economic and social history influenced their current underdevelopment. He rejects the idea that underdevelopment stems from an individual country’s isolation from the larger world and due to the influence of more traditional societies. On the contrary, he believes that underdevelopment results from the unequal distribution of resources and the exploitation of the less developed countries through the so-called “Metropolis-Satellite relations” theory.
In the agricultural sector, underdevelopment theory holds that Africa has been made poor by unrealistic prices paid to her agricultural products as well as the absence of price stabilization facilities for her countries. Instead of African countries determining the prices of their own agricultural products, it is the developed countries which do this as they are the ones who control
14 the world markets. They also set the prices of the manufactured agricultural inputs like machinery and fertilizers which are required by Africa to maintain agricultural production. This exploitation leads to underdevelopment and dependency.
Amin Samir (1973), Brett (1973) and Leys (1975) hold the view that the roots of Africans underdevelopment began with the growth and expansion of merchant capital in the sixteenth century through European imperialism. They argue that the development of the metropole was achieved at the expense of the developing nations and that the process is traced in trading relation with the western world which created a system of center-periphery relation culminating in the domination, subordination and exploitation of the pre-capitalist social formation so much so that existing social, economic, political and cultural institution and relations were uprooted or replaced by alien capitalist structures designed to serve the center which was the case with the
Elgeyo economy. The underdevelopment theory will therefore be applicable in the analysis of
Elgeyo’s agricultural history to conceptualize the impact of colonial capitalism which eroded the means of production through alienation and impoverishing their economy. It was applied in the study to analyze the penetration of colonial capitalism into the Elgeyo’s pre-capitalist mode of production and the distortions it brought to the once viable economic set up.
The theory above however has inherent weaknesses. For instance, it over-emphasizes external forces such as colonialism, imperialism and international terms of trade as the sole cause of poverty and economic stagnation in the periphery and overlooks the internal factors which are instrumental in facilitating surplus transfer to the metropole. Baran (1967), for instance, argued that underdevelopment in the periphery is caused by the transfer of economic surplus from these societies (periphery) to the industrialized world.
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In the weakness of the above theory, Articulation of Modes of Production as a paradigm was utilized in a complimentary manner. Mode of production is the way a society is organized to produce goods and services. It consists of the forces of production and the relations of production. The articulation of modes of production theory was born out of the marriage of
Structural Marxism and Political economy, through the interpretation and use of mode of production and social formation concepts (Roseberry 1988; Ortner 1984). According to this theory, different economic systems connect with each other in a way that both are affected (Wilk and Cliggett, 2007). It argues that, in spite of the predominance of the capitalist mode of production, there existed some elements of the non-capitalist modes of production in the peripheral societies which have continued to be reproduced to date. Meillassoux (1974) in his research in West Africa demonstrated that the arrival of capitalism did not completely transform all previous social and economic systems. Instead he proposed that colonial capitalism was dependent on exploitation of pre-capitalist modes of production, thereby, preserving them. The main argument of this perspective is that, when the capitalist mode of production is introduced in a pre-capitalist social formation, it does not immediately and automatically displace the existing modes of production. Instead, capitalism gradually align with the non-capitalist mode of production and use them to its own advantage. The articulation of modes of production paradigm was relevant to the study in explaining the existence of pre-capitalists modes of production that continued to be seen in Keiyo in spite of the introduction of capitalism. It also provided an avenue to the understanding on the way in which capitalism preserves and exploits the preceding modes of production. In this perspective, the agricultural transformation of the Elgeyo is seen and characterized as a process during which the dominance of the capitalist mode of production
16 did not bring automatic demolition of the old mode of production but instead, the old system of production was articulated to bring more benefits to the Metropole.
1.11 Methodology
Introduction
This section highlights methodological details which the study utilized as discussed below.
1.111 Research design
The study was qualitative in nature and the study employed qualitative design to provide the chronology of the changes in agricultural practices among the Keiyo of Elgeyo-Marakwet
County. The choice of this design was influenced by a number of reasons; key among them is that it allows the researcher to gather information on the actual state at the time of study. It allows the researcher to gather information from a larger number of respondents. Besides, it provides a practical framework for collecting large sample of data from groups. More importantly, it permits the investigation of topics that can be studied in no other way.
1.112 Target Population
In the study, the targeted population included clan elders, former chiefs, former military men who worked in the Kings African Rifles (K.A.R) as well as in the colonial police and the members of the community in general within Elgeyo-Marakwet County. Various factors were considered in choosing the the informants but the most important consideration was age.
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1.113 Sampling techniques
A number of sampling techniques were employed in this study. This was however done in such a way that the individuals selected represented the larger group from which they were selected.
Some of the sampling techniques employed include: purposive sample technique that was employed where a group of people to be sampled were selected based on their knowledge and professional judgement on the issues related to the study.
Stratified random sampling was also employed. This is where population was divided into different groups or strata then the final subject was randomly selected proportionally from different strata. This ensured that an appropriate sample from various sub-groups was selected.
Besides this, there was use of snowball sampling where the current respondent referred the researcher to other respondents who meet the criterion of the researcher. This was useful in identifying more respondents especially those with relevant information on agricultural changes among the Keiyo.
1.114 Data collection and Research instruments
A variety of methods of data collection was employed.The study employed two main data collection tools: questionnaire and interview. Questionnaire for instance was systematically prepared with asset of questions deliberately designed to elicit response from respondents during data collection exercise. In this case, the questionnaires were both structured (closed) and unstructured (open ended). Its adoption provided a number of advantages since the the researcher was able to capture a larger number of potential respondents. It could also be answered at the convenience of the respondents and picked at a later time.
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Interviews on the other hand were done through face to face converstion with the respondent. It was important in the research topic since through it, the research was able to generate information that was considered useful to the study area. Furthermore, it facilitated collection of information from the illiterate people such as the old elders.
Both primary and secondary sources of data collection were used to achieve the stated objectives. The primary sources included oral and archival information. An oral interview schedule was organized to collect information from the informants on various aspects of the study. A Research Question Guideline was used to elicit information from the respondents because it was fluid enough to accommodate issues that emerged during the interviews.
Questions focusing on Keiyo’s agriculture and environmental interaction in pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial periods were administered to respondents selected from different locations within the county. A sample interview guide and a list of informants appear as appendix I and appendix IV respectively.
Individual and group interviews were carried out depending on the situation in the field.
Individual interviews were carried out especially in circumstances where it was not easy to come by two or more respondents. On the other hand, group interviews proved worthwhile in providing consensual accounts of agricultural activities and changes. The risk with this though, was that some respondents tried to outshine the rest in the group or some decided to give information which did not reveal the actual account of events. In such instances, the information derived from individual and group interviews was compared and analyzed to arrive at certain conclusion in the interest of the study.
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Moreover, it should be noted that arguments between respondents were not always time wasting or insignificant. Frequently, through such arguments, some issues were clarified and new insights derived. In this case, history as a social science, more often relies on qualitative analysis in addition to some statistical information which only helps historical researchers to draw some conclusions. Therefore the qualitative contribution of every respondent has strength of its own dimension.
The oral information gathered from the interviews covered the whole period of study, but proved more valuable for the pre-colonial and early colonial period. As for the better part of the colonial period, archival records from the Kenya National Archives proved useful. These included annual reports, quarterly reports and records of departments such as Agriculture, Labour and Lands. To check on prejudices and biases from these sources, the information gathered was collaborated with findings from oral research.
Secondary sources in the form of books, theses and dissertation papers presented in seminars and conferences were also reviewed to give an idea of the nature and extent of the work already done in the field of economic history in Kenya. Subsequently they were analyzed and integrated with archival and oral information to provide reliable, relevant and accurate information for the writing of the research findings.
1.115 Ethical Considerations
All research studies present a number of ethical and moral considerations which must be identified and addressed prior to the actual research study in order to protect all the participants from all potential harm. In the view of this, a number of measures were taken to ensure effective data management and ethical considerations.
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First, clearance letter was obtained from the University and National Commission for Science
Technology and Innovation (NACOSTI). Secondly, the respondents were informed of their rights and assured confidentiality of their information. This enabled the respondents to participate freely in the data collection process. Indeed those who participated, their inclusion in the research process was done through informed consent. In addition to this, the research acknowledged all literature reviewed on the study to avoid cases of plagiarism.
1.116 Data Analysis.
After gathering the information from the various sources already discussed, all data was subjected to qualitative approach to analyse the research findings.The recorded data was transcribed and that which was in vernacular translated to English. All data obtained from various sources was categorized according to the sources and analysed in respect to research objectives. The data was edited for accuracy, completeness and uniformity. The ones with major response errors were discarded. Secondary data was scrutinized and compared with primary data to test on their reliability, uniformity and adequacy. Afterwards the data was interpreted to support or refute the research premises of the study.
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CHAPTER TWO
THE KEIYO ORIGINS, MIGRATION AND PRE-COLONIAL ECONOMY
2.1 Introduction
This chapter examines the migration, settlement and the pre-colonial economy of the Keiyo.
Specifically, it undertakes to survey the various agricultural practices of the Keiyo in the pre- colonial period. This entails a closer examination of land as a factor of production as well as the various economic practices that were evolved by the Keiyo in the period under review. These include crop production, animal husbandry, division of labor, crafts and industry as well as hunting and gathering. In addition, ways of disposing of any surplus derived from these activities and the resultant socio-economic differentiation are analyzed.
2.2 Origin, Migration and settlement.
After settling and constituting themselves into a complex social unit, the Keiyo began to harness the natural endowments of their environment. This is essential because human societies are not static but naturally dynamic. This dynamism is brought about as a result of the complex interaction between human activities and the environment (Zeleza, 1993).
According to archaeological evidence, the earliest inhabitants of Kenya were hunter and gatherer communities. This group was later joined by the pastoral communities whom linguists associate with the southern Cushitic people. Later the Bantu and Nilotes followed suit and infiltrated the country at the beginning of the Christian era (Ochieng, 1975:1-19, Ehret, 1968:166, Mwanzi,
1977:22). The Keiyo belong to the Kalenjin ethnic group. Other Kalenjin groups are the Nandi
(Chemwal), Kipsigis (Lumbwa), Marakwet, Pokot (Suk), Sabaot, Tugen (Kamasia), Terik
22
(Nyang’ori) and Elgeyo (Keiyo). The use of the term Kalenjin for people speaking these related languages is a recent phenomenon of mutual self-identification. According to Kipkorir
(1978:72), the origin of the term Kalenjin which means “I tell u”, can be traced to the Second
World War. The term is derived from the word Kale or Kalenjin which is a word used to start a conversion by all the Kalenjin people. It is used to catch attention of the recipient person before a conversation begins. If one is addressing one person, then he will start the conversation with the word Kalenjin to catch his or her attention. It means ‘‘I am telling you’’. If addressing a general or more than one audience then one will start the conversation by using the word Kale which when loosely translated means “I tell u” (ibid). Before the war and for a good while after it, all the Keiyo, Marakwet, Kipsigis and other highland Nilotes in Kenya had been designated and referred to as the “Nandi-speaking people” by the colonial admnistrators ( Ochieng, 1985:19). It was often irritating for someone who was not a Nandi to be described as one and this irritation was even felt more by the educated young men and soldiers of the Second World War. This led to greater efforts by the Kalenjin elite including Chemalan who was a vernacular broadcaster in the 1940s to find a common term to refer to these people with common linguistic and cultural heritage. The term Kalenjin therefore came into existence (Kipkorir, 1978).
The name Keiyo has been used to describe the collection of central Kalenjin communities inhabiting parts of the Eastern Uasin Gishu Plateau, the Elgeyo Escarpment and Tambach
(Distefano 1985: 148). They were pejoratively referred to by Massam (1968) as “Cliff Dwellers of Kenya.” The origin of the term Keiyo itself is not fully understood. Informants gave various meanings to the term. One school of thought argues that, the name Keiyo was given to this group by Nandi women specifically women who were able to conceive only when they migrated to
Keiyo land. Hence they referred to Keiyo land as the place of the Kip-Keiiyo (a place where one
23 goes to give birth) (Saniako O.I. February 6, 2016). A second school of thought contends that, the people we now know as Keiyo were a self-centered people living singly on the escarpment.
As a result, their neighbours the Tugen and the Nandi referred to them as the Kip-Keiiya
(singular) or Kipkeinik (plural) meaning solitary people. In the course of time, the above references were corrupted to read Keiyo (Luka Cherotich, O.I. February 6, 2016). Finally,
Massam (1968) has argued that, the term Keiyo is of Maasai origin. The Maasai who during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries inhabited the Uasin-Gishu plateau termed the inhabitants of
Kerio Valley floor as the “II-Keyu” meaning people from Keiyo. This was later corrupted by the
Swahili traders to read Elgeyo (Massam 1968:21). For the purpose of this study, the name Keiyo rather than Elgeyo is adopted. This is not only aimed at consistency but also as an attempt to adhere to the current usage by the local people.
The Keiyo people migrated alongside other Kalenjin communities from Mt. Elgon (Tulwop
Kony). According to Chebet and Dietz (2000), the Keiyo tradition has it that, the Nandi, Kipsigis,
Keiyo, Tugen (Kamasia) and Kony or Sebei trace their ancestry to one forefather called Kole who settled around Tulwop Kony (Mt.Elgon). Huntingford (1950) asserts that Mt. Elgon seems to have been the point from which the early “Nandi-speakers” (Kalenjin) broke up and spread out as separate communities. Majority of the Keiyo trace their origin to this area. The migration of the Kalenjin from this region to the east was probably caused by the expansion of the Bantu north-eastwards to the foothills of Mt.Elgon. Ochieng (1975) points out that the Pokot appear to have been the first to break away. At a later date, the ancestors of the Endo, Tugen and
Marakwet also left this dispersal point. Later a major group moved southwards and established themselves at a place called Tto near Baringo. This became the ancestors of the Kipsigis, Nandi and Keiyo (ibid).
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Ochardson (1971) argues that Tto is the land situated probably to the north of present Tugen and
Keiyo country and not far from Lake Camos (Baringo). From Tto, the Nandi and Kipsigis migrated southwards probably due to drought and resulting famine leaving behind a group who evolved into Keiyo. Kipkorir (1978) asserts that the Keiyo and Marakwet are made up of remnant groups which were fleeing from various calamities. This seems to coincide with
Ochardson argument that the Keiyo were left behind in Tto by Nandi and Kipsigis fleeing from drought and famine. The Keiyo settled in Kerio Valley and the hills around it as well as the highlands above the escarpment. Like the Tugen, the Keiyo chose well sheltered terrain on the escarpment ledge which extends from Tambach to Metkei. Above the Keiyo were the Kipwop
Maasai who inhabited the highland plateau. Oral tradition among the Keiyo states that, the
Maasai named them the “i`lkeiyu or il-Kerio” meaning those who lived along the Kerio valley,
(Arap Cheptoo Kuriang, Murey Keter, Luka Cherotich, O.I. February 6, 2016). The valley and the hills were places of safety and sources of food to them. The numerous streams from the
Cherang’any Hills and the Elgeyo Escarpment constituted a reliable source of water for irrigation
(Ibid).
Further migration while inside the valley floor or escarpment ledge depended largely on the fortunes of the individual member or families. A determining factor was how they adjusted economically to the new environment. The physiographical state of the Elgeyo Escarpment determined not only the course of clan settlement but also their mode of subsistence. The various ecological zones of Soin, Korget and Mosop fitted well with Keiyo hunting and herding activities. Most people had small settlements (hamlets) within the Mosop and Korget zone, which was cool and easy to defend against cattle raiders and wild animals.
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In the case of migration, the Keiyo moved with their cattle. Scouts (Segeik) were normally sent ahead before migrations to survey the land and ensure the way was clear. The scouts would light fires at night on hills to notify the people that they have found habitable land. The Keiyo lived peacefully until 1850 when Uasin Gishu Maasai were defeated by the Maasai from the south.
The defeat exposed the Keiyo to raids by the Nandi from the west, Karamojong from the north and Tugen from the east. Cattle raiding between the Keiyo and other groups, particularly the
Tugen, Nandi and Maasai led to cultural exchanges. Women captured in raids were married to warriors. Once married, a woman and her children belonged to the husband’s clan. Therefore, it can be argued that, those who could not afford the bride price obtained wives through cattle raiding. Maasai women married among the Keiyo are said to have introduced the practice of mixing burned herbs with sour milk to curdle into Mursik. Besides, during drought, refugees from Masaai land were accepted. Few returned to their homes while the rest were absorbed
(Tomno Arap Maina, Saniako Misoi Yego, Maindi arap Ruto, O.I. February 6, 2016). There was thus lending and borrowing of concepts, values and behaviour just as much as there was evidence of war and social conflicts. Peaceful co-existence was only disrupted by the desire to acquire cattle through raiding from one another. Due to famine, most Keiyo migrated across the escarpment westwards to Nandi and those who did not return were assimilated into Nandi society
(Chesang, 1973: xi). Thus, the famine factor seems to have accelerated close contact between the
Keiyo and their neighbors.
2.3 Socio-Political Organization
The Keiyo had several levels of socio-political organization. These were; the traditions of clans
(Oret), village (Kokwet), age-sets (ibinda) and territorial divisions (pororiosiek). In essence, the political life among pre-colonial Keiyo was centred on family, lineage, clan and age-group. It
26 consisted of a man, his wife or wives, their children and other relatives. This had its effects on marriages, initiation ceremonies and land ownership. Keiyo country had sixteen territorial divisions in line with the sixteen clans. Each division included the portion of the valley bottom land and the escarpment. These divisions were unified by both the clan and the age-set system which bridged them. The sixteen clans under which the territorial units were considered are the
Talai,Terik,Tungo,Toiyoi,Targok,Kimoi,Kong’ato,Kabon,Kobilo,Soti,Soniak,Siokwei,Sokome,Ku re,Mokio and Mokich( Arap Cheptoo Kuriang O.I. February 13, 2016, Luka Cherotich O.I.
February 6, 2016)
The Kokwet was made up of a group of homesteads in a particular geographical area. The society was egalitarian. They had neither chiefs nor rulers in the western sense of the word. Matters involving disputes and social welfare were referred to the informal council of elders, Kokwet.
The Kokwet council was headed by a senior elder (boiyobkok). The criteria for leadership were character, ability and wealth. Above the Kokwet was the Pororiet council. The Kokwet was made up of different clans brought together by proximity to each other. Meetings were held under a tree and it was here that elders deliberated on matters affecting the community. The Kokwet made judgemnet on various issues such as land disputes, theft, marriage, divorce and witchcraft.
It was an institution which solved disputes and any matter which required more counsel or judgment was brought to it. It was the equivalent of the judiciary of today. At Kok, judgement was made according to the objective evidence and precedent (Ibid).
Age-set (ibinda) was another organization for all male Keiyo. Every Keiyo belonged to an age- set. Membership to an age-set was fixed at the time of initiation/circumcision and there were eight such age-sets among the Keiyo. These were Kipkoimet, Kaplelach, Kimnyige, Nyongi,
Maina, Chuma, Sawe and Korongoro (Luka Cherotich O.I. February 6, 2016, Maindi Arap Ruto
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O.I. February 6, 2016). Each age-set undertook the duties of the age-set immediately senior to it following the performance of a special ceremony called sagetab eito where a bull is slaughtered.
This ceremony corresponds to sagetab-eito of the Nandi. To the Keiyo, the institution of age-set is as old as initiation. Each time an initiation ceremony is done, the participants are given an age- set name as mentioned above. The purpose of the age-sets is to divide the people into grades according to age. A newly initiated age-set will form a warrior class responsible for defending the community and carrying out raiding activities decided by the elders. After circumcision and the handing over of military duties to the new age set (initiates), the retiring warriors acquired elder’s status. All these were done through the ceremony of sagetab eito. The retiring warriors have a right to participate in judicial and administrative duties of the community (Ibid).
A number of villages (kokwotinwek) formed a political division called Pororiet. The Pororiet
Council was composed of members of several clans, separated from each other by streams or hills and connected together by a common desire to protect themselves from outside attacks. The ever present threat of outside attack from the Tugen, Nandi and Kipwop Maasai was a natural unifying factor (Chebet and Dietz: 129). To do this effectively, each of the various Kokwotinwek
(Plural for Kokwet) had its head Kiptayat (a kind of messenger), whose responsibility was to summon the various Kokwet elders to attend a Pororiet council. The council deliberated on issues like cattle raiding, disputes pertaining to pastures and salt-licks, warfare, time of initiation ceremonies, the menace of wild animals and on any other calamity in the society such as strange diseases, drought and the appeasement for Chebo Kipkoiyo (name of God). A ritual leader
(Kibarbarindet) was always consulted for advice. The socio-political institutions in Keiyo therefore were an integral part of the society and encompassed their economic life in general and their agricultural undertakings in particular. The age-set system, for instance, defined various
28 agricultural roles to various groupings of people. Gender, age and seniority defined the roles rights and responsibilities within the household and in the wider Keiyo society. Both the Pororiet and Kokwet Councils of elders also played a key role in agriculture through their deliberations on which areas of land would be set aside for cultivation and those to be left as pasture land
(Sergon/kaptich). In addition, they also settled agricultural disputes such as those related to saltlick areas, animal watering points and any other communal disputes more so on shared resources.
2.4 Keiyo’s Pre-colonial Economy 1800-1894
2.4.1 Pre-colonial Land Tenure
The Keiyo had no concept of private ownership of land. The essential ingredients of land tenure during the pre-colonial times were that individuals could not own land as such. Land was communally occupied, held and used. The family or individuals held rights in a particular strip of land in a joint family or clan holding. He was entitled to use the land as long as he lived, and to bequeath it. If the holder died without heirs, then the land reverted to his relatives who could apportion it in a particular manner (Kipkorir, 1978:28, Chumbi Kiplamai O.I. December 20,
2015, Maindi arap Ruto, O.I. February 6, 2016).
Walter (1976) while studying about the Sebei, a sub-ethnic group of the Kalenjin, noted that the basic principle in the indigenous Sebei law is that natural products (grass, water, salt for cattle, wild plants and animals, for example) are communal property and not subject to private control.
When human effort has been expended to make such products useful (dislodging salt, trapping an animal, digging a well), then that product is the private right of the person who expended the
29 effort. This principle seems to apply too among the Keiyo especially on land as a natural resource. As Chesang (1973) put it:
…the concept of ownership of land is based on the belief that a man's labour power has been involved in the act of claiming a piece of virgin land. For instance the act of burning a virgin bush, marking the boundary of a shamba, or the act of fixing boundary stones (oiywek) around a portion of the burned virgin land. Land as an economic factor was considered conditional rather than basic like the human labour that has been involved. It is the notion that someone's hands have passed over a piece of land ("kakobun eutab chi") that ownership was recognized. What comes out in the appraisal is that land was not a basic economic problem in the sense that there was no scarcity of land. (Chesang 1973)
There was, of course order in the acquisition of land. As noted, land was not owned by individuals but by the clan. Elders from particular clans could sit together and map out strategies pertaining to land and they apportioned it to all members of the clan, which in turn allocated pieces for use by families who fell under their jurisdiction (Chebet and Dietz:102).
Land tenure and management differed from one ecological zone to another. The zones in the valley were occupied according to severity of the climatic conditions. For instance, areas in
Mosop and Korgeet were used as residential areas after having been demarcated by elders using stones as beacons. Stones for this purpose were thrown at random without looking at the direction and were fixed on the ground where the stone landed, marking a permanent boundary.
The demarcations enabled various clans to settle in particular localities. The lower part of the valley, Soin and Endo was reserved for grazing, hunting and was occasionally used as a battle ground between the Tugen and the Keiyo, mainly because land here was not fit for human settlement due to presence of mosquitoes and tsetse flies. Historically, pre-colonial Keiyo
30 practiced communal ownership as it was unnecessary for individuals to lay definite claims on portions of land used by the ethnic group (ibid).
Land was divided into various uses depending on topography and vegetation. There was grazing land (Sergon/kaptich), domestic settlement land, land for cultivation and woodland for activities such as hunting and gathering as well as bee-keeping or even forest harvesting. Hunting, gathering, and fishing activities were undertaken collectively, and thus the land rights were enjoyed collectively and equally. Land was apportioned according to the needs of the society, to provide for sacred places of worship; Kapkoros, public shrines; and for forests where Yaganek, wild fruits and roots were gathered from by the community members during famine caused by prolonged droughts. Great care was taken to conserve the natural habitat and environment in general, so that water catchment areas were not cleared for human activity.These areas referred to as kipkutune beek in the local dialect were left with grass cover and a certain type of vegetation called silibjet was planted to prevent exposure of the water source to direct sunlight.
Elders would always give a decree to the community to always preserve them.
The kokwet elders were in charge of the allocation of land to the households. It was the elders’ responsibility to carry out feasibility studies regarding the clearing of land for use in the next season. The only portions of land for which the right to use was exercised were agricultural and domestic settlement lands. These were held on a family basis (Chemweno Kaplochini, O.I.
December 20, 2015, Bartocho Arap Maindi, O.I. December 20, 2015, Maindi arap Ruto, O.I.
February 6, 2016). Where land was communally held, there were a number of portions or points.
These included livestock resting points and salt-lick points as well as common source of water like streams. The woodland belonged to the whole clan unit. In the valley, where other natural food resources were found, communal ownership ensured that members of the clan are not
31 restricted in their search for such resources for sustenance. This included areas where flying ants were found (Arap Kiplel Kipsambu, O.I. December 20, 2015, Saniako Misoi Yego, O.I.
February 6, 2016).
Each man in the higher parts of Elgeyo, for instance in Chepkorio and Kaptarakwa, owned a number of plots for cultivation inherited from his father. Each year, he would decide how many of these he would cultivate. It usually happens that a plot is cultivated every sixth year following a regular fallow system. In the valley, where a different system of agriculture prevailed, the elders called a meeting (kokwo) before planting time to decide what communal area is to be planted. Following the meeting, different plots were marked out and allocated in the chosen locality. If any man had any reason to feel dissatisfied with piece allotted to him, he was free to take up new land on the edge of the field (Massam, 1968:112, Kimoi Kapchebon, O.I. December
20, 2015). Land never became an individual property. It was the property of the community. But so long as a man kept a piece of land in cultivation, he had the right to use it. As soon as he left it to revert to bush or grass, it became communal property again and anyone could be allotted to cultivate it by the kokwet elders (Kimoi Kapchebon, O.I. December 20, 2015, Maindi Arap Ruto,
O.I. February 6, 2016). In the pre-colonial period therefore, no man was landless among the
Keiyo, since each man belonged to a certain clan, and it was the responsibility of the clan elders to apportion land to each member.
Pasture land was communally owned. This ensured that every member of the community had access to this resource. Elders in each kokwet determined where to graze their cattle. There were different grazing fields depending on the proximity to the homesteads. The grazing land within the kokwet was known as limo. This was an area within the compound where cattle grazed as they awaited to be milked. There were also pastureland away from the homestead known as
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Sergon or kaptich. Cattle belonging to several villages (kokwotinwek) could meet in kaptich under the watch of warriors (Maindi arap Ruto, O.I. February 6, 2016).There also existed a small vegetable garden (Kapingut) near the homestead. This was the property of the women. Here they planted vegetables such as sagek and sochek both for the home and exchange in the local market.
Calabash from which gourds and other vessels to hold liquids were made were also grown here
(Grace Cherop, O.I. February 13, 2016).
2.4.2 Crop cultivation
Crop cultivation among the Keiyo was determined by the physical environment. The Keiyo had three traditional ecological zones i.e. Mosop (highland), Korget/Kamas (intermediate zones) and
Soi/Soin/Soy (lowland). Mosop, according to informants interviewed referred to areas with relatively high altitudes and high rainfall (Saniako O.I. February 6, 2016, Kangogo Komen, O.I.
February 6, 2016, Luka Cherotich, O.I. February 6, 2016). These areas include Chepkorio,
Nyaru, Metkei, Kaptarakwa, Kapkenda and Kaptagat among others. The zone is good for agricultural practices such as farming. Soi/Soy (lowland) on the other hand refers to a traditional ecological zone characterized by high temperatures and low altitudes. Its rainfall is also relatively low. Tarus (1994) argues that due to the prevalence of mosquitoes and a hot climate, none lived in Soin zone. Most Keiyo had settlements within the Mosop zone which was cool and easy to defend against cattle raiders and wild animals. Soin as an ecological zone was found in the lower parts of the valley like Turesia, Emsea, Muskut, Rokocho and Cheptebo among others.
A locality in the valley bearing the name Soy still exists to date.This region is suitable for crops and livestock which tolerate high temperatures. They include the traditional millet psongik and mosongik. Korget on the other hand refers to a traditional ecological zone whose conditions are relatively moderate (midlands), falling between those of Mosop and Soin/Soi. Wellington (1964)
33 states that the Keiyo utilized the varied micro-environments offered by their hilly habitat to raise cattle, sheep and goats and to grow some crops, traditionally millet and some sorghum. The highland (Mosop) was according to him given much to crops than the lowland (Soy) and intermediate (Emkwen/Kamas) zones.
The aim of Keiyo’s agriculture were manifold. Apart from providing households with sufficient quantity of solid food it also formed a reserve in terms of grains (eleusine) for giving food and beer to one’s guests during ceremonial occasions as well as providing grain for trading purposes.
Scholars like Maxon (1989) have argued quite rightly that, agriculture holds a place of central importance in Kenyan history. Food production has radically transformed man’s lifestyle. It goes without saying that agriculture has been and still is the main means of sustenance and social security of the households of many Kenyan communities. Specifically in the pre-colonial period, land for cultivation was abundant. This was especially so for the Keiyo as they cultivated only certain patches leaving the rest for grazing. Initially, they used digging sticks until the emergence of iron-workers, Kitongik, who supplied the Keiyo with farming tools such as the hoe; mboket and sickle;ringet. This increased their ability to clear land holdings. The result was that a number of clans acquired land rights running from the highland plateau down the escarpment into the
Kerio Valley (Luka Cherotich, O.I. February 6, 2016). Such strips of land were often demarcated by a row of stones or by a certain type of vegetation. As cultivation of crops gained importance, individual families started cultivating millet and sorghum in certain areas of communally owned clan lands especially in the highlands, while areas in the valley floor, less suitable for cultivation, were left for communal grazing. This way, the traditional form of land ownership gradually disappeared starting in the highland plateau, a process that was completed by colonial policies.
34
Tarus (1994) states that by the nineteenth century, the Keiyo had become agro-pastoralists who practiced crop cultivation in addition to livestock keeping. Over the years, the traditional crops of the Keiyo have been millet and sorghum. At harvest, all the grains were stored but the store of the household head (Motiet) was not to be opened or the stored produce to be used without his consent (Saniako Misoi Yego, O.I. February 6, 2016). Motiet was only opened during a period of food crisis or when the ‘mother’ store had been exhausted. It was a requirement that all household heads have their motiet, as a security in times of drought and those who used their reserves carelessly were publicly condemned during community’s gatherings by elders and were unlikely to get assistance from close friends and relatives (ibid). Apart from the above mentioned crops, the Keiyo also cultivated other crops such as cassava and sweet potatoes (Philip Chumo,
O.I. December 20 ,2015). Table 2.1 shows some of the crops commonly cultivated by the Elgeyo people.
Table 2.1: Crops grown in Elgeyoland in pre-colonial period.
Keiyo Name English Name Botanical Name
Kipsongik Millet Eleusine coracana
Mosongik Sorghum Sorghum bicolor
Mogek Cassava Manihot esculens
Robwonik Sweet potatoes Ipomea batatus
Source for the Keiyo and translated English names: (Chumo, O.I. December 20, 2015, Saniako,
O.I. February 6, 2016)
Agriculture was practiced on suitable parts of the escarpment normally decided by the kokwet elders. Where the slope was steep, the loose stones from the surface were raised into some kinds of walls which acted as terraces. The major growing season started between March and April and
35 ended between August and September. This was the period of long rains. The farmers in the valley also grew crops in the periods of the short rains in November and December. The rain water was supplemented by irrigation from Kerio and Endo rivers and therefore this extended the growing season. This was majorly done in certain parts where water is available, as in Mutei
(Huntingford, 1953:72). The unreliability of rain in these valley areas called for additional methods of obtaining water for crops. In these areas, an organized irrigation system was done whereby maintenance of furrows was made a communal issue and those who failed to appear for communal labour after receiving three days’ notice were fined a goat by the kokwet (Ibid,
Adamson, 1973).
Zeleza (1986) argues that intercropping was the heart of African agriculture. This agricultural practice seems to have also taken root among the Keiyo people. Millet was intercropped with sorghum and vegetables too could be grown with millet and sorghum in the kapingut (vegetable garden). Other agricultural practices also existed. This included pure stand cropping where, for instance, the eleusine millet could be grown alone. Intercropping however had more advantages.
It ensured adequate food security and self-reliance as well as maximizing labour which was scarce (Chemoiywo Sitienei, O.I. December 20, 2015, Luka Cherotich, O.I. February 6, 2016)
The Keiyo demonstrated a good mastery of the seasons of the year. Their agricultural calendar is worth mentioning as this enabled the community to monitor the seasons and plan accordingly.
Each month was associated with a given agricultural activity ranging from land preparation in terms of clearing the land, fencing, digging, and final gathering of rubbish to sowing, weeding, harvesting and storage. The mastery of the seasons was therefore crucial for the success of agriculture. The year was divided into twelve equal parts as indicated in Table 2.2
36
Table 2.2: Keiyo’s Agricultural calendar
Month in Keiyo Meaning Agricultural Activity
Ngatiato - Digging/Land preparation
Kiptamo - Belso(drying the turf in the sun
and burning)
Iwot kut Wet season Planting season(Koolet)/ Keleta
Keswek
Iwot Wet 1st weeding(Kibuch)
Mamut Five 2nd weeding
Kiplo Six Weeding continues
Ngey - Weeding
Rop tui Black clouds -
Mukul ne tai -Harvesting (Kessisyo) and
ceremonies related to harvesting
Mukul nebo aeng - Harvesting (Kessisyo) and
ceremonies related to harvesting
Kipsunde ne tai -
Kipsunde nebo Marking of the fields aeng
Source: (Luka Cherotich, O.I. February 6, 2016, Chemoiywo, O.I. December 20, 2015)
The seasons indicated in Table 2.2 enabled the Keiyo people to plan their economic activities like planting of crops within the right time as every month or season was associated with a certain activity based on the study of nature. As earlier noted, there were two types of rains i.e.
37 very short rains which began in Kiptamo called beb tebengwo followed by long rains from Iwot and Mamut. Another spell of short rains fell in mukul nebo aeng and kipsunde ne tai or kipsunde nebo aeng. This was after the first harvest normally done in mukul ne tai. The Keiyo utilized these short season rains by planting eleusine millet though in small quantities. The agricultural calendar therefore enabled the Keiyo to monitor seasons and plan for planting or preparations of land as well as harvesting of crops. Various seasonal activities were planned according to the movement and arrangement of the stars. Kakiployek, a certain type of stars six in number moved according to time and were used to estimate the season. There were various elders conversant with astrology and could be consulted before any undertaking was started (Luka Cherotich,
Changwony Kibendo, Elijah Chemweno, O.I. February 6, 2016)
Farm preparation started in the month of Ngatiato and continued to the month of Iwot kut. Earlier on, the marking of fields (imbaret) that each man is going to cultivate was done in Kipsunde nebo aeng. This was especially in the virgin lands and was done by use of stone. There was no ceremonial beginning of work. In the kokwotinwek (villages) where it was custom to fence in common a piece of land and divide the plots among themselves, they usually meet at the hut of the kokwet elder and discuss the necessity to begin work. Division of labuor was applied in various agricultural activities. Men did bush clearing tasks and later women came to assist in the process of land breaking using hoes. In cultivation of the land (imbaret) just like most of the heavy work in the field, relatives who are living in the same kokwet (village) or at a short distance are asked to help. The kokwet may also be asked to help. This was achieved by giving a notice to the boiyob kok (kokwet elder) who ascertain as to whether that day had not been reserved by anybody else. Land preparation was women’s work, done with the help of relatives or neighbors working together, Kosyin (kibagenge). Land preparation in terms of digging and
38 burning the trash (Belseet) went on well into Kiptamo. The actual planting of eleusine just preceded the long rains in the months of Iwot kut to Mamut. Planting of millet and sorghum was done through broadcasting the seeds (keleta keswek) on a finely prepared piece of land. The seeds were then covered with a thin layer of soil (keburbur) (Maindi arap Ruto, Saniako Misoi
Yego, Chemworem Kiboss, O.I. February 6, 2016). Among the traditional tools used in this activity included mokombet, (a traditional hoe) and moor (a traditional farm tool for clearing the bush).
Weeding was done twice per season though the frequency could vary depending on the growth of weeds in the farm. This activity was traditional a female task though men could assist especially in co-operative and festive labor (Marindich Sawe, O.I. December 20, 2015). The first weeding (Kibuch) was done a few weeks following sowing and needed much attention as weeds threatened to destroy millet and sorghum. The weeds were removed from the farms through hand-picking. The second weeding was not as demanding as the first one. In situations where weeding was overwhelming, a labour exchange (Eunek) was organized. The household which organized for such labor would give a standard meal and organize a beer party for the one’s offering labour. The meal was meant for the women, young men and children who were not allowed to drink (Saniako Misoi Yego, O.I. February 6, 2016). Elders on the other hand took beer. Anyone could call such labor groups provided he or she had the means for sufficient food or beer (Marindich Sawe, Susan Taptuwei, O.I. December 20, 2015).
The crops in the field were always under guard from wild animals and birds. During the day, small children and elderly people kept a watchful eye by scaring birds that flocked round the fields. A watch tower, Kerio/Keriet was constructed in the crop field high above the crops. It’s here that the watchers spent their time (Saniako Misoi Yego, O.I. February 6, 2016). Harvesting
39
(Kessisyo) of the main staples, millet and sorghum was done in mukule tai. In the case of wimbi, the ears were pulled off when ripe and laid on skins in the sun to dry. A small knife chepkeseit was used to cut off individual heads of the eleusine. Once the grains had been harvested and dried, they were stored in granaries (chogenik) (Maindi arap Ruto, Luka Cherotich, O.I. February
6, 2016). These are round-shaped shelters whose inner walls and floors were smeared with cow- dung. Its floors was raised partly to prevent flooding and to make it more difficult for rodents to enter unobserved. The thrashed millet and sorghum after being properly dried and winnowed was put into special bags made of animal skins and then stored in the store (choget). These bags included milet, patanet and lengut. These skin bags could store different amounts of grain. Milet was the larger one and stored a large quantity of grain (Sarah Kongin, Zipporah Boinet,O.I.
February 13, 2016). If the grain is needed for immediate consumption after threshing, it is scraped on a goat skin with a rough surfaced stone (poreito) and then the grain is winnowed and put in a mortar (kenut) made from a hollowed trunk of a tree and pounded with a pestle and later grounded between two stones to produce flour (Peek).
Transportation of harvested produce to the homesteads was done by women. Women going home from the fields during harvest carried the ripe grain in large leather bags on their backs.
Women also did winnowing of millet and sorghum after the process of drying and thrashing had been done. They also did the grinding of grain between two stones to produce flour used in the making of porridge (musarek) and ugali (kimyet) as well as beer ( Maindi Arap Ruto,O.I.
February 20, 2016).
40
Photo 2.1: Thrashing of sorghum
Photo 2.2: Winnowing of grains
41
Photo 2.3: Stone grinding of grains.
Source: www.Alamy.com
Apart from the granaries, the harvested crop could also be stored in Tabut. This is the ceiling of the hut. Other valuable items including farm implements were also stored here. They included hoes (mogombet), gourds and pots. The size of the Tabut would depend on the amount of harvest expected with at least extra space left to allow frequent aeration to avoid moldy grains. Both sides and the floor of the Tabut would tightly be packed with wooden twigs to prevent grain wastage.
42
The Keiyo demonstrated a great mastery of agricultural information and practices. For planting purposes, they selected the best millet and sorghum heads that could give high yields. They dried and threshed them and stored the grains in the ceiling of the house (Tabut) where they were well preserved. These grains which were considered special seeds were therefore kept in a good environment where smoke permeating through the ceiling would preserve the seeds. This depicts the Keiyo’s indigenous knowledge and understanding that the basis for continued food supply laid in the manner of storage and continued cultivation of surplus food.
The harvested crops were put into various uses. Chief among them was for the preparation of the basic food, finger-millet meal (kimyet) or ugali (Kipkorir (1978:18), Zipporah Boinet, O.I.
February 13, 2016). Cooking was done in earthen pot (teretabkimyet). Kimyet was eaten with vegetables, meat or milk. The Keiyo ate two meals per day, one in the morning which consisted of kimyet and the second meal in the evening which also consisted of kimyet and fresh milk mixed with blood. Millet therefore played a crucial role in their diet. Wimbi was also used to prepare porridge (Musarek) after the grain had been grounded to produce flour. The grinding was normally done by use of two stones (koikab bai). In this case, a large smooth stone was laid on the floor and on it is placed some grain which is ground by a smaller stone held in the hands
(Massam, (1968:87), Chemweno Kaplochini, O.I. December 20, 2015, Maindi arap Ruto,
Saniako Misoi Yego, O.I. February 6, 2016).
Millet was also used in the production of local beer. Here, it was milled to make flour which was put in a pot and fermented for about a week. Afterwards, it was baked and dried. Meanwhile, yeast which was obtained from whole millet grain was prepared. The millet was soaked in water in the open for it to sprout. The sprouted millet was later put in the sun to dry and later pounded.
When the beer mixture was ready, a proportion of yeast was added and left for a day after which
43 it was boiled for a number of hours then left to cool. The following morning the liquid is poured off and heated. It is then ready for drinking. It was drunk through long tubes (rogoret) (Kangogo
Komen, O.I. February 6, 2016).
2.4.2.1 Soil Resource management.
The Keiyo people had various ways of maintaining soil fertility in their farms as discussed below.
2.4.2.2 Organic manure application
The informants interviewed indicated that soil whose fertility had been exhausted was managed through organic manure application. Before they applied organic manure they first determined fertility of the soil. This was done through observation of the soil texture structure and color. Soil fertility among the Keiyo was also determined through vegetation indicators like Tebeng’wet
(vernonia auriculifera) whose growth in an area indicated soil fertility while the presence of such grass as chemorut (Digitaria scalarum) was indicative of soil infertility (Saniako Yego, Luka
Cherotich O.I. February 6, 2016). Other vegetation used to indicate soil fertility are shown in
Table 2.3
44
Table 2.3: Plant Species Used as Indicators of Soil Quality
Plant species Botanical name English Name
a) High fertility
1. Tebeng’wet Vernonia auriculifera Bitter leaf
2. Labotiet Solanum incanum Sodom apple
3. Seretiot Pennesitum cladestinum Kikuyu grass
b) Low fertility
Chemorut Digitaria scalarum African couch grass
Source: (Saniako, O.I. February 6, 2016, Luka Cherotich, O.I. February 6, 2016, Kangogo
Komen O.I. February 6, 2016,)
When soil fertility deteriorated they applied organic manure which improved soil nutrients, cohesiveness and lowering of soil PH. The organic manure which the Keiyo applied came from various sources like: - decayed livestock dung; particularly from soroek (goats’ dung) and ng’atatek (cow dung). These were collected from goats’ and cattle bomas and were spread on cultivated areas. The manure improved soil fertility and hence high crop production. Manure of this nature was also spread on degraded lands around homesteads where it improved pastoral resources, particularly Seretiot (Kikuyu grass).
Organic manure was also derived from farm wastes. This was achieved through purposeful harvesting techniques which ensured that crop stalks harvested such as eleusine and maize
(Pandek) were left on the farm to rot and decompose in order to provide humus. To realize this, the community members ensured that stalks of eleusine and finger millet were left standing after the ‘ heads’ were harvested. The same was done for maize that was introduced much later. The
45 stalks which were left to rot in cultivated farms added nutrients to the soil hence improving their quality. At the same time, the stalk acted as covers to the soil and hence prevented soil erosion either by water or wind. They also improved infiltration capacities of the soil which could otherwise cause soil erosion (Kosgey 1997: 164). In other cases, livestock were allowed to graze and browse on the harvested fields and in the process drop their dung which served as organic manure (Luka Cherotich, O.I. February 6, 2016)
Application of manure to manage soil resources has been found successful among the indigenous communities of Unyamwezi and Iringain Tanzania (McCall, 1995). In Burkina Faso, the Mossi community has also been found to use mulching and organic manure strategy to manage their soil resources. Slingerland (1996), for example, observes that mulching with grass is one of the traditional soil and water conservation techniques which is used to enrich them with organic matter and nutrients.
Other agricultural resource management practices undertaken by the Keiyo include terracing and protection of water catchment areas. Cultivation of hillsides was restricted to areas that allowed traditional methods of terracing to be applied, using piles of stones, heaps of soil supported by wood and weed from the fields which was collected and heaped at one place, Kapsogut (Saniako
Yego. 0. I. February 6, 2016, Chebet and Dietz, 2000: 124). Also water catchment areas were protected by regulations imposed by elders and observed by all in the society. All these agricultural resource management practices so far discussed are indicative of the Keiyo people concern about their environment and their understanding that continued and sustainable agricultural production laid in sound resource management.
46
2.4.3 Animal Husbandry
Cow, sheep and goats have been for a long time been the mainstay of the Kalenjin economy.
Among the Keiyo, livestock keeping played a very prominent role. Livestock were highly valued as they were the source of meat, milk, blood and other necessities such as hides and skins.
Wealth was also determined by the number of cattle one had. A man with greater wealth in the form of cattle could marry as many wives as he wished (Kigen Chemorio, O.I. February 20,
2016).
Cattle, sheep and goats constituted a great form of wealth among the Keiyo. These domestic animals were acquired through various ways among them raiding, through exchange, inheritance, compensation for murder or through a loaning practice known as Kimanakta. In this system
(Kimanakta), a man would keep a few of his herd with distant relatives or friends. This was meant to ensure that in case of a major raid being made on one particular herd, the owner would have something with which to re-build his stock. In addition, in the event of a serious animal epidemic, a man could replenish his herd from animals loaned through Kimanakta. When the owner of the cattle reclaims his animals, he could leave a calf with the person to whom he had lent the cattle as a reward for keeping the animal. This would give the recipient a chance to start a herd of his own (John Cheserem, James Kures, Maindi arap Ruto, John Bundotich, O.I.
February 6, 2016). This system of loaning cattle illustrate the resilience and coping strategies employed by the Keiyo and is similar to today’s practice of one having some savings meant for a ‘rainy’ day. It also depicts the generosity of the Keiyo to those who never had cattle as the one who was taking care of the Kimanakta cattle was not left empty handed as he/she was given a calf or a heifer to help him start his stock.
47
Compensation for murder was also done by use of a number of cattle, goats and sheep. The kokwet elders would play a prominent role in this.The Keiyo considered life precious and any murder or manslaughter were not only treated with trepidation due to life’s sanctity but also due to the consequences associated with the penalty and guilt consciousness associated with it. In most cases, the penalty could require the murderer to pay indemnity; usually in kind and in terms of cows of up to twelve in number. The elders would fix the actual number after a lot of bargaining on behalf of the culprit by his clansmen.
Livestock could also be acquired in the form of bride price (bride wealth). This was a form of wealth that featured in marriage transaction. A man could also inherit his father’s livestock
(tugab boiyot). The principal of cattle inheritance was that the eldest son inherits more than the second, the second more than the third and so on (Huntingford, 1953:72, Elijah Chemweno, O.I.
February 20, 2016). Cattle as a form of property consisted of distinct elements according to the source from which the cattle were derived. There were cattle belonging to the whole family because it was inherited by the father (tugab boiyot); that which was acquired by the father’s own prowess and hard work (tuga che kiboru) and that acquired through bride price (Kanyiok).
The bride price consisted of up to four cows and a bull and a number of goats (William Arap
Bowen, O.I. February 20, 2016, Talai Kipyator, O.I. February 20, 2016).
As already mentioned, livestock played a key role in Keiyo’s community. It provided them with nourishing elements of their diet. The cows and goats provided milk which was usually drunk when curdled or fresh mixed with blood drawn from the vein of a bull’s neck by pricking it with a small arrow called loinet. Bleeding of animals was done on different occasions for the sake of blood and also to improve the health condition of the animals. This was achieved by removing blood from an infected animal using an arrow in a process known as kechar and thereafter
48 mixing it with medicinal herbs and given to uninfected animals as away of immunizing them.
Sometimes the domestic animals were killed for their meat (Kipkosgey Arap Mining, Kimoi
Chebii, O.I. December 20, 2015). Butter (Mwaitab chego) was also obtained as a product of milk. This was used to cook vegetables or mixed with herbs for consumption (Komwargei
Chesire, O.I. February 13, 2016, Wendot Murgor, O.I. February 13, 2016).
Besides, sheep and goats were an important component of the Keiyo livestock economy. They were reared mainly for milk, blood and meat. The small stock complemented cattle in ensuring the sustenance of life in households (Sitienei Barmao, O.I. December 20, 2015). They contributed to the ecological balance of the Keiyo. They exploited different aspects of the pastoral resource. Goats were browsers on varied vegetation, unlike cattle which mostly feed on grass. The competition over exploitation of the ecology was minimized and this helped to maintain the health of each group of animals. Goats also demonstrated the above capacity for they were browsers and could feed on twigs and dry leaves of shrubs even during most severe drought. They tended to produce kids and plenty of milk during the dry season because the weather conditions were good for their health and there were plenty of fruits of acacia plants.
The lactating goats and sheep provided milk for the household when cattle produced little milk due to scarce pastures and water.
Socially, livestock was significant in ritual ceremonies apart from the earlier mentioned use in bride price. In particular, goats and sheep were frequently used in sacrificial feasts. Incessant calamities like drought, pestilence, famine and high mortality rate or perpetual crop failure were interpreted as implying that the ancestral spirits were angry with the living and that called for an appeasement ceremony which the slaughtering of livestock like sheep served. This underscores the social function of the economic system of the Keiyo.
49
Division of labor also applied in livestock industry. The work of herding cattle for instance was done by adult men, the circumcised young men (Murenik) and small boys. After the morning meal, the man opens the cattle boma and takes his herd to pasture .This task of herding stock was also done by small boys in close watch of adults. The animals were watered at rivers and streams twice a day. Once in a while, they were taken by warriors to the salt-licks (ng’eny) which were communally owned. Milking was done by women (Zipporah Chemweno,O.I. February 20, 2016,
Saniako Misoi Yego, O.I. February 6, 2016).
Grazing land was communally owned. Elders in each kokwet determined where to graze their cattle. Grazing land within the kokwet was known as limo. This was an area within the compound where the cattle grazed as they awaited to be milked. There were also pasturelands far away from the homesteads known as Sergon/Kaptich. Cattle belonging to one village were communally grazed in Sergon/kaptich. Cattle belonging to several villages (kokwotinwek) could meet in kaptich under the watch of warriors (Bundotich Kimugul, O.I. February 13, 2016,
Kipsiro Beikong, O.I. February 13, 2016, Maindi arap Ruto, O.I. February 6, 2016). The communal nature of grazing fields ensured that every member of the community had access to these crucial natural resources.
Cattle could also be sent out for grazing in Sergon temporary cattle-sheds away from home constructed for such purposes. They could also be driven to as far as Uasin-Gishu plateau which had plenty of grasslands, though the dominant inhabitants before the colonial times, the Uasin-
Gishu Maasai (Kipwopchek) were a menace in cattle raiding and could render the mission fruitless ( Chebet and Dietz, 2000:108). Communal areas for animals to take water and salt also existed. The valley, according to Chebet and Dietz (2000), was rich in both saltlicks and saline water and men and boys taking care of the livestock would drive the animals to these special
50 points to lick and drink the minerals respectively. Salt for animal consumption could also be extracted from underground saline water (sukutek) or from mineral soil. Just like grazing lands, watering points and saltlicks were communally owned and no one’s cattle were denied the right to access them (Bundotich Kimugul, O.I. February 13, 2016, Saniako Misoi Yego, O.I. February
6, 2016).
Routine animal practices like disease control was done by administering traditional herbs. They were able to check and contain the spread of livestock diseases. An established livestock owner could tell that an animal was not well by observing the physical appearance, the look of its hide and the ability to graze well. For milk cows, a drastic decline in milk production under normal conditions signified that the cow was sick. One informant summed up the whole diagnosis experience in the following words:
If you grow up with something, live with it, spend most of your time with it, depend on it for your livelihood, you cannot fail to know when something is wrong with it, even at a glance (Arap Cheptoo Kuriang,O.I. February 28, 2016)
The implication of this statement is that, the health of livestock was closely monitored and cattle diseases were promptly identified and treated. For instance, livestock owners carried out inoculations. The blood from the infected animal would be removed, using an arrow, in a process locally known as kechar. This blood would then be mixed with medicinal herbs (sagitiek) and given to the uninfected animal to drink. This immunized the animal. They also had local herbalists (chepkerichinik) who understood various cattle diseases and treated them using medicinal plants. Furthermore, once the disease had struck, the animals were quarantined. It is clear therefore that, by the standards of the period under review, cattle keepers had developed
51 sophisticated veterinary methods and practices to check, control and treat a variety of cattle diseases.
The cattle boma (Piutab tuga) was constructed within the homestead and for security of the animals from wild animals and raids; the man of the house was required to be alert. The hut was constructed in a way that he could watch over the cattle at night in case of any danger. The daily livestock routine involved taking out livestock for grazing in the morning after the morning meal-an activity done by men and younger boys. Later the livestock would be returned for milking in mid-day before being taken back to graze again in the communal grazing fields. In case of goats, the young boys would lead them out to feed on the leaves of the acacia trees that are found in the valley. The kraal (piut) was cleaned by young boys after the animals had been let out to feed (Kimoning arap Kelelwa, O.I. February 20, 2016).
Keiyo’s pastoralism constituted of native-bred animals zebu, goats, sheep and a few donkeys.
The zebu cattle were well adapted to the local environment and resistant to many diseases. This showed that the Keiyo had a great understanding or mastery of their livestock. Their knowledge about livestock characteristics is also worth mentioning. They named their cattle according to behavior, color, special markings or place of origin.
In conclusion, livestock as the mainstay of the Keiyo’s economy played a crucial role in their livelihoods. It is from their livestock that they were able to acquire key ingredients of their diet which included milk, blood, meat and butter. Furthermore, livestock products like hides and skins acted as clothing and trading items. Livestock also played a critical role as bride price in marriage transactions. Additionally, it acted as a source and measure of wealth as individuals
52 with large stocks were regarded as wealthy. Livestock could also be exchanged for grains in situations of food shortage to shield the community from hunger.
2.4.3.1 Pasture management a). Reserved grazing and Browsing
The Keiyo had various ways of managing their environmental agricultural resources like pastures.
The study found that reserved grazing and browsing was a key strategy to manage pasture resources among the Keiyo. The informants noted that it was a management strategy that acted as a security measure during difficult times like drought. It involved the setting aside of tracts of land as reserved grazing and browsing areas for certain periods based on the seasonality and species composition of pasture resources. The areas which were reserved for grazing and browsing in specific periods are indicated in Table 2.3.
Table 2.4: Examples of Reserved Grazing and Browsing Areas.
Reserved Area English Equivalent Tegeiyat Hill slopes Biut ab Kapchi Areas around homesteads Sergon Grazing land away from home Tiriita Plains Soet Wetlands Karaita Former cattle bomas or homesteads Rorotinwek Harvested areas Matuberet Areas cleared for cultivation but abandoned after shifting cultivation
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The setting aside of grazing and browsing lands was done by the Kokwet elder (Boiyot ab kok) who convened an elders meeting to discuss and plan the grazing patterns and pasturelands and their carrying capacities. To ensure that there was no encroachment into the reserved areas, youthful men (Murenik) were assigned duties to patrol the reserved areas in order to control both the community members and outsiders who could invade them. In other cases, the kokwet councils allowed limited entries into the reserved areas on condition that sound utilization of pasture resources were ensured and only when their carrying capacities were supportive.
Reserved grazing and browsing as a strategy for pasture resource management, has been found to work effectively among other communities. In Kenya, for example, the Turkana (Barrow, 1985a) and the Pokot (Schneider, 1979) communities have used it to manage their pasture from time immemorial. It is also practiced by the Ukara Island communities of Lake Victoria (McCall,
1995).
2.4.3.2 Controlled Access.
This strategy of pasture management was achieved through well articulated rules and regulations which limited access to pasture resources earmarked for management. They enforced these rules and regulations through various strategies and guards who patrolled the earmarked areas (Table
2.5). These guards were either youthful men (Murenik) or elders who walked around monitoring their state. The most significant, however was community’s members observation of ethics of pasture management. Any transgression to the rules and regulations governing access to pastural resources was punishable through fines, rebukes and incase of outside intruders through confrontation and fights.
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Table 2.5: Strategies used to achieve controlled access to Pasture resources
Strategy English Equivalence
Keger suswek Paddocking/Reserving
Korib Murenik Surveillance, pastoral and monitoring by young men
Koet boiyot ab kok Decree by council elders
Kitaban kasarwek ab agetet Establishing grazing dates
2.4.4 Hunting and Gathering
Sherriff (1985) argues that hunting and gathering as a system of appropriation of subsistence from nature is universal and was practiced as late as the nineteenth century in Kenya. Under this system, little energy is invested in production of food. The Keiyo supplemented their animal husbandry and cultivation by hunting and gathering. Hunting (loget) played an important role in providing the diet of the community. Meat that was consumed in the household was mainly from hunting and rarely from domestic livestock which were generally left to multiply and only slaughtered during important occasions (Kandie Kipyakwai, John Bundotich, O.I. February 6,
2016).
Hunting was a communal activity undertaken by men who shared the meat equally once an animal had been killed. Spears (ng’otit), bows (kwanget) and arrows (kotiek) were used for hunting. For big animals like elephants and buffaloes, traps were set by digging pits in a track frequently used by these animals. It was then covered with branches and leaves so that the animals will fall in it. The animal could also be chased into these pits and trapped (Kiptoo
Chepkeitany, O.I. February 6, 2016). Animals hunted for meat were the elephant (beliot), rhino, buffalo (soet), antelope (boin) and rabbit (kiplekwa). The flesh of the animal killed was shared by
55 the hunters, and the hide was divided up among the villages situated near the place of slaughter.
In case of an elephant, the first hunter (kang’etin) to throw spear received one tusk and one thigh bone. The throwers of the second and third spears shared the second tusk, and the other thigh bone. This bone was highly valued because of the quantity of marrow obtained from it which was enough to keep a family going for a considerable time. The hide of the elephant was used to make sandals, which was worn in the thorny valley. The tusk was used as a storage vessel and for decoration as well (Saniako Misoi, O.I. February 6, 2016).
Hunting in general played an important role among the Keiyo people. Apart from providing the required diet, the skin obtained from the hunted animals was used for leatherwork and also to manufacture traditional clothing. Certain animals like lions (ng’etuny), leopards (cheplanget) and rhino (kibew) were hunted for sport and security reasons as they sometimes snatch stock from the kraal at night or at times in broad day light when the animals are grazing in the grazing fields;
Sergon (kaptich) (Taptuwei Chepkiyeng, O.I. December 19, 2015).
The Keiyo gathered a number of wild fruits, vegetables and roots. A wider range of green vegetables such as Isochik, Isakek and Nderemiat among others were available during the rainy seasons and could be gathered from among the wild weeds which grew on the cultivated fields or from gardens within the homestead (kapingut). Other food supplements gathered included
Kong’aek (termites), edible roots (Yaganek), Bobek (mushrooms), Talamik (grasshoppers), and cherengenyit (locust). These were collected and dried through dehydration so as to be used during the dry season (Tapmutwol Kigen, O.I. January 16, 2016, Luka Cherotich, O.I. February
6, 2016).
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Honey was also collected /harvested from the forest though at times the bee-hives (moin’gonik) could be placed on trees far away in the forest. To make the bee-hive, a thick tree was cut down and a log from it was split into two halves and hollowed out. When it was ready it was fixed up in a well scented tree in the forest where bees could be attracted. The bee-hive was smeared with sheep’s fat (sundet) to help in attraction of bees into the bee-hive. The honey was collected at night by men using a torch (sisio) made of a bundle of sticks tied together which burn very slowly providing bright light. A knife and a container/bag (togolta) in which the honey will be put were among the items used. Honey was mainly utilized for brewing honey-beer drink and as food as well as for medicinal purposes (Chebet and Dietz, 2000:109)
2.4.5 Agricultural Technology
In Keiyo land, agricultural technologies ranged from craft to industries like iron working. Crafts and industries supplemented and complemented cultivation and pastoral activities. The pre- colonial Keiyo society engaged in various technologies of this kind ranging from weaving and basketry to iron smelting and pottery. Some of these activities particularly iron working were full time occupations carried out by specialists who had learned the skill through apprenticeship. The products of the crafts and industry like pottery items and tools and weapons produced by blacksmiths provided a basis for exchange as they formed the items of trade. They also provided important agricultural farm implements and storage facilities like hoes; mokombet and baskets;
Kerebet respectively. This field therefore complemented the agricultural sector among the Keiyo.
Pottery, a skillful art was mainly undertaken by women who were specialized in it. As an art, it enhanced agricultural production. Pots were used for carrying, storing and cooking. Various designs of pots were made from clay. This activity unlike the case of ironworking which will be
57 discussed later was not a full time activity. It was made to order i.e. when someone was in need of a new pot or when there was demand somewhere. The pots made were of various sizes and therefore suited various uses. The very small one, chepsagitit was used to boil herbs and the medium size, chebingut was used for stewing vegetables. There was also one for making millet meal (kimyet) called teretab kimyet and larger ones for fetching and storing water (Zipporah
Boinet, Sarah Kongin, O.I. February 6, 2016). Pottery played a crucial role in the economy of the
Keiyo people. Apart from providing them with the necessary storage and cooking equipments, pots were also exchanged with other items not locally available in the community.
The Keiyo also used gourds, Sotet, to store milk (Mursik) and the plant from which the gourds were obtained was carefully tended. The gourds were treated with a solution from some plants to remove the bitter tasting coating on the inside. Lid made from leather was also sewed on the gourd. They were also decorated with beads and cowries shells. Milk was kept in big gourds to curdle while the small ones were used as cups from which milk was drunk. Weaving and basketry was also one of the key undertakings of the Keiyo people besides pottery. They made various items from reeds key among them being baskets like Kerebet, a cylindrical open-topped basket or container used for gathering grains. Weaving went hand in hand with leatherwork.
Gourds (Sotet/Sotonik) used for storing milk were sewed with leather straps to facilitate the carrying of its contents (Chebet and Dietz (2000), Zipporah Boinett, Sarah kongin, O.I. February
6, 2016).
Another notable field of industry engaged in by the Keiyo is iron working (metallurgy). This activity was the professional work of blacksmiths, Kitony (Kandie Kiptoo, O.I. February 6, 2016,
Chemoiywo Sitienei, O.I. December 20, 2015). Mwanzi (1977: 157) states that among the Keiyo and Kipsigis, iron workers were a specialized group. He posits that they had been poor
58 originally, but as their trade flourished they became wealthy. Nonetheless the existence of the blacksmiths was crucial to the society as the need arose for mastering the environment i.e. the need to clear the forests for cultivation for the production of food as well as the need to produce various iron weapons used by warriors in raiding and defending the community from external aggression. Iron ore was collected from iron-bearing rocks and smelted using a very hot fire in a furnace heated with leather bellows. The processed iron was used to make different tools, weapons and ornaments. The implements made from it included tools like hoes (mogombet), knives (rotonik), axes ( aiweet) and weaponry used in war such as spears, arrows and swords
(Chemase Kipsang,O.I. February 6, 2016). All this therefore depicts that Keiyo people had a greater understanding of their environment with regards to harnessing iron-bearing rocks for the purpose of extracting iron used in making various weapons and tools that they needed to exploit nature especially through cultivation.
The foregoing discussions on agricultural technology have demonstrated Keiyo’s knowledge and understanding of their environment by harnessing it to meet their needs. The various industries discussed provided them with a wide range of products ranging from weapons to farm implements and storage equipments that were crucial in their agricultural economy. The iron weapons and implements were required to accumulate and protect their stock and for clearing and tilling their farms as well as for harvesting their produce respectively. Basketry products on the other hand provided them with important storage equipments on which to store their farm produce. The craft industry and agriculture therefore were inseparable. They complemented and supplemented each other in a harmonious way.
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2.4.6 Conclusion
This chapter has discussed the evolution of Keiyo society, their migration and settlement as well as the nature of their pre-colonial socio-economic and political institution. It has been noted that the Keiyo practiced hunting and gathering as well a mixed economy cultivating millet and sorghum and livestock keeping. Their traditional communal land tenure system has also been looked at. It has been noted that land was communally occupied, held and used as a community.
The role of elders in relation to land and agricultural resource utilization and conservation have also been highlighted in the chapter. Various means of pasture management have also been delved into. The agricultural technologies that the Keiyo employed have also been discussed.
The chapter has also shown that the Keiyo established a symbiotic relationship with its neighbors like the Marakwet, Nandi, Tugen and the Pokot. With the disappearance of the Maasai military threat in the Uasin Gishu plateau in the last decades of the nineteenth century, the Keiyo had begun to extend their influence to the plateau. However, their expansion was halted by a more powerful force, the settlers and colonial state. The next chapter is devoted to this phenomenon. It examines the changes and continuities that resulted over their contact with the Keiyo.
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CHAPTER THREE
COLONIAL AGRICULTURAL CHANGE IN KEIYO (1894-1963)
3.1 INTRODUCTION
This chapter examines the establishment of colonial rule and the agricultural transformations it ushered in. It also illustrates how the salient features of traditional agriculture were altered through colonial policy measures. In this regard, the chapter endeavours to analyze the direction taken by the Keiyo’s agriculture as it encountered and became articulated with the colonial economy.
It is worth mentioning that up to the year 1922, the administration of the Elgeyo was based in
Eldoret, Uasin Gishu. Elgeyo was considered a sub-district of Uasin Gishu and in 1922, the two were separated and a new District Commissioner to be stationed at Tambach posted
(KNA/PC/RVP/2/8/1). The arrival of the colonial representatives in the study area changed the nature of local relationships by linking Keiyo with policies of the British Empire and the fluctuations of world economy. An examination of the impact of land alienation and taxation, forced labour and other policies introduced in the wake of colonial rule are analyzed. In a nutshell, the main point in this chapter is to highlight the colonial institutions and policies which gradually determined the extent to which the Keiyo’s pre- colonial socio – economic institutions were undermined and altered.
3.2 The Establishment of Colonial Rule in Keiyo land
The partition of the East African region has been well documented by Harlow and Chilver
(1965), Oliver and Atmore (1967), Burke (1970) and Brett (1973) among others. The European
61 interest in Africa predated the partition of the continent. The Uganda region was of crucial importance to the British, first as the source of River Nile which was the lifeline for their other important region, Egypt, and secondly for its strategic and economic reasons ( Oliver and
Atmore, 1967, Okoth – Ogendo, 1991). Uganda was already a British sphere of influence for a long time, but in the wake of rivalry and competition from Germans in Tanganyika, the British sought to secure their interests in Uganda permanently. In 1890, they negotiated an agreement with the Germans in what came to be termed as the Anglo – German Agreement of 1890. This agreement drew the southern boundary with Germans and a line from the Indian Ocean through
Mount Kilimanjaro to Lake Victoria was drawn. The line then proceeded to Western Uganda in a straight line through L. Victoria (Gordon, 1946, Oliver and Atmore, 1967). Later Uganda was declared a British protectorate in 1894. The eastern Boundary of this protectorate was amorphous but extended to the Rift Valley in which the Elgeyo land is located.
It is worth mentioning here that the Kenyan side was not initially of great importance to the
British as was Uganda. Kenya was annexed in order to secure a safe passage from the Indian
Ocean port of Mombasa to Uganda and in due course became important because of its abundant natural resources especially the fertile agricultural lands and moderate climate (Harlow and
Chilver, 1965; Wolf 1974). When Kenya was declared a protectorate in 1895, it was imperative that the Kenya– Uganda boundary had to be revised to correspond to that which is existing now.
Once again all that area to the west of the Rift Valley became Kenyan territory. With such arrangement the Elgeyo land was therefore reverted to become part of the Western Kenyan region.
Wolff, (1974) highlighted two major reasons for the British interest in East Africa in general and
Kenya in particular. First was its strategic importance, but most importantly were the region’s
62 relatively rich agricultural possibilities which raised hopes of a healthy trade with Europe. These were seen both in terms of the exploitation of indigenous crops and also providing an opportunity for the production of commodities that were in great demand in Britain such as the agricultural raw materials for the agro-based industries. As early as 1893, Fredrick Lugard who had travelled extensively in the region reported enthusiastically of commercial possibilities in agriculture. He noted of the region’s fertile soils and adequate rainfall and their suitability of producing such products as sisal, cotton, rubber, coconut and so on.
Of particular interests were the highlands which offered unlimited room for the location of agricultural settlements or stock – rearing farms. The new industries in coffee, tea, Indigo, fibre, tobacco, wheat and cotton could be inaugurated here (Okoth – Ogendo, 1991:18). Charles Eliot and John Ainsworth became the principle architects of early European settlements by making persistent calls for white immigration into Kenya. In order to safeguard these economic interests, all ‘unoccupied and waste’ lands in the protectorate were declared crown lands in 1902 and were either sold or leased to the incoming white settlers( ibid).
Among the Kalenjin groups, the Nandi and the Kipsigis were the first to fall under colonial rule followed later by the Tugen, Marakwet, Pokot and Keiyo. Early European penetration in Elgeyo land seems to have started in about 1883 when the Keiyo were first visited by a European,
Joseph Thompson who crossed Chebloch gorge in the valley from Masaailand through Baringo to Tambach and then Kapsowar in Marakwet (Hennings, 1951). Others like Carl Peters visited the Keiyo in 1899 when he ascended the escarpment around Kamariny.
The British, after overpowering the Nandi, proceeded to Tugen and established their station at
Eldama Ravine under the leadership of a white officer, Ernest Smuts, who was nicknamed
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Kiberenge (Chebet and Dietz, 2000:136). It was from this point that the British in 1902 attempted to conquer the Keiyo, approaching them from Metkei at Kapsaos. According to
Chebet and Dietz, (2000: 136), it is a held by the Keiyo that the Tugen were used as merceneries by the British to extend their rule over the them, but the resistance which resulted in a war locally referred to as Kipkiomat (long fire) due to the use of a gun by the British to kill the Keiyo led to the failure of the expedition. On the same day, the British camp was hit by lightning forcing the British and their Tugen allies to flee back to Eldama Ravine leaving behind all the cattle they had confiscated from the Keiyo in an attempt to force their rule over them. When the
British failed to gain entry from the South, they decided to approach the Keiyo from the North using the Marakwet to accomplish their mission. (ibid: 136). The Marakwet had welcomed the
Europeans who were already establishing a station at Kapsowar. The Keiyo put up a strong resistance and the British failed again. The Keiyo people were dertermined to protect their land and they were also well versed with their terrain unlike the British troops who were new in the area. The British troops had also not thoroughly planned for the war as they had underrated the
Keiyo. It was not until 1909 after a thorough expedition was organized through Keiyoland that the Elgeyo were suppressed and brought under colonial rule. This expedition was successful because the colonial officials from Eldama Ravine had organized a very thorough tour of Keiyo land with the main objective of a possible establishment of colonial rule in Keiyo. In 1910, the
British appointed headmen and gave them responsibility of collecting taxes and imposing their rule in Elgeyoland (Ibid) which was under the jurisdiction of Eldama Ravine District
Commissioner. From 1913 however, the administration of the Keiyo was transferred from
Eldama Ravine to Eldoret in Uasin Gishu (KNA/PC/RV/2/8/1).
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The Keiyo people were gradually drawn to a money economy through the levying of taxes, collective fines, the growing of cash crops such as maize, pyrethrum, and by offering their labour for wages. The British wanted to make their presence felt, especially during this early years. By
1914 almost all the land in the highland areas had been given out to British and Afrikaner settlers, with more than 1,000 whites present who recruited Keiyo laborers to clear part of their newly acquired large farms (KNA/DC/UG/1/1 ). These lands included the highlands of
Chepkorio, Rokocho, Marichor, Irong and Nyaru. Through this, the Keiyo were gradually brought under capitalist economy. Berman (1990: 35) argues that the indigenous societies in which money, commodity production, wage labour and bureaucratic forms of organization were virtually unknown were progressively subdued gradually in favour of European forms of capital by a state that already had more than two centuries of development. The African societies were subjected to contradictory forms and patterns of transformation, destruction and preservation of their internal structures, resulting in a wide variety of intermediate and hybrid social formations.
This process, he continues to assert, did not occur instantaneously or uniformly in a single broad wave, but in a variety of forms and phases encountering different local conditions and responses.
The resulting variations were determined by particular forms of external capitalist penetration and political subjugation of the structures of the indigenous societies and the diversity of the local ecology and resource endowment. In the following sections, we set to explore the initial stages of capitalist penetration and examine the distinctive local response prevailing in Elgeyo land.
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3.3 Colonial Land policy in Keiyo
In the previous chapter, it was stated that the Keiyo land tenure system was communal in nature.
With the advent of colonialism, there was a systematic attempt by the colonial government to dismiss African land tenure as non-existent. African land rights was claimed to last only as long as the land was in use. Whatever was not being cultivated or occupied was considered ‘vacant’ or ‘unoccupied’ land. Such misconceptions were often used by the colonial state to justify expropriation of African land (Okoth Ogendo, 1991:14). In this section, the process and impact of colonial land alienation among the Keiyo will be looked at.
The Crown Land Ordinance of 1902 gave the commissioner of the protectorate power to grant land to European immigrants. Crown Land was defined as all public land in East Africa
Protectorate which was subjected to the control of the British Crown (Londsdale, 1989:19).
Thus, during the early colonial period the colonial state endeavoured to alienate African land for
European settlement. The amount of land occupied by Africans was reduced. It also assumed that
Africans had no rights to “unoccupied” and “uncultivated” land and that there were much
“waste” lands available for European settlement. By asserting that the crown, and not the African people, had original title to some land, the colonial government alienated vast lands from the
African societies. It was noted that the 1902 ordinance laid down that no “native” had any title to land, as his claims to land was only recognized as long as he occupied it (Okoth – Ogendo,
1991:8). Together with Crown Land ordinance of 1915, which defined the boundaries of the
“native reserves,” the Keiyo found themselves confined in an area without an option of spreading out as was the case previously. The original reason for the establishment of reserves, according to Huxley (1935: 45) was simply to make way for European settlement.
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The process of land alienation was undertaken through various mechanisms which included direct seizure, conquest, pressure on chiefs, trickery, swindling and other means open to colonialists (Ochieng 1975:100). In the Keiyo’s case, Ewart Grogan Concession signed in 1904 led to loss of a large tract of land. The agreement was to grant lease of all piece or parcel of land near Eldama Ravine comprising of 64,000 acres or thereabouts of forest including all rights that were supposedly preserved for the Elgeyo (KNA/DC/ELGM/5/1). Later, Grogan and his colleague were awarded a 99-year lease at £150 a year. Although the conditions of the concession as stated below appeared to protect the rights of the Keiyo over land use, the real fact is that it led to a systematic attempt to evacuate the Keiyo and confine them to their reserves. A buffer zone was created to stop the Keiyo from interacting with the settlers. The conditions for the Grogan concession were:
i. That the agreement becomes valid only when all native rights in and on the said land
shall be reserved.
ii. That all natives shall be entitled to exercise on or over any part of the premises which in
the opinion of the Governor shall for the time being not be actually necessary for the
operations of the licensee for grazing rights. iii. That the lessee, his servants and agents will not interfere with settlements of the natives
and so as far as possible avoid quarrels with the natives in or near the land leased. iv. Any disputes over reductions of rent on account of diminution of the amount of land
leased or for the compensation on account shall be referred to the arbitration of a judge of
the high court under section 525 of the Indian code of civil procedure,
v. Rights to reside and erect all necessary buildings, shelters and fences for the
accommodation of themselves, their families and their animals.
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vi. Rights to grass, water and other vegetable products required by them or their stock of
every description.
vii. Rights to agricultural land, salt licks, to as much fuel as required and as much forest
produce as may be required for their consumption. viii. Rights to snare or hunt game animals, collect honey and put up honey barrels. And
ix. Such other rights as may hereafter be proved to the satisfaction of the Governor to have
been exercised by them within the said area prior to the date of the said adventure
(KNA/DC/ELGM/5/1).
These conditions, however, became obsolete as the colonial administration drove away all the
Keiyo with their livestock to the reserve and the escarpment ledges. They lost their fertile
highlands at Chepkorio, Irong, Nyaru, Kaptarakwa, Kaptagat and Mutei to the colonial
administration. When the Keiyo protested, the colonial administration through the Provincial
Commissioner Osborne informed the Keiyo petitioners that in effect there was no use crying
over spilt milk ( KNA/LND/16/3).
Land alienation led to a marked intensification of population pressure upon scarce land in the
Keiyo Reserve. Keiyo’s resentment began to grow and there were petitions demanding the
return of alienated land. Protests from chiefs on behalf of the people they represented were
observed. Two prominent chiefs, namely arap Bartai of Irong and arap Burer of Chepkorio,
championed these land complains (KNA/DC/ELGM/1/2). The protests and resentments which
were also seen in other parts of the colony, culminated in the Kenya Land Commission (Carter
Commission) between 1932- 1934. The Keiyo elders who testified before the Carter Commission
showed their discontent in losing their land. They petitioned the commission that the Kaptagat
forest be returned to them. They also demanded that, they should, be allowed access to use
68 forest products like timber and fencing posts in addition to cultivating and grazing in the forest
(KNA/DC/ELGM/5/1).
The Carter Commission appointed by the Secretary of State for Colonies on the
Recommendations of the Joint Select Committee was directed to:
a) Consider the present and prospective needs of the native population with regard to land
and the desirability and practicability of setting aside further land for native use.
b) Determine native claims with regard to land, whether alienated or not, and make
recommendations for their fair settlement.
c) Consider and make recommendations with regards to native rights under the Crown Land
Ordinance.
d) Define the (European) Highlands. (KNA/CAB/24/248)
When the report was released, the stark reality emerged. There were to be no changes whatsoever. Precisely, the report on the Keiyo stated that:
…….. it cannot be said the Elgeyo have accumulated cattle in excess of their needs, since the average wealth per household is only six cattle and thirteen sheep and goats…..we therefore accept it as a fact that the Elgeyo have no sound historical claim to the area under consideration (Grogan concession)…. (KNA/DC/ELGM/5/2/1). The Keiyo had demonstrated through their chiefs that indeed the highland of Chepkorio, Irong,
Mutei, Nyaru, Kaptarakwa and kaptagat which had been alienated from them belonged to them and should be returned back. They had petitioned the Land Commision arguing that the alienation of their land was curtailing their agro-pastoralism activities. The Carter Land
Commission however did not solve the land issue among the Keiyo. It only formalized the existing land situation. The Grogan concession had sandwiched the Keiyo between the reserve
69 and the forest to which they were not allowed access. The colonial government could not accept the fact that it caused the pressure on land.
In 1935, the lands claimed by the Keiyo were held by various European settlers by a lease of
999 years. Later on, in 1939, the DC categorically informed the Keiyo that all the loss was inevitable. Their only hope was that the 1957 expiry of the Grogan concessions would be recognized and the concession reverts back to them. Grogan had been given a lease for the exploitation of timber in the highlands of Keiyo which covered Kaptagat region and the lease was expected to end in the mentioned year. From the foregoing, it becomes clear therefore that their land grievances were virtually ignored by the colonial state, although the colonial officials at Tambach pleaded their case.
The memoranda submitted to the Kenya Land Commission of 1932 remain as a living reflection of how seriously Africans from all parts of Kenya viewed the land question (Ochieng;
1977:118). The Commission not only failed to achieve its goals but it exacerbated the problems it had hoped to solve. Land was required for settler production of export commodities to make the colony pay for its administration. On the other hand, the Keiyo had never thought in terms of
“legal rights” for grazing land. The Keiyo recognized no boundaries to their grazing grounds beyond the limits of distance needed for immunity from Maasai, Nandi and Tugen cattle raiders. The colonial limitation on land therefore stripped them off their source of subsistence.
The failure of the commission to resolve the land issue meant that the Keiyo would continue to serve as squatters in settler farms in order to access some pasture for their stock. Others were contented in the reserve trespassing to graze on the settler farms (Tomno Arap Maina, O.I.
February 6, 2016). A number migrated with their livestock to Cherang’any hills. Renting of
70 grazing ground was another option open to the Keiyo. Depending on the attitude of the various conservators of forests, the Keiyo paid twenty cents in a concession per cow per month to graze.
Those with goats were not allowed and prices were increased in the case of a large number of applicants. Some rented the grazing, while others who could not afford the rent devised ways of circumventing those unfavorable colonial policies (KNA/DC/ELGM/1/1). They could cut the wire fence to enable their stock to get through. According to one of the affected settlers, J.W
Reid of Kipkabus, the Keiyo would always take the risk of being caught in order to graze their livestock (KNA/DC/TAMB/1/7/1).
From the foregoing discussions, it is evident that the Keiyo were majorly hit by colonial land policies. Their agricultural activities were greatly affected. The congestion, overstocking and land over-use in the Reserve continued through the Second World War period when the colonial government encouraged intense cultivation of crops to meet the demands of the war. This led to soil erosion and later the development of African Land Development programme (ALDEV) as will be seen later. The drawing of the reserve boundaries also made the Keiyo lose much land on the Uasin Gishu plateau. By late nineteenth century, the plateau served as grazing land (Kaptich/
Sergon) for the Keiyo together with the Nandi, Marakwet and Pokot. The plateau was annexed by the colonial government as part of the European white highlands. (International Journal of
Arts and Education.Vol.1, 2011:28)
3.4 Crop production
The enhancement and entrenchment of the Keiyo in crop production was one avenue of transforming the Keiyo’s economy and exploiting the community through the extraction of its labour and resources. As already noted in the previous chapter, the Keiyo were mixed farmers
71 and Wimbi/ millet production played a vital role in their agricultural economy. But to the
Europeans, this crop was useless and unsalable (Omwoyo 1990). It was the avowed policy of the
British colonial administrations to replace wimbi cultivation with a marketable and profitable grown crop, such as maize (Ibid).
In the early years of the British hegemony, the indigenous crops still dominated and new crops introduced had not yet become firmly established. Overall, the Keiyo were forced by the colonial conditions to start growing crops for sale over and above the level experienced during the pre- colonial. They were gradually introduced into the money economy and found themselves producing for subsistence and, increasingly, for sale .Consequently, the pre-colonial practice of selling the surplus was superseded by conscious production of surplus for sale, and the emergence of Keiyo peasants was gradually taking place. Although wimbi still constituted the main commodity of exchange, the administration discredited it and encouraged the Keiyo to grow exportable crops, particularly maize. In 1918, agricultural demonstration plots known as
‘headmen plots’ had been established to stimulate the production of maize
(KNA/DC/ELGM/1/1)
The rationale of emphasizing maize production at the expense of wimbi was firstly the need for planters and settlers in the colony to feed their workers. Secondly, maize was easier and cheaper to grow since, despite its low nutritive value in comparison to indigenous crops like millet and sorghum, it provided a greater quantity of food and the necessary energy that was ideal for the vast number of workers. Through its provision the workers could feel more satisfied and well fed, so that they did their work with cheerfulness and vivacity (Bowles, 1979:198- 201). Maize was a tool for the penetration of capitalism in the rural areas because it was a more saleable crop.
It was introduced in order to assist a change in the mode of production in Kenya as a whole to a
72 capitalist mode (Ibid). The pressure of colonial capitalism therefore slowly turned the Keiyo who were predominantly a pastoral community into agricultural peasants. As Ochieng’ (1989:44) sums it up, “colonial capitalism led to marginalization of pastoralism and expansion of agricultural peasantry.”
Other crops grown during this period were beans, sweat potatoes and pumpkins. Tobacco and millet were grown in very small quantities (KNA/DC/ELGM/I/1). According to the Annual report of 1918 for Elgeyo-Marakwet, the output of maize in the experimental location had increased from 75 loads in 1917 to 200 loads in 1918. In the latter part of the year, under experimental communal ‘shambas’ of from 2- 4 acres in each location were planted up with maize, beans, sweet potatoes and pumpkins. A larger acreage under this scheme went to the cultivation of maize (Ibid). Other experimental crops in the highlands were planted too. They included wheat, hill rice, oats and lucerne grass. In the valley, bananas and simsim cultivation was being experimented. In 1919, maize was grown in all sections of Keiyo in experimental communal ‘shambas’ of 1- 4 acres each. The yield of maize had gone up to 424 loads compared to the previous year. This prompted the DC to highlight that ‘‘maize will be planted extensively by the natives during the coming year’’ (KNA/DC/ELGM/1/1)
The period from conquest to 1922 can be said to have been a period of experimentation as far as crop cultivation is concerned. The colonial government was trying to experiment on which type of crops will do well in Keiyo and at the same time best suit their interest of integrating the
Keiyo people into commodity production which will later lead to the incorporation into the international capitalist economy. By 1918, the estimated area under cultivation was about 1500 acres (KNA/DC/ELGM/1/1). Chief crops continued to be Eleusine grain, millet (very small quantity), Tobacco (very small quantity), maize, beans, sweet potatoes and pumpkins. Maize was
73 planted in Kerio valley in areas such as Turesia and was planted in February with the help of irrigation from water furrows which were numerous in the district. In the highlands of Chepkorio and Irong, experimental crops of wheat, hill rice, oats and Lucerne grass were planted.
By 1922, the area under cultivation had increased slightly to 5,000 acres from 1,500 recorded in
1918 (KNA/DC/ELGM/1/1). The main crops grown, however, in small quantities still remain to be eleusine grain, millet and maize. These crops grew quite satisfactorily but in some locations the acreage planted were inadequate and food shortage occurred. Farms were prepared for the most part by individuals or small parties. Communal farms were planted in some locations (in
Mutei and Kwachi particularly).
Going forward from 1922, efforts were being made to interest the Keiyo in new crops. Small plots were being prepared in practically every location for the introduction of these crops. The growing of maize and other new crops being introduced was still in little quantity. The colonial government hoped that with the introduction of a resident officer and continual prodding, the
Keiyo will be induced shortly to grow other crops. The year 1922 therefore saw the separation of
Elgeyo-Marakwet from Uasin-Gishu district and the posting of a new District Commissioner to be stationed at Tambach (Massam, 1968:1). In this year, Elgeyo and Marakwet Sub-Districts of
Uasin Gishu were merged to form Elgeyo-Marakwet District with tambach as the Head Quarter
(PC/RVP/2/8/7).
By 1928, maize was doing well in major parts of Keiyo highlands except in the open country towards Sergoit (KNA/DC/ELGM/1/2). It appeared very popular and would be more so were more facilities for grinding available. Sweet potatoes, beans and buck wheat had also become popular. In the same year, there was one African owned plough in Keiyo sub-district. During the
74 same year in Kiptani in the valley, locust invasion was experienced in May (Ibid). This brought a great damage to crops. At the end of June, however, a locust officer arrived and with the help of the Keiyo, annihilated the situation.
Owing to higher amount of rainfall experienced in 1929, excellent crops of maize and potatoes were reaped throughout the higher levels of Keiyo sub-district. Sorghum grown under irrigation in the valley also gave ample harvest whilst millet too did well (KNA/DC/ELGM/1/2). A ton of sweet potatoes was issued to the locations near Tambach at the same time and this did extremely well. Every effort was made to encourage the Keiyo to grow more and more maize and potatoes to the gradual exclusion of millet and sorghum. Maize mills were purchased and installed at points throughout the district to help popularize maize growing (Ibid). The colonial administration was therefore slowly transforming the Keiyo from a community that relied predominantly on their indigenous crops like sorghum and millet to one that rely on maize and other European crops like English potatoes .
In addition to maize mills, a number of Keiyo had become plough owners by 1929. This process alarmed the colonial administration at Tambach. Permits to purchase these two important implements was restricted with the argument that it would lead to the depletion of land and a shortage of grazing (KNA/DC/ELGM/1/4). It appears, however, that the restriction was not enforced as by 1936 twenty four farmers in the reserve owned ploughs. There was also a combine harvester, six ox- carts and a diesel engine maize grinding mill (Ibid). By 1938, maize had become so popular that almost all homesteads had hand grinding maize mills (Ibid). In 1939, maize and potatoes continued to be highly produced in the Keiyo highlands. In the Kerio Valley, the yellow type of maize which was quick maturing was grown. The number of plough owners also increased. In 1939 alone, six progressive inhabitants of Mutei, Irong and Kapchemutwa
75 purchased ploughs, a combined harvester and other such implements with which they ploughed up large stretches of land on top of the escarpment (KNA/DC/ELGM/1/4). This gives an exemplary indication of how capital accumulation was penetrating in Keiyoland.
By 1944, the new crops that had taken root in Keiyo, included coast ground nuts, grass seeds and barley. Rainfall was however rather patchy in the first half of 1944 but heavier than usual in the last four months. Crops were however good in the whole year with the exception of ground nuts.
In 1945, the District Commissioner at Tambach, D.Storr, banned the use of ploughs
(KNA/DC/TAMB/1/9/8). He argued that, the plough enabled the Keiyo to cultivate too much land including grazing land, in the hope of getting a quick return for cash. He further maintained that, ploughing left insufficient grazing for stock leading to unbalanced agriculture, soil erosion and food deficiency (ibid). However, it can be argued that D.Storr was alarmed by Keiyo’s large scale growing of wheat and maize which embarrassed the settlers in the plateau. A survey showed that 519 acres had been so planted with wheat and maize (KNA/DC/ELGM/1/3).
The colonial administration at Tambach further demanded that, whatever had been produced had to be sold to government appointed agents. For example, UCDB and Nandi Butchery were appointed to purchase English potatoes from the Keiyo. In a letter to all chiefs, Fox warned that if potatoes are sold to buyers indiscriminately the sellers will be arrested
(KNA/DC/TAMB/1/9/8). Such threats were a good indication that a good deal of ‘illegal’ selling was going on for example at Kaptagat and Kipkabus, where the Keiyo sold their potatoes to Kikuyu forest squatters who even offered higher prices than the appointed agent. According to
Van Zwanenberg, colonial policy during this period was aimed at the curtailment of the economic development of African production in order that settler production be stimulated (Van
Zwanenberg, 1972:223).
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From the foregoing discussion, it can be argued that as the Keiyo showed signs of adopting progressive agricultural methods under harsh colonial conditions, the colonial administration at
Tambach attempted to confine their agricultural production within limits that would complement but not compete with settler agriculture. The Keiyo however, were resilient and applied appropriate technology like the plough and sought markets far away from their immediate environment.
In 1946, oats and sunflower had been tried out successfully in the high country of Keiyo whereas pineapples were planted in the valley. In Chepkorio, potatoes formed a very profitable cash crop same as in Marichor where the inhabitants used most of their available land to grow potatoes for sale in Eldoret (KNA/DC/ELGM/1/4). Wheat was predominantly grown in Irong areas. In 1949, rainfall for the year was 8.46 inches more than the past year. As a result, good crop yields of maize, wheat and potatoes were realized particularly in Irong. In 1950, in spite of the bad rains, harvest was reasonably good. A large quantity of potatoes and a very small quantity of maize was exported to Kabarnet and Eldoret. Some wheat was grown but the harvest was not particularly good (Ibid). By the end of 1950, more and more young people had migrated to the highlands leaving the elderly in 75% possession of the valley. There was increased planting of cash crops (wheat, maize and potatoes) which made the land available for food for home consumption even less.
Crop production in 1952 was affected by the dry spell that was experienced. This affected food situation in the region. Maize production was discouraging and from the main growing area, along the edge of the escarpment, it was very disappointing. The growing of bananas in the valley was increasing. Concerning wheat, about 1,200 bags of the crop were sold to K.F.A between 1951 and 53. This was below average due to the late rains. The 1953 harvest was good
77 due to planting on the contour with planter and the use of phosphate fertilizer
(KNA/DC/ELGM/2/6). There was also an increased acreage in Marichor Location and the
Assistant Agricultural Officer reported that there was progress of smallholdings in this location.
Wind erosion and over cultivation for cash in Irong was also reported (Ibid).
As at 1954, the amount of rainfall received was above average. 1,000 acres of wheat was planted in Irong and Chepkorio. A wheat Growers Co-operative Society was also formed. This society acquired a loan of 2,000 sterling pounds from the African District Council and used it to purchase a Massey Harris self-propelled Combine harvester (Ibid). This was able to harvest 500 acres of wheat in Irong location and another 500 acres in Chepkorio. In Irong, 200 further acres of wheat were combined by a local Elgeyo who owned an old machine. The average yields in
Irong were good. Many of the planters were getting ten bags to the acre (per acre) when phosphates or manure had been used (Ibid). In the same year, 22,000 bags of potatoes were exported from Chepkorio market up to the end of September at an average price of Sh.20/= per bag. All these were grown in smallholdings around the market and this, according to the 1954
Elgeyo annual report, was a considerable amount of money circulating in such a small area
(KNA/DC/ELGM/2/6).
Cotton was grown experimentally at Chepkum and according to the Cotton officer’s report, the crop was one of the best seen in Kenya. The plants were 4-5ft. in height and well developed. The cotton crop was complete and there were very few losses higher on the plant. Most of the bolls were open and amount of stain negligible. According to the DC, ‘‘a conservative estimate of the yield would be 800lb. seed cotton per acre while in some cases it will be considerably more’’
(KNA/DC/ELGM/2/6). Wattle trees were also planted but the amount exported from the district was negligible. Pyrethrum on the other hand was grown in demonstration plots (ibid). However
78 in 1955, there was an increased acreage of pyrethrum especially in Chepkorio areas. Oat sowing for cattle food also increased (Ibid).
Wheat acreage by 1955 had increased from 1,000 to 1,500 acres. Forty tons of phosphates were
1/ used and in spite of difficult weather conditions in the year, the yields were average, about 4 2 bags to the acre. Popularity of cassava too was increasing in the valley and more was planted during the year. This was a valuable relief crop in case of famine (KNA/DC/ELGM/2/6). In
1957, the rainfall experienced was generally above average but so badly distributed that yields were generally below average. In the Kerio valley, wimbi crop was satisfactory as also were beans and cassava. Bananas and groundnuts both showed a small surplus and the former were sold in fair quantities to the Keiyo in the highlands (Ibid). Wheat, pyrethrum and potatoes remained the main cash crops of the district. There was a steady annual increase in production of pyrethrum and a Pyrethrum Co-operative Society was formed in Chepkorio to help in its marketing (KNA/MSS/115/47). In Mosop and southern Irong, excellent vegetables were grown although marketing was a problem.
In 1958, rainfall was well above average as 68.81 inches was recorded in Tambach station, highest since 1951. The only disadvantage though was the excessive moisture in Mosop which affected the October potato crop (KNA/DC/ELGM/2/6). Maize production was outstandingly good and it was estimated that there was a surplus of 2,000 bags. Wheat did extremely well too and much of it was due to the increased use of phosphates of which 700 bags were purchased by wheat co-operatives. Pyrethrum similarly had a good harvest. In the same year, improved varieties of potatoes were introduced and the production of seed potatoes encouraged (Ibid). In
1959, rainfall was generally about average in the Keiyo sub-district as 46 and 64 inches was recorded in Tambach and Chepkorio respectively. This rainfall was once more poorly
79 distributed. The harvests though were generally good. Early planted wheat did well, an offtake of
7 to 8 bags per acre being common. Pyrethrum was becoming extremely popular in the highlands and the acreage had reached over 230 acres by end of 1959 (KNA/ELGM/2/6).By 1962, it had become a major cash crop in areas like Chepkorio and Kaptarakwa (KNA/MSS/115/25/47).
Enthusiasm for the crop had been increasing for some years and it grew very well during 1962 season (Ibid).
In conclusion the period under review can be said to have been a one of integration of Keiyo’s agriculture into the colonial system in order to meet the demands of the colonial government as well as to compliment settler agriculture. In the next chapter, crop development is looked at from the post-colonial period in order to bring out the changes that transpired during this period.
3.5 Animal Husbandry
The establishment of colonial rule had a great impact on pastoralism among the Keiyo. The earlier livestock practices discussed in chapter two were put in disarray as the colonial practices started to impact negatively on the Keiyo’s pastoral economy. They were pushed to areas in the valley that were not suited to livestock as they were prone to diseases and tsetse fly attacks.
The Keiyo, however, continued to keep cattle, sheep and goats as part of their livestock economy. As per the 1920 Annual Report on the Elgeyo sub-district, there were approximately
15,000 cattle and 50,000 sheep and goats in the Keiyo Reserves. In these Reserves, Rinderpest was prevalent during the year and this led to a loss of 25-35% of the Keiyo’s cattle
(KNA/DC/ELGM/1/1). In 1922, a few donkeys had been brought in Keiyo by the Elgeyo repatriated from among the Maasai. During this year, the Keiyo experienced shortage of grazing land for their livestock. This made them to make claim to the right to graze in the Grogan
80 concession, their former grazing areas. This was however not granted. Some of them decided to move out of the Keiyo Reserves to settler farms with their cattle to squat in order to acquire pasture for the cattle (Ibid). As per the annual report of 1922, Keiyo’s cattle counted were 21,862 as shown in Table 3.1. Sheep and goats were estimated to be 50,000 (KNA/DC/ELGM/1/1).
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Table 3.1: Elgeyo’s cattle count by 1922.
Section Number of cattle Mutei 2,643 Kapsamiaka 1,015 Irong 2,005 Kapkoiwa 919 Kapchemutwa 998 Rokocho 610 Sego 828 Chang’ach 370 Marichor 2,275 Mweni 480 Kawach 492 Tumeiyo 1,224 Maoi 1,703 Kapkowin 3,493 Metkei 2,807 Grand Total 21,862
Source: KNA/DC/ELGM/ 1/1
In 1926, Rinderpest broke out again in the valley and it was impossible to arouse the interest of the Veterinary Department in time before it had decimated the cattle. Goat Scab, Heart Water and Pneumonia killed many thousand goats and sheep to the extent that Veterinary officer from
Eldoret was invited to investigate. A temporary dip was made from zinc bath and dipping started at Tambach (KNA/DC/ ELGM/ 1/2). In 1927, the scab that had been so prevalent in the Kerio
Valley had in some cases wiped out all the goats belonging to some sections of the Elgeyo. The mortality was very high and the disease was still existing in the south end of the valley by end of
1927 (Ibid). In 1928, there was endemic East Coast Fever, (ECF) that took a very heavy toll of
82 calves. Metkei hill side, Valley grazing areas and Sergoit areas were heavily infected. As a result, Elgeyo reserve was put under quarantine for ECF.
In 1930, 5,750 head of cattle in Elgeyo were inoculated. This figure did not include native- owned cattle being herded on farms under the provisions of the Resident Native Labourers
Ordinance. As a result, very few deaths amongst the cattle treated were reported to have followed inoculation. In the following year, however, the district was placed under quarantine for
Trypanosomiasis following the death of certain Government Oxen at Tambach. As a result, no cattle were allowed to leave and none to enter the district except with the permission of the
Veterinary Officer based at Eldoret (KNA/DC/ELGM/1/2). This coupled with the limited grazing areas as a result of alienation of Keiyo’s grazing areas for settler development hampered the migration of Keiyo with their cattle to other areas to look for pasture therefore curtailing their economy.
In 1936, severe mortality from Black Quarter in locations of Mutei, Kapchemutwa and Metkei were experienced. No rinderpest inoculations were carried out and most locations also suffered heavy calf mortality from ECF (KNA/DC/ELGM/1/3). Sheep and goats suffered badly from a very virulent type of scab disease which caused heavy mortality. The Assistant Stock Inspector,
Mr. Hill, carried out a stock census and the final figure is as shown in Table 3.2.
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Table 3.2: Results of Stock Census in Keiyo, 1936.
Type of cattle Number Old Bulls 3,213 Young Bulls 4,315 old Bullock 3,464 Young Bullock 1,397 Old Cows 3,054 Young Cows 19,851 Heifers 7,857 Male Calves 4,192 Female Calves 5,066 Total 52,409 Source: (KNA/DC/ELGM/1/3)
The information from Table3.2 demonstrates that despite the challenges experienced by the
Keiyo, their cattle had more than doubled compared to the figure in 1922. This however posed a danger of overgrazing in the Reserves. The Keiyo herders of Chepkorio were however lucky as the Forest Department handed over the Chepkorio grazing area to them and also permitted them to use the Kabelat salt lick in the Grogan concession. A dairy, though in its initial stages was also established. The Keiyo in Rokocho area were however evacuated and the grazing area handed over to the Forest Department (KNA/DC/ELGM/1/3). In 1937, they were together with the
Keiyo of Marichor, Tumeiyo and Mutei required to pay large sums of fees (Sh.3,776 cumulatively) in order to graze in the glades of South Elgeyo Forest Reserve (Ibid). In Metkei,
Overstocking was experienced and mortality among sheep and goats continued to be high. No stock markets had been established in the Reserves and all stock were being auctioned in Eldoret or to Farmers who came into the Reserve. Dairy buildings in Metkei, Mutei and Irong were established in the year (Ibid).
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Livestock economy among the Keiyo experienced a turbulent period in 1938. This was as a result of cattle diseases as well as lack of grazing. At the beginning of the year, Foot and Mouth disease was common throughout the highland though little mortality was reported. Black Quarter was also prevalent and many deaths occurred. E.C.F too killed a number of calves. Rinderpest broke out at Chepkorio and continued till the end of the year. Marichor, Tumeiyo, Rokocho and
Metkei were also affected (KNA/DC/ELGM/1/4). The following year also continued to be one of the worst from a cattle point of view as grazing suffered the dual depredations of locusts and drought. As a result, there was acute shortage of milk and the Keiyo were unable to bleed their cattle (Ibid). A dairy was established at Lelan but due to shortage of milk in the year, the production of ghee was very small. A model dairy was also installed at Tambach School in the hope that some of the Pupils when they left school would start dairies on their own in the
Reserves. In the same year, a series of Rinderpest inoculations throughout the Elgeyo sub-district were carried out by a veterinary staff posted to assist the Veterinary Officer from Eldoret. These inoculations started in January in south Elgeyo and ended in June in Sergoit in the northern part of Elgeyo sub-district (Ibid). With regard to grazing, the Keiyo continued to hire grazing from the Forest Department in south Elgeyo and any individual whose cattle was found trespassing in the forest was fined. By 1942, cattle population was estimated to at least 100,000 and the grazing areas were heavily overstocked (KNA/DC/ELGM/1/5). The colonial economy therefore interfered with the Keiyo’s livestock economy by limiting their grazing areas through various legislations like Grogan Concession that benefited the colonial investors like agricultural settlers and saw millers.
Heavy mortality of cattle experienced in the early part of 1943 led to a great reduction in their numbers to a tentative estimate of 50,000 heads as compared 100,000 a year ago
85
(KNA/DC/ELGM/1/6). As a result, a universal inoculation against Rinderpest was undertaken throughout the district in the latter part of the year. Vast majority of cattle were immunized.
Branding was also done at Sh.1/= per head. New crushes for inoculation and branding were built at Labot, Kessup and Chepkorio (Ibid).The year 1944 was probably a good year for cattle in
Elgeyo as there was no Rinderpest mostly attributed to the inoculation done in the previous year.
There was however some mortality caused by Black Quarter and Anthrax. In Metkei, Marichor,
Mutei, Irong, Kapchemutwa and Talai, crushes were built in 1946 in preparation for the proposed census. The Census was completed in early 1948 and this revealed a most alarming state of affairs in Keiyo’s livestock economy. The figures were 96,412 heads of cattle and
310,494 sheep and goats (KNA/DC/ELGM/1/6). The number of stock was not adequately supported by available grass. Keiyo’s livestock economy was headed for the worse.
Paddocking of the grazing areas was encouraged by the Agricultural Department as from 1948 but this was a challenge as grazing land was traditionally common land in Elgeyo. Consequently, although the Department of Agriculture saw paddocking as undoubtedly the way to improve grazing, it would seem that it had to be done communally as it was feared that if the individual was allowed to enclose the land, he will establish a de facto claim to its ownership and as a result the process may well lead to an enclosure race in which those who were quick enough or powerful enough will get all the land and the remainder will be left with nothing
(KNA/DC/ELGM/1/6). Despite these fears, heavy enclosure was experienced in Marichor in
1953 and in Muskut 100 acres of grazing land had also been enclosed. In 1956, Livestock Census was done and 118,000 cattle and 388,000 small stock were counted. This shows that in spite of the challenges of scarcity of grazing and frequent outbreak of diseases the Keiyo people were resilient. The colonial government through the Department of Agriculture reacted to this by
86 telling the Keiyo to destock. The Keiyo however did not fully heed this and voluntary sales of cattle to the supply boards was only 4,000 heads.
In Tambach, the management of the African School Farm was taken over by the Veterinary
Department and a grant of £150 was made to improve the dairy and water supply and also fencing. This farm was used as a small breeding centre for the Reserve. Improvements in the farm were made through money provided by ALDEV. These included ring fencing, Paddocking of the whole farm and development of milking shed, a ten ton silo, a calf shed, one Swaziland
Dip ( a kind of cattle dip used for dipping livestock on weekly basis to kill ticks), one store and water storage tanks. The actual stock on the farm consisted of 13 cows, 10 heifers, 3 bulls and 11 calves (7 bulls; 4 heifers). Twelve heads of cattle were bought from ALDEV funds
(KNA/DC/ELGM/1/6). In Chepkorio, a Livestock Officer, Holland, was posted to be in charge of Artificial Insemination scheme (A.I) started in 1956. The scheme was reported to have made progress despite teething troubles (KNA/DC/ELGM/1/6). Twelve heifers were found to be incalve during the year and four had calved down.
The African District Council, ADC, which was an offshoot of the LNC, played important roles in the Keiyo economy especially on livestock developmet by passing by-laws to regulate livestock industry. This included regulation on importation of exotic breeds or grade cattle to improve on the local breeds kept by the Keiyo. The ADC also legislated on various matters affecting their economy including issues to do with sales of cattle and also solved minor cases amongst the
Keiyo. In 1956 for instance, Grade By-laws were passed by the ADC and arrangements were made to import a limited number in early 1957. It was also hoped that grade European type sheep would be introduced to build the local stock.As projected, some fifty head of grade cattle mainly
Guernsey heifers were purchased in 1957 by approved smallholders and there was a marked
87 improvement of cattle management. In the following year Corriedale sheep was introduced in the highlands .This showed the willingness of the Keiyo to adopt agricultural ideas that were beneficial to their livestock economy. In Chepkorio, the A. I scheme started the previous year had led to 12 calves being born in the year. Members of the scheme visited Kabete A.I Centre for benchmarking. Livestock herders in Chepkorio were encouraged to adopt A.I as a valuable bull to serve their Grade cows would cost money and grazing space.
Towards the end of the 1950s, Enclosure movement was taking root. Destocking was also emphasized and over 15,000 cattle were auctioned in 1958 and 1959. ECF had also killed a number of grade stocks and as a result there was increase demand for drugs to protect valuable cattle. Some 100 Elgeyo owned spray pumps and notably in Irong, Swaziland type dips serving a dozen smallholders were on the increase. There were also 257 grade cattle as at 1959 most of them at Chepkorio where they benefited from A.I Scheme. By 1962, grade cattle of European type had become common in the higher altitude areas of Keiyo (KNA/MSS/115/25/47).
In conclusion, it can be argued that in spite of the challenges experienced by the Keiyo in their livestock economy during the colonial period like scarcity of grazing areas as a result of land alienation and outbreak of diseases as well as destocking pressure, they were resilient and not ready to abandon their age old practice of animal husbandry. They were however not a backward community as they adopted new ideas that changed their livestock industry like A.I. and rearing of Grade cattle and sheep.
3.6 Taxation and Labour Re-organization
According to the colonial government, the economic prosperity of Kenya depended on European settler production which required heavy labour inputs. Labour ranked second in settlers needs
88 after land, and it was a subject of heated exchanges between the settlers and the colonial administration (Maxon, 1968:45). Settler agriculture in the initial years was not stable. The only way it could survive its infancy was through the utilization of labour intensive methods.
European settlers needed large numbers of African agricultural workers who were vital if their agricultural economy was to thrive. The African laborer did not avail himself readily.
Combinations of financial and political legislation were employed in order to create adequate labour supply within the colony.
Taxation was a major mechanism used to draw Africans into labour market. Hut tax was introduced in 1901 while in 1910 Poll tax was imposed. The taxes were not only meant to raise government revenue, but to force African men to work, either for the colonial government or settlers for wages. Land alienation and taxation culminated into a systematic impoverishment of
African and many had no alternative but to seek wage labour. By 1914, for instance, almost all the land in the western highlands of Keiyo had been given out to the British and Afrikaner settlers. Many of these settlers recruited Keiyo laborers to clear part of their newly acquired huge farms (KNA/DC/UG/1/1).
Among the Keiyo, squatting was popular among the elderly wealthy men who had a large number of livestock. The motivation for squatting included; search for additional land for grazing and desire to return and live in alienated land without the constraint of the government administration (Massam, 1968:128, Chebet and Diets, 2000:137, Kiplel Sambu, 0.I, 2016).
Squatting was known as Ketebenblue in Keiyo because they were required to thumb print using a blue pad as they did not know how to write or sign their names (Kiplel Sambu, 0.I. February 6,
2016).
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There were those who sought employment so as to get the means of paying taxes. These were mainly the young men over the age of 16 years who were expected to pay poll tax. The Keiyo were not ready to engage in employment in the initial period. In 1917, four years after the transfer of the administration of the Keiyo from Eldama Ravine to Eldoret in Uasin Gishu, the assistant District Commissioner for Marakwet together with the Assistant District Commissioner from Eldoret, shared the responsibility for the Keiyo area with the intention of increasing the pressure on the Keiyo men to “get out and work”. In 1918, the pressure yielded some results and about fifty Keiyo men worked in Eldoret town while forty harvested flax for settlers in the highlands. In 1920, labour participation had increased to 559 Keiyo on registered contracts of one to three months and 200 on verbal contracts (KNA/DC/ELGM/1/1). This was close to 20 per cent of all adult Keiyo men.
It is worth noting that the coming of the white man brought a lot of changes among the Keiyo which greatly affected the lifestyle of the population. In 1918, for instance, payment for squatting and taxes in kind was abolished and replaced with taxes derived from public works or settler farms for wage abour and after that by payment of taxes in monetary terms, mainly the
Rupees and later the shilling. When taxation had become an accepted practice in 1919, the hut tax was increased from three to five Rupees, or a full month of work at settler’s farm. Between
1912 and 1921, the total tax money collected from the Keiyo was more than 200,000 Rupees, of which the hut and poll taxes were by far the most important source of revenue (DC/ELG/1/1).
The extent of taxation was equivalent to in real terms, 65,000 goats or at least 3,000 years of full labour, or 1,000 full bride wealth payments according to the prevailing Keiyo custom. The hut tax not only resulted in selling animals including bullocks to white farmers, but also the selling of labour power to white settlers. It also had a direct negative effect on the living conditions of
90 the Keiyo families who, in the attempt of avoiding paying hut tax demolished their structures as a way of resisting and crowded together. Demolition of goats’ huts also meant that goats had to share the main hut with the family, resulting in poor hygiene (KNA/PC/RVP/2/8/3). The penetration of colonial capitalism was therefore progressively throwing the Keiyo’s pre-colonial economy and lifestyle into disequilibrium.
The outbreak of the First World War also had profound effects on the Keiyo’s labour pattern.
The division of labour was disrupted. A large number of newly initiated age-set of Nyongi age group were recruited to join the carrier corps to participate in war between the British and
Germans in Tanganyika which was locally referred to as the” war of Tabora” (Massam, 1968:
29). The initial recruits who joined were recruited voluntarily. This was because warrior activities had been rendered redundant by the colonial state. When voluntary labour to serve in the army was no longer forthcoming, direct coercion was used to recruit labour into the carrier corps (Maxon, 1993:96).
Chiefs ensured that the needed labour was available by capturing young people and forcing them to join the army (Chemase Arusei, O.I. December 20, 2015). There was generally a high demand for fighting men as well as porters to serve in K.A.R. Due to the poor conditions and high mortality rate of the carrier corps, work in the settler farms became particularly popular (Maxon
1993:96). Squatting became a more attractive alternative.
From the foregoing discussion, the widespread exodus of manpower due to taxation and World
War I adversely affected production in Keiyo land. Women and elderly men were left in the reserve to carry out all the agricultural activities. Due to extraction of labour, coupled with land alienation and famine of 1917 to 1920, African crop production declined. Women and elderly
91 men started carrying out all cultivation and cattle keeping duties, leading to a decline in crop production. In 1919, the colonial government began to enforce passed Northey labour circulars which legalized forced labour in Kenya. Northey, the Governor of the British East Africa
Proctectorate in 1919 had instructed government officials to coerce African labour to work on settler-owned farms and estates. This had far reaching ramification on Kenya in general and
Keiyo in particular as their agriculture and livestock sector was affected due to shortage of labour.
3.7 Changes in Agricultural exchange
Agricultural trade, which was primarily barter in nature prior to colonialism, was transformed as the Keiyo economy was monetized through the introduction of Rupees (Rs.) and later shillings
(Shs.). The colonial administration through the various District Commissioners encouraged monetization as it was considered necessary to get the Keiyo accustomed to rupees locally known as Ropia in the local dialect.
A number of factors affected agricultural trade during this period. They included colonial policies like destocking, money requirement for payment of hut tax and quarantine. Natural calamities like famine too influenced trading. In 1919, the sale of bullocks was fairly large owing to famine. The Europeans took advantage by buying cheaply sold bullocks by the Keiyo, and eventually fattening them and thereafter selling them at very high prices. In the same year, 300 goats and sheep were sold at an average price of Rs.4/= (KNA/DC/ ELGM/1/1). In October
1919, Keiyo Reserve was put in absolute quarantine for all livestock .There was one licensed stock trader in the reserve and five petty traders. Trade was carried on in skins with petty traders from Eldama Ravine (Ibid). During the early stages of colonialism, agricultural trade had not
92 been purely monetized. In 1922 for instance, exchange of cattle for goats or bulls for heifers was still taking place (Ibid).
In 1926, cattle trade was restricted as a result of an order which disallowed the introduction of female stock. This was made necessary by the colonial administration in order to check overstocking (KNA/DC/ELGM/1/1). The order was later relaxed and the introduction of female stock was left to the discretion of the District administration. Some 400 bullocks were sold for cash though it was impossible to get accurate figures. The figures for the sheep and goat trade were also hard to arrive at. Trade in livestock in the year was very little owing to the very heavy mortality caused by diseases (Ibid). There was also some trade in hides carried out mainly by the
Swahili. An agricultural trading centre was developed at Kamariny in the same year. In 1928, a scheme was started whereby the Keiyo disposed of their surplus cattle by periodical auctions at
Kamariny (KNA/DC/ELGM/1/2).
In 1929, seven stock traders licenses were issued at Tambach to Somali and eight to others. A number of Nubians, Arabs, Kikuyu and Kamba were issued with Hawker’s licenses selling posho/poshek (flour). There were two Somali and one Indian owned shop at Tambach whilst there were two native owned stores. The foodstuffs grown in the Sub-District were consumed by the inhabitants themselves and the surplus sold to their neighbours in Baringo and Marakwet
(KNA/DC/ELGM/1/2). One Elgeyo owned a lorry with which he did transport business. Prices for varied items varied. Posho retailed at Shs.6 in Tambach per load while hides fetched Shs.2 to
Shs.6 whereas skins retailed at Shs.1 to Shs.2 each. Three stock sales were held at Kamariny during the year in an endeavor to dispose of some of the surplus cattle within the Reserve (Ibid).
In 1931, a large bunch of cattle were auctioned at Kamariny as a result of the colonial administration’s policy on sale by auction. The prices realized ranged from shs.15/= to Shs.75/=,
93 the average being Shs.30/= or half what it was the previous year, thanks to trade depression
(KNA/DC/ELGM/1/2).
In 1932, trade in agriculture was practically at a stand still. The effects of the economic depression had set in. At Tambach, the Indian owned shop depended mainly on Government employees for its support. Of the two Somali owned shops, one had been closed and the other only engaged in the sale of meat (KNA/DC/ELGM/1/2). In order to facilitate the payment of tax, sales of cattle were held monthly during the latter part of the year at Kamariny. The average price for a bullock from Elgeyo was Shs.15/=. For sales held at Tambach, a sheep fetched only
Shs.2/= and goats Shs.3/= (Ibid). The number of cattle exported from the district during the year was 2,271 and that of sheep and goats 1,578. The price of posho fell from Shs.10/= per bag to
Shs.6.50/= at the end of 1932 (Ibid). The World Economic Depression was taking a great toll on agricultural exchanges in Keiyo.
By 1935, itinerant traders purchasing hides and skins were plentiful and several Europeans were also buying bullocks in the Reserve. The prices for these had shown slight improvement. Hides and skins were also exported to Eldoret in small quantities (KNA/DC/ELGM/1/3). There was also a considerable sale of hand mills, an estimate of about 50 in Elgeyo (Ibid). Gourds and grains too were sold to the Turkana. Cattle trade was often done by farmers visiting the Reserve and buying oxen. In 1937, there were a few native shops in various parts of the Reserve and; several hide sheds had come up. The supply of hides was however still low as hides played a large part in the domestic economy of the Keiyo so much so that there was seldom any surplus for sale. Stock trading in the district was on the increase in 1939. Numerous Kikuyu traders already in possession of stock trading licenses applied for passes to enter the District while a
94 number of Elgeyo too exported their own sheep and goats for sale at Kaptagat where there were a lot of kikuyu forest squatters ready to purchase small stock (KNA/DC/ELGM/1/4).
After the outbreak of the War in 1939, the prices of various commodities were controlled
(KNA/DC/ELGM/1/4). With the end of the war, there was increased demand for small native shops. Most ex-soldiers fancied themselves as shopkeepers probably due to a temporary excess of cash in the form of Army gratuities and accumulated pay (KNA/DC/ELGM/1/6). There was also a large export of potatoes from the Chepkorio area (Ibid). In 1948, markets were constructed by the Local Native Council (LNC) at Bugar, Chepkorio, Iten, Kapteren, and Kamwosor (Ibid).
In 1949, the exports included cattle sold at average price of Shs.71/=, potatoes at Shs.10 per bag, wheat at Shs.55/= per bag and maize at Shs.21 (as posho) per bag. The Elgeyo Sub-District was not so much an importer of foodstuffs except for sugar which was allocated on a monthly basis of 170 bags per month at a cost of Shs.65/= per bag (KNA/DC/ELGM/1/6).
In 1950, large amount of potatoes and some wheat and maize were exported by the Keiyo. Maize was sent to Baringo District and many Suk (Pokot) and Tugen came to the District to buy. Over
5,000 head of cattle (including squatter stock) to a value of about Shs.500,000/= ( 25,000 sterling pounds) and a hundred of sheep and goats were also exported (KNA/DC/ELGM/1/6). Export of hides and skins had also improved. About 2,000 bags of sugar came in as well as flour, tea, coffee and maize mills. Arrangements were made for marketing the small surplus of maize and wheat with the Kenya Farmers Association (K.F.A) in Eldoret. A Cess was levied on both and collected through the K.F.A and maize Controller. Several markets and trading shops had developed in 1950, the best being at Chepkorio. Kite Arap Tiren was building a good brick shop in Tambach which put the Indians to shame (Ibid). He was persuaded to put in glass windows.
This depicted the entrepreneurial nature of the Keiyo people.
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In 1952, there was very little export of maize or other foodstuffs owing to the dry spell experienced in the year as well as the banning of its export due to the threat of a food shortage
(KNA/DC/ELGM/1/6). The ban continued the following year. The exemptions were wheat and potatoes for which fair quantities were exported, particularly from Chepkorio and Irong areas.
There was also a marked increase in the export of hides and skins (KNA/DC/ELGM/1/6). All the markets in the district were resurveyed by the District Officer (D.O.) and the African District
Council Secretary with a view to having them set apart.
Towards the end of the 1950s, the Keiyo suffered from the effects of the recession in prices.
Nevertheless stock to the value of 80,000 Sterling Pounds were exported in 1958.The value of agricultural produce and hides and skins were worth some 200,000 Sterling Pounds.
Commodities generally found ready markets.
In conclusion, it is evidenced from the foregoing discussion that by the end of the colonial administration, the Keiyo’s trade in agriculture had been transformed through integration into the world capitalist economy characterized by unequal exchange. Their agricultural economy was also exposed to recession and fluctuation of agricultural prices.
3.8 The War Years and its Implication on the Keiyo Economy
The outbreak of the Second World War had a profound impact on the Keiyo as well as many other ethnic groups. It engendered conditions which led to a complete re-orientation of Kenya’s economy to meet the dictates of the war. There was an urgent need to further sensitize the economy to the needs of the metropole. In this regard, therefore, the Kenya colonial economy was now completely subordinated to that of Britain, a measure intended to render the latter resilient to the disruptive effect of the war.
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The governors of Kenya during this period i.e. Robert Brooke (1936 – 1939; Henry Monck –
Mason (1940 – 1944) and Philip Mitchell (1944 – 1952) emphasized this role of the colonies.
Robert Brooke, for instance, had this to say:
Help Great Britain by every means in our power especially by ensuring that we are ready to face any eventuality , that we continue to be self – sufficient in all essential foodstuff and in so far as we are able to produce what Great Britain wants most ( Zeleza, 1989: 144).
The outbreak of the war forced the colonial government in Kenya to mobilize resources, both material and manpower for the purposes of the war (Ibid: 145). The overriding policy was to maintain internal self-sufficiency while at the same time realizing surplus for the purpose of the war. The coming of the war acted to stimulate settler agriculture and subjected African agriculture to mixed fortunes. When the war broke out, European settlers were determined that their principal contribution to the war effort could be mainly through increased agricultural production. It must be pointed out that this settler ambition to capitalize on the war to establish a formidable basis for their agriculture required firm support from the colonial government. On its part, the colonial government displayed a co-operative attitude which acted as a spur to settler agriculture. This was done by availing labour and by maintaining differential marketing policies which benefited settler production (Ibid).
During the war period, the fortunes of the Keiyo especially in agricultural production fluctuated.
Male labour was uprooted from rural areas and women, children and the elderly were left to perform all the herding and agriculture work. Their labour was over stretched since the colonial administration expected them to increase animal and crop production in order to meet the war demands. This intent was seen through the campaigns launched by the government for the local people to increase production of basic grains especially maize. These efforts to intensify
97 cultivation must be seen as measures aimed at ensuring self-sufficiency and at the same time affording surpluses for the war effort. Settler produce fetched much more in monetary terms than African produce.
It is worth noting that by fixing lower prices for African produce, it prevented them from taking all advantage of wartime economic opportunities. In Keiyo, some people reacted to these low prices by withholding their produce although the majority had no alternative but to accept the depressed prices. This was the only way they would meet colonial obligation like payment of taxes (Kimutai Arap Tunoi, O.I. February 6, 2016).
Agriculture in Keiyo during the war also suffered from the negative effects of requisitioning that was brought about by World War II. They were required to contribute to the war effort directly, by giving foodstuff ranging from maize flour, maize seeds and beans and livestock to feed those engaged in war. In most cases, this was a compulsory obligation which was done by ordering the chiefs to supply the targeted quota of foodstuff or even bulls. A policy of individual requisition was adopted rather than voluntary sales (DC/ELGM/1/6). As a result, even those who had withheld their produce in relation to the miserable and depressed prices were eventually compelled to give in to the exploitative demands of the colonial administration.
From the above discussions, it can be argued that while the World War II created the pressure for growing more food crops in the reserves, the demands made by the same war led to an increase in the outflow of surplus from the Keiyo. This surplus outflow expressed itself in terms of requisitioning for grain and cattle.
The war provided an impetus to the development of settler agriculture. The need for essential commodities as a war effort led to the provision of credit facilities like loans to bolster the settler
98 sector. The European settler agriculture directly benefited. Their agriculture was mechanized at a fast rate. High prices were also offered for agricultural and livestock products. All crops important to the war were purchased at high prices. The African agricultural sector was subordinated to that of the settler economy. There was little encouragement made by the colonial administration to help African agriculture and economy in general.
Settler production was given more encouragement than any other group. The war increased settler political power which they used to safeguard their economic interests (Zeleza, 1989:146).
In addition, the money voted for by the colonial authorities hardly reached the rural areas as it was hindered by European settlers. The argument was that encouragement of African production would lead to over production and hence worsen the problem of soil erosion (ibid: 149).
The purchase of commodities was organized by the metropolitan government. By the end of the war, almost all the exports of Britain’s colonial empire were being purchased by the government department in London. Colonial government established marketing boards and other public agents that set producer prices and quotas to purchase commodities for the colonies. For instance, the Maize and Producer Control Board was created in Kenya and it guaranteed minimum maize prices. For the first time, settler producers were in a position of being able to sell everything they could produce at profitable prices.
On the other hand, the war subjected African agriculture to mixed fortunes. There was the need to maintain internal self – sufficiency while at the same time realizing surplus to encourage agriculture production in African areas. African agriculture though was subordinated to the settler agriculture as the latter had more access to the colonial administrations facilities like loans and farm machinery.
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3.9 War Aftermath and Change of Colonial Attitude towards African Agriculture (1945-
1963).
During the Second World War, agricultural production in Kenya as a whole was spurred by the
British government policy of meeting the heavy demand for food to feed the troops both outside and inside East Africa. As a result, therefore, agricultural lands suffered immensely from soil erosion, degradation and exhaustion. Post-war agricultural policy was partly a reaction to this situation in the African rural areas and included measures aimed at soil conservation.
After the war, the colonial government began a gradual process of agricultural re-organization of African areas. This was seen through efforts like African Land Development Programme
(ALDEV) and the initiation of Swynnerton Plan in 1954 which allowed African peasants to grow cash crops and engage in small-holder farming. This period saw the change of colonial attitude towards agricultural production in African areas. This was as a result of the increase pressure for decolonization. In Keiyo, the posting of an Assistant Agricultural officer in 1948 attests to this.
And as a result of the active measures undertaken by the full time Assistant Agricultural officer, there were considerable advances in Agricultural methods as well as more confidence by the
Keiyo in the aims of the government and Local Native Council orders (LNC) and a better understanding of the main problems facing the Reserve. As Kitching, (1980: 102) puts it more concerted efforts were put in social conservation measures in the African areas, many of which had deteriorated visibly during the war. Change became more pronounced in attitude of both the
Keiyo and colonialists. The colonialists saw how the Keiyo had adopted a more radical thinking
100 towards political and socio – economic aspects as the independence period drew near( Chebet and Dietz. 2000:159). They had to succumb to the changing attitude of the Keiyo elite in all aspects of life. The role played by educated elite, the enlightened farmers and businessmen was enough reason to make the colonial administration and settlers change their attitude towards the
Keiyo more than ever before.
This was a period when the Keiyo settlements of the area around Irong and Chepkorio on the highlands further expanded. Pioneer Keiyo farmers became commercial cultivators of wheat, potatoes and maize. In 1949, the district annual report estimated the value of their commercial crop production to Sh.55, 000 (KNA/DC/ELGM/1/6). In 1958, this had increased to sh. 1.1 million shillings and in 1962 it had reached 2.6 million shillings.
Cash crop production included pyrethrum, beans, wattle trees and vegetables of various types. In
1962, the district crop exports had become more important than livestock exports and forestry exports combined (DC/ ELGM/1/6). The same highland farmers had been responsible for the quadrupling of cattle sales during the 1950s. For the district as a whole, the level increased from
2,000 cattle per annum to a level of 8,000 cattle per annum, with a total income for the livestock owners of 11.3 million shillings forthe period 1946 – 1962. There was also an increase in the total cattle herd. A branding census, which was undertaken in 1956, counted 119,000 cattle of which 17,000 were counted in Elgeyo Valley, 4,000 in the Marakwet Valley and 98,000 in the highlands of Elgeyo Marakwet. Also 385,000 sheep and goats had been counted of which 85,000 were in the Elgeyo valley, 99,000 in the Marakwet valley and 201, 000 in the highlands of the
Keiyo and Marakwet combined (ibid).
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The colonial government began to reluctantly support these commercial activities, which were accompanied by investments in farm and fields boundaries in the form of planting of trees for timber and poles for construction of enclosure. The colonial attitude towards the rapid expansion of highlands enclosures was ambivalent. As the D.C wrote in 1950: on the one hand ,it often means that the land is better looked after, but on the other, it will lead to a poor landless class without grazing land or ‘shambas’ ( land for cultivation) perhaps this is inevitable and even desirable(KNA/DC/ELGM/1/6). Few years later, most of the highland agricultural area had been fenced by individual farmers. A reason for the colonial government in the early 1950s to allow
Keiyo farmers to expand could have been to avoid another “trouble spot besides the Mau Mau guerilla areas and other parts of the colony.
As already noted, this period saw the colonial administration reluctantly support the African sector. This increase in government attention can be illustrated by looking at the increase in the number of agricultural staff; from one European and seven African agricultural officers in 1952 to four Europeans and seventeen African agricultural officers in 1962( Wilde, 1967: 157).
Government expenditure for agricultural administration and extension also increased from sh.
240,000 in 1952 to sh. 400,000 in 1956 and to sh 600,000 in 1960. In general, the colonial government’s involvement in the district affairs increased considerably during the late – colonial period. From 1950 until 1962, total government revenue from the district increased from a level of 650,000 shillings per annum between 1950 and 1955 to more than 2 million shillings per annum between 1956 and 1960 and close to 2.5 million shillings per annum in 1961 and 1962.
From the foregoing discussion, it can be safely argued that the post war period saw the growth of the African sector with regards to agricultural production, owing to the colonial governments
102 reluctantly supporting the sector due to the prevailing political environment in the colony as
Kenya was gearing towards independence.
More agricultural changes yet to be discussed in the following subtitles were seen through the implementation of Swynnerton plan and African Land Development Progammes (ALDEV).
3.9.1 African Land Development programme (ALDEV) 1944- 1946
After the war, the government attempted to solve the problems facing African areas. It formed the Worthington plan in 1946, which established the African Land Development programme
(ALDEV). ALDEV was established to handle the African settlement and rehabilitation programmes. The settlement schemes were established in most districts of Kenya that were considered to be suffering from over population or which had some land still affected by erosion or infected by tsetse fly. However, the impact of ALDEV was minimal as too few people were settled or benefited from such schemes. However, the establishment of ALDEV marked a significant turning point in the development of the African lands in general. Up to 1953 emphasis had been placed on land settlement as the only solution to the problems of increasing population in the African occupied areas of Kenya. Between 1953 and 1960, greater emphasis was placed on land development in general and rehabilitation of the African occupied areas in particular.
The colonial position on African agricultural development had also evolved to the degree that relative in difference was placed by ALDEV programmes to amplify the idea of land reconditioning and related activities. As early as 1942, the general plan of the agricultural work in Keiyo sub-district was to lay foundation in order that two or three years preliminary work may be saved when the large scale post-war conservation and development plans would be inaugurated (KNA/DC/ELGM 2/6). ALDEV from its inception, dealt with the deteriorating
103 forests, soil and water resources of the district and their impact on food supplies. It was the goal of ALDEV to move away from emergency relief measures and substitute with self –sustaining mechanism which would ensure an ongoing supply of foodstuffs for the Keiyo.
ALDEV also encouraged soil conservation measures. In Keiyo, Soil Conservation Service of
Eldoret was requested to send their Dam Unit and was able to construct a very successful dam in
Irong location and another one in Kondabilet. The purpose of the dam at Irong was to offset the serious erosion caused by cattle tracking to Sergoit Lake. Other conservation measures that were implemented as a result of ALDEV included planting of Kikuyu grass on contour banks as a means to control soil erosion (KNA/DC/ELGM 2/6). Paspalum notatum another contour grass was also introduced and roots of the grass which were used to propagate it were distributed to
Chebiemet, Kapchebelel and Kipsaos areas. An example of a contour farm in Elgeyo is shown in
Appendix III. Eroded areas in Simotwo valley were fenced off to prevent further damage by stock (Ibid). Planting of grass on the eroded gullies in Metkei, Tumeiyo and Kapchemutwa were also practiced. The Keiyo’s age old custom of making stone or wood terraces was also enhanced
(Ibid). Insistence was laid on the necessity of contour terracing and grass strips. Instructors were issued with books to keep records of work done in the farms. Substantial fines were imposed on perpetrators of forest and grass fires. The various new crops introduced were also rotated as a means of soil conservation. The final ALDEV programme was the establishment of settlement schemes as means of relieving overcrowded areas. The first area set aside for this purpose was
Chepkorio in the Keiyo Highlands. The area was considered capable of reasonable levels of production with appropriate agricultural methods. It was an area that had been inhabited by the
Keiyo before colonial land alienation for European settlements.
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Tree planting was undoubtedly the biggest success throughout the district e.g. the demand for tree nurseries in all locations and the planting of Eucalyptus and Backwoods in farms in
Marichor. Cypress seedlings were distributed from Chepkorio and Chebiemit and planted by the local people. There were a total of six tree nurseries established. ALDEV was also responsible for setting up of African co-operative group farming schemes. Group farms were to be farmed in accordance with what was viewed as good soil conservation practices. The schemes also acted as demonstration farms for government approved soil conservation techniques. One such demonstration farming scheme was established at Emsea in the Kerio Valley. The techniques demonstrated included fencing of harvested fields of cattle paddocks which were later rotated back to cultivation. People outside the scheme who would follow the same programme were permitted to claim and enclose land. In Chepkorio, land enclosure towards the end of 1940s was very popular. The fencing was realigned along the contour and the people were becoming more and more contour conscious. (KNA/DC/ELGM/2/6, Chepkaka, 0.I, February 6, 2016).
ALDEV as a programme can be credited for its technical accomplishments which included substantial terracing, reforestation of some of the steeply sloping land on the escarpment and improvement of water supplies. For instance, under the direction of the Department of
Agriculture, a route for a pipeline to convey water into the valley at Kipbenda was cleared and piping ordered. Sand and cement were made ready for the construction of pressure tanks by an
African Land Development engineer. This was completed in 1955. Nonetheless, the programme was not able to achieve on the part of African resettlement and this led to the development of the
Swynnerton Plan in the hope of solving the agrarian problems facing African areas which were threatening the legitimacy of the colonial state.
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3.9.2. The Swynnerton Plan of 1954.
The launching of this plan in 1954 had an objective of tackling the African land problems. The plan aimed at changing the African land tenure system which was it argued, was an obstacle to development in the reserves. Swynnerton, Deputy Director of agriculture avered that:
Sound agricultural development was dependent upon a system of land tenure which would make available a system of farms where production will support individual families and practice husbandry and thus, develop a cash economy (Swynnerton, 1954:9) .
He argued that in order to achieve the stated objectives, the farmer needed security of tenure through granting of individual title deeds. He also argued for consolidation of fragmented holding and provision for access to credit as well removal of restrictions on growing crops for export (Bradshaw 1990). The Plan also envisaged new marketing Boards to provide finance and expertise for dairy farming, maize and pyrethrum growing in the African reserves.
The Plan was accepted in the whole of Kenya as a response to increasing problems of land tenure and mounting political pressure from the African population. The Plan sought, among other things, to raise the output in African areas of high potential, the consolidation of African holdings and survey and registration of such holdings (Ng’weno, 1973:152). It provided the definitive statements on land tenure policy and to expand cash crop growing in African areas, as part of general policy of maintaining and increasing incomes simultaneously while improving land utilization techniques. This Plan represented a new phase in African agricultural development policy and envisaged a vastly increased rate of expansion of cash crop production and the introduction of new crops and livestock enterprises. It was argued in the Swynnerton
Plan that, the greatest obstacles to this development had been complicated land tenure system and the serious degree of land fragmentation found in African areas (Swynnerton, 1954:7). The
106 plan therefore, involved land consolidation and the introduction of high value cash crops within the African occupied areas, and in general, the encouragement of all small holders. Following this plan, the government started to support African farming in Keiyo area as it did everywhere in the colony. Most attention was given to pyrethrum and wattle production in the Keiyo highlands, for which some loans were made available and co-operative societies formed. In
1957, grade cattle were introduced, followed by Corriedale sheep in 1959.
The plan had a marked impact on Kenya’s agrarian policy. It was the first policy shift from the conventional believes by the colonial state that the real problem with the African occupied areas lay not in the misuse of land which caused soil erosion, but rather the problem required fundamental reforms in the land tenure system. The plan ushered in the final chapter in the peasantization of the indigenous producer a phase which was to end with the creation of settlement schemes (Swynnerton 1954:12). According to Ng’weno (1973), the plan marked the first bold step in the development of African agriculture. In other words, unlike the earlier policies which restricted African and European competition in the production of cash crops (with
Africans being only a source of cheap labor for white farmers) the new plan sought to make them compete with white farmers, and also make them self-supporting.
A number of writers on Kenyan economy for instance Wilde (1967) and Ruthenberg(1971) have argued that the plan institutionalized a small-scale peasant product in the African occupied areas and permanently and legally incorporated them into the capitalist state, through loans and farm input necessary for survival of a small scale producer. However, although Swynnerton pointed out the problem of losing or gaining more land as a result of land consolidation process as inevitable, this process had for reaching consequences in some areas of Kenya where some
107 people became landless as a result of this process. This then created bitter resentment on the part of those who had lost their land.
Therefore, these, measures were inadequate in addressing the African land issue and there was now need for a solution from a different direction, through the establishment of settlement schemes in the “white highlands”. In 1959, the colonial government under pressure from the nationalists, revoked the land ordinance of 1939, and opened the “white highlands” to the
Africans. Thus, as the settlers had been invited by the colonial government, they left at the expiry of the colonial rule (Sorrenson, 1968).
The Swynnerton plan created the basis for a market-oriented class of Africans farmers to work within a commercial- farming export sector and was credited with tripling agricultural output between 1955 and 1964 (Anne T. (1987), Bradshaw 1990, Shipton 1988). It also succeeded in fostering land concentration and social stratification.
It can therefore be argued that, the gradual socio-economic change in Keiyo was further accelerated in the 1950’s when the government adopted the Swynnerton Plan. Among the major provision of the plan was the allotment and tilling of individual plots of land in areas of high agricultural potential. Chepkorio fell into this category. Thus in Keiyo land, the highland was sub- divided and allotted amongst adult males. Parcels of land allocated were not less than ten acres. Such amounts of land were not enough considering the fact that the Keiyo were mixed farmers. They needed large farms to graze their stock. On the other hand, people who had already enclosed large tracts of land were allowed to register them. Squatters in the “white highlands “were allowed to return and make land claims (KNA/DC/ELGM/2/6).
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The main progress made in Keiyo as a result of Swynnerton Plan was undoubtedly in the southern locations. The example of the Chepkorio smallholdings had spread to all other Elgeyo locations and Rokocho was now completely fenced into enclosure. Mutei and Irong Locations were divided up and although by 1955 there was little fencing, posts demarcated individual holdings. In Tumeiyo Location as at 1956, there was marked progress in the establishment of small holdings and Mr. Spencer, the District Agricultural Officer, reported that it would soon be able to compete with the progress in Chepkorio. As a result of demarcation of land and fencing, there was an increase in the number of well planned farms which were run economically and on a strict rotation basis. According to the Annual Report of 1955 from Elgeyo, it was no longer surprising to see smallholders spreading manure and building cattle ‘bomas’in these holdings
(KNA/DC/ELGM/2/6).
Land consolidation got underway in 1958 and a survey of the first unit around Chepkorio commenced in November and by the end of the year, it was evident that the Sergoit area of Irong
Location would follow suit in early 1959 (KNA/DC/ELGM/2/6). In 1960, land registration of the small Chepkorio block was completed although no progress was made on land registration elsewhere in the year due to inability of Government to provide a Registration Officer. In 1962, each farmer owned the land that he farmed although in only few cases had the farm been entered in the Land Register and title deeds given. By the end of the year, a total of 2,230 holdings covering 26,459 acres had been registered (KNA/MSS/115/25/47).
From the foregoing discussion, it can be argued out that as at independence, the question of land tenure though addressed by the Swynnerton Plan had not been exhaustively solved. The increase in agricultural production from the Africans sector however, was accredited to colonial government reluctantly agreeing to support the sector owing to political pressure from
109 nationalists as well as adopting the Swynnerton Plan. There was however more need to address the issue of land tenure system among the Keiyo by the independence government since the
Swynnerton plan and the colonial efforts never fully resolved it.
3.10 Summary
This chapter has analyzed penetration of colonialism and its policies in Keiyo. The inter-war and post-war period to 1963 has been discussed. Forms of articulation of indigenous economic production with colonial capitalism have also been discussed. The chapter has evidently showed that during the inter-war period, the colonial administration set in mechanism aimed at re- orientating the important features of economic production and social relation that characterized pre- colonial society to meet the needs of the European and colonial state.
The impact of various colonial policies like taxation, labour laws and land alienation on Keiyo’s agriculture has been discussed. The transformation of the Keiyo’s agriculture through its integration into the colonial economy has also been discussed. The chapter has also looked at colonial policies like the ALDEV and Swynnerton Plan and how they impacted on Keiyo’s agriculture. The next chapter will look at Keiyo’s agricultural development as they transited from colonial to post independence.
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CHAPTER FOUR
KEIYO AGRICULTURE FROM 1963-1990
4.1 Introduction.
Kenya was granted the status of internal self-government on June 1, 1963 and on December 12,
1964 it was accorded the full status of a republic. The independence period onwards was a period of development planning. For the Keiyo, the first Development Plan was written in 1964, known as the “Seven Year Development Plan, Elgeyo Marakwet”. The approach in this first plan, under the authority of the new government, was rather different from the colonial one. The post- colonial government also gave subsidies and grants to farmers as well as support to the various co-operative societies formed. In 1966, for instance under the Rural Development Plan-Kerio
Valley, the Central Agricultural Board granted the district £2,000 to be shared between the
Agriculture and Veterinary Departments (KNA/DC/ELGM/2/3).
The area of the valley beyond the escarpment however was neglected and much attention was given to the arable highland areas. Also, environmental concerns were not given priority. This relative neglect of the valley in these early years of independence can be illustrated by the fact that in 1967, out of 32 government employed agricultural extension workers in the district, only two worked in the valley (KNA/DC/ELGM/2/4). The trend however changed when fluorspar, a mineral form of calcium fluoride was discovered in the southern part of the valley in quantities that were regarded as highly attractive commercially. An all-weather 25 km winding road down the escarpment was constructed to give access to the rail head at Kaptagat station. At the same time feeder roads and footpaths were improved. Between 1970 and 1971, land adjudication was done in the valley with a view to keeping the remaining valley inhabitants from migrating by
111 giving them larger land security to enable them practice modern farming methods and curb the out migration (KNA/DC/ELGM/2/8). Cotton was re-introduced in 1973 as one of the strategies of attracting investors in the cultivation of the crop. Government officials strongly believed that the Kerio Valley could be turned into a cotton belt, estimating over 1,000 or even 5,000 hectares of cotton land as possibilities for developing the crop for commercial purposes
(KNA/DC/ELGM/2/9).
In the highlands, the government tried to assist in the expansion of commercial agriculture by propagating high yielding maize varieties from 1964 onwards. Farmers were encouraged to form co-operatives for marketing crops such as pyrethrum and wheat and for the commercial selling of milk. In 1966, for instance, there were several co-operative societies at Kamwosor, Irong, Nyaru,
Chepkorio and Kaptarakwa dealing with pyrethrum, milk and wheat. An example of such co- operative society is the Elgeyo Farmers Co-operative Society Limited that dealt with wheat
(KNA/DC/EGM/2/3). Selected farmers were supported to make “farm plans’ and ‘farm layouts’, paddocks and to enclose their fields. This period, therefore, as will be looked at further specifically in terms of crop and livestock development, saw concerted efforts by the new government to uplift the agricultural activities of the Keiyo.
4.3 Crop Development in Post-Colonial Period
There was a tremendous rise in agricultural production in Kenya since independence, especially in the small farm sector. Production went up in almost all crops and dairy produce (Maxon 1992:
294, Ndege, 2001:10) Elgeyo Marakwet County was not an exception. The growth was stimulated by changes in land tenure, expansion of cultivated areas, increase in area planted with high value crops and adoption of high yielding varieties.
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By 1965, land demarcation of the Keiyo highlands had been completed. At the end of the 1960s, the district agricultural officers actively started to encourage further agricultural development and expansion in the Keiyo highlands. The economic activity that had the most remarkable impact was the introduction of new seed varieties for different food crops. Hybrid maize seed was first introduced in 1964, and was readily accepted by a number of large scale farmers in
Keiyo, especially in Mosop and Irong (KNA/DC/ELGM/2/1).Most farmers undertook the activity on their own although there were some who were partially assisted by the government through credit scheme (Ibid).
Hybrid maize extension after 1968 resulted in some reluctant acceptance by small scale farmers in the district and it was not until 1972 when this attitude changed. This new variety was considered hard to grind using the hand milling machine, ‘tinget’. When posho mills were introduced later, most Keiyo accepted the hybrid maize due to its high yield and performance in consumption compared to the traditional grains. After this year, the acreage of ‘local maize’Chebolosiot, rapidly decreased and by 1976, no local varieties were planted anymore
(Ibid).
Maize production in Keiyo from 1972 onwards rapidly expanded. This can be attributed to the increase in total maize acreage and a well-organized distribution of seeds and fertilizers by the ministry of agriculture as well as marketing factors. Early in 1972, the central government had lifted the ban which had previously been instituted on the transportation of maize from the highlands to the valley and other neighbouring districts like Baringo creating a liberal market for the commodity. This had a profound effect on production both in the highlands and in the valley.
In the highlands, large pasture and forest areas were converted into crop land
(KNA/DC/ELGM/2/9).
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In the valley, the growing of finger millet and sorghum suddenly decreased by more than half the acreage between 1970 and 1972 (KNA/DC/ELGM/2/9). Many valley people decided to try their luck in the highlands. Many men who had remained in the valley until the early 1970s, decided to start ‘ multi- location holdings’, in some cases with one wife and some plots in the valley and another wife with a plot in the highlands. An exchange of produce between highland residents and those in the valley became common. Many highland framers on their trips to the valley transported some maize to give or sell to their relatives, and neighbours. Some soon expanded their maize trade and as part- time traders developed lucrative business links between the highlands, the valley and other neighboring districts like Baringo (Ibid).
Market prospects for maize produce from the Keiyo highlands were found as far as the town of
Eldoret town where the market for the produce was available in the vast growing urban area. The
Kenya Farmers Association (KFA) started to buy maize directly from farmers. Other co- operatives for wheat, pyrethrum, milk and wool increased their participation in purchasing produce from farmers as well as organizing loans on their behalf. This increased income for farmers and they started to use this income to hire tractors and to employ more casual labour to work in their maize farms. These farmers also started to interplant beans with maize and also planted vegetables like cabbages, kales and carrot for sale in Eldoret market. (ibid).
The agricultural changes seen in Keiyo between 1963 and 1972 were mainly changes in location and type of crop: from sorghum and finger millet in the valley, to maize in the highlands.
Agriculture in the valley became marginal in relative terms: from 41 percent of district acreage in 1962 to a mere 9 per cent in 1972 (ibid). Maize fields were largely in the highlands than in the lowlands. There was, however, a drastic change between 1972 and 1982, both in the highlands and in the valley. The area under cultivation almost doubled and the yield increased even more.
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This was attributed to the hybrid maize revolution whose average yields increased from an estimated 1,000 to 1,400 Kgs per hectare in the early 1960s to between 2,500 – 2,800 Kgs per hectare in 1982 as shown in Table 5.1.
Table 4.1: Maize yield in Keiyo land
Year Maize Yield in Kgs
Early 1960s 1000-1400kg
1982 2500- 2800kg
Source: Elgeyo Marakwet Annual Report, 1982
Compared to other small scale farming areas in Kenya, this was a remarkable achievement for the Keiyo farmers. Actual total yield per hectare increased even more in 1982 as a lot of maize was intercropped with beans, a practice that hardly happened in the 1960s. In terms of costs and benefits, maize production was often rewarding than wheat production (ibid).
The cropping pattern during this period indicates that the traditional Keiyo crops such as sorghum, finger millet, cassava and sweet potatoes were still important at the end of colonial times. At that time 5,000 hectares or 35 per cent of the district cultivated land had been used for these crops. The Values attached to these crops however changed and by 1972, only 1,500 hectares, or 8 per cent of the district acreage was under traditional crops. Their value in absolute terms increased again around 1980, when 2,800 hectares in 1979 and 2,500 hectares in 1982 were under these crops. In relative terms however, these crops never occupied more than 10 per cent of the district acreage any more. It is interesting to note that farmers always increased the sorghum and millet acreage in the year following a drought like 1961, 1971, 1977 with the hope
115 of avoiding the same disaster, because the traditional crops are more drought– resistant and would better survive long dry spells in meager rainy seasons.
At independence, the colonial crops occupied 64 per cent of the total district acreage with maize occupying 42 per cent and other crops 22 per cent. In 1972, however the colonial crops occupied
73 per cent of all cultivated land whereby colonial maize occupied 47 per cent and 26 per cent was occupied by other crops. In 1980 however the area under ‘colonial’ maize had gone down to
22 per cent. This was due to its replacement by a post – colonial crop; the hybrid maize. The acreage of the colonial innovations except maize increased from 3,200 hectares in 1962 to 4,650 hectares in 1972 and 6,105 hectares in 1979 to 7,200 hectares in 1982 ( KNA/DC/ELGM/2/9).
Of the crops introduced after independence, only hybrid maize had an overwhelming success. It occupied 67 per cent of the district crop land although partly intercropped with beans in 1979.
Other crops introduced after independence included coffee, sunflower, cotton, napier grass and
Lucerne. These crops did not have much impact in the period before 1980, since in 1979; they only occupied 2 per cent of the district acreage. Coffee reached a maximum acreage of 60 hectares in 1967 but disappeared afterwards after a major failure, while tea on the highlands did not create any impact. However, cotton was regarded as the future valley’s cash crop. In 1979, a promising 550 hectares had been reached but farmers soon became disappointed in the management of the cotton lint and seed marketing board and began to change their minds on the production of the crop. In 1982, only 175 hectares in the valley were still under cotton cultivation. Other crops like sunflower were never regarded as real alternative cash crops and remained relatively marginal (ibid).
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For the first time, the agricultural development in the 1970s onwards structurally changed the ratio between cultivated land and people depending on it. Unlike most other areas in Kenya, this ratio improved remarkably as indicated in Table 5.2, illustrating the long term changes.
Table 4.2: Population and cropping area, Keiyo and Marakwet areas
Year Inhabitants Cultivated Cultivated Cultivated Population density
area (ha) area (ha) area(ha) per per km2 of cultivated
per capita farm household land
1930 30,000 5,000 0.17 0.7 600
1948 64,000 8,000 0.13 0.7 800
1962 156,000 15,000 0.10 0.7 1040
1969 143,000 15,000 0.10 0.7 950
1979 149,000 35,000 0.23 1.6 420
Source: Annual report of the ministry of agriculture for Elgeyo Marakwet District, 1979
From the above analysis, it is evident that from independence onwards, more and more land was brought under cultivation and the area under cultivation per head/ capita was also on the rise.
This could be attributed to increased access to farm inputs, like seeds and fertilizers and farm machinery by Keiyo farmers. From the increased farm sales, farmers were able to acquire farm machinery which later led to clearing up more land in the highlands for agricultural use. In the
1970s, for instance cash income from crops was estimated to be more than 20 million shillings: wheat was eight million, maize, five million, beans four million, potatoes, two million and pyrethrum one million (ibid).
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Increasingly, the highland areas of Keiyo were specializing in the production of maize and Irish potatoes for sale to the national market (Kipkorir B.E, 1986:33). The majority of the farm households produced maize, with an average of one hectare under the crop. Total annual maize production in the district had gone up from an estimated 7,000 tons in the early 1960s to an average volume of 40,000 tons in the late 1970s, almost a six-fold increase. With declining and even stagnating population figures in the district during this period due to the large scale out- migration to Uasin Gishu, it meant that maize production had gone up from a mere 40kg per capita to 250 Kgs per capita. With the additional food available this would have been more than enough to feed the population. In practice, this meant that some farmers started to sell maize locally and to government-owned Produce Boards and other Co-operative Societies
(KNA/DC/ELGM/2/14).
From the foregoing discussion, it is evident that agricultural production in the post independence period more so hybrid maize production in the Keiyo highlands was on the increase. Cash crop production like pyrethrum, cotton, wattle trees and wheat were also taking root. This increase production is attributed to adoption of hybrid seeds and increased purchase of other farm inputs like fertilizer and farm machinery as well as farmers access to markets through the K.F.A and co- operatives as well as produce boards. However, there is need to relook the agricultural production at the valley which was neglected in favor of the highlands. More concerted efforts needs to be put in terms of researching on the most viable crops and varieties to be grown there.
There is also need to encourage farmers to plant drought resistant crops which have been on the decline as these crops would better survive long dry spells in meagerrainy seasons and hence ensure food stability in the region.
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4.4 Livestock Development
As discussed in the previous chapters, the Keiyo have always been livestock keepers combining zebu cattle, with goats and sheep. The period after independence saw a number of changes in the livestock industry among the Keiyo in the form of increasing number of grade cattle and development of cattle dips in various sub locations. As at 1965, Artificial insemination in Mosop
Division at Chepkorio was run by Co-operative Societies and supervised by the Veterinary
Department Which supplied staff and equipment except semen which was bought by the Co- operative Societies Concerned. The number of grade cattle was 5,873 and the sheep were
9,000(Elgeyo-Marakwet District annual Report, 1965). In 1970, in the Elgeyo Sub- District, the number of grade cattle had increased to 23,048 cattle (KNA/DC/ELGM/2/7). There was a great demand for more grade cattle, particularly from those people who got loans (Ibid).
The ‘traditional’ livestock sector was however very erratic. For instance, in 1967 the number of zebu cattle had expanded to 175,000 but the small stock: sheep, goats, donkeys and chicken had decreased to 345,000 animals. Following disastrous droughts in the early 1970s, the zebu cattle were not more than 70,000 in 1974 (BV/10/12). In 1979, the situation had improved and there were 90,000 zebu cattle, 122,000 hair sheep, 87,000 goats and 160,000 indigenous chickens in the district. The ‘modern’ livestock sector developed steadily and in 1979, there were 18,000 grade cattle 29,000 wool sheep, and 1,200 improved chickens (KNA/DC/ELGM/2/14). These
1979 figures were mainly estimates by the livestock officers on the distribution of animals within the district. In the southern part of Keiyo, namely Mosop in the highlands and Soy in the valley, there were 13,000 grade cattle which represented 72 per cent of all livestock in the district,
24,000 zebu cattle representing 26 per cent and 600 wool sheep which represented only 2 %, mainly found in Mosop. In Northern part of Keiyo i.e. Irong, there were 35,000 zebu cattle (39
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%), 2,000 grade cattle (only 10 %) and there were virtually no wool sheep in the highland. There were 33,000 wool sheep (27%), and 31,000 goats (36%), mainly in the valley. In terms of
‘modernization’ of the livestock enterprise, Mosop was far much ahead of the whole of Irong and soy by 1979.
The introduction of dips as a means of controlling ticks meant higher rates of animal survival for better yields in the livestock sector. As most farmers kept grade dairy cattle, the need for more dips was realized in every sub-location. These type of animals were more prone to tick borne diseases unlike the native cattle, which were resistant to the disease (ibid). Virtually all households owned livestock in Keiyo and at the end of the 1970s, the total animal wealth was estimated at more than 120 million shillings while the total annual income from the sale of livestock in the district was estimated at more than 12 million shillings or more than a third of the districts combined agricultural cash income. About 7,000 cattle were sold around 1979 annually; one third to local butchers and two- thirds to traders who transported the animals to
Uasin Gishu. Selling milk became an important income earner attaining registered sales of two million litres per annum in 1979. This provided an income of close to 3 million Kenya shillings.
90 % of the milk being sold went to K.C.C whereas 10 % was sold locally. With the exception of wheat farmers, for the large majority of the small-scale farmers in the district, cash income based on livestock production was more important than cash income based on the selling of crops
(KNA/DC/ELGM/2/9).
By the 1980s, grade cattle and cross breeds dominated the livestock pattern in most areas of
Keiyo. Milk production was considerable and a quarter of that milk was sold, mainly to milk co- operative societies owned by farmers. Within the commercial and subsistence livestock production, milk production dominated all the areas of Keiyo. In Chepkorio, for instance, half of
120 the total farm income, estimated at Ksh. 11,200 per household came from livestock and from milk in particular. In Muskut, two thirds of the estimated total farm income came from livestock contributions. The equating of livestock holding to wealth in the valley was deeply rooted
(Elgeyo Marakwet Annual Report, 1983 KNA/DC/ELGM/2/15).
In 1980, there were 28,000 dairy cattle in the district. These were found in the highland parts of the districts but concentrated in southern division (Mosop) and parts of northern division around
Cheptongei and Moiben locations. Of the 28,000 dairy cattle, about 45 % were mature cows. i.e.
12,600 mature cows which produced 3.75 million kg milk per annum (KNA/DC/ELGM/2/14).
The beef cattle, predominantly Zebus, were concentrated in the Kerio Valley though they were also found scattered in most parts of the highlands.
Other animals in the district in the 1980s included wool sheep and indigenous goats and sheep.
Wool sheep breed that was predominant was corriedale. The indigenous goats and sheep were concentrated in the Kerio valley though they were also found scattered in parts of highland zone.
There were more than 80,000 goats and sheep but according to the District development plan, the enterprise was poorly developed (ibid).Their importance in the highlands was declining rapidly.
Poultry farming was still in the initial stages and indigenous birds still dominated the enterprise.
There were 4,000 exotic birds and more than 32,000 native birds in the District. Most of the exotic birds were acquired by farmers who accepted loans for poultry development. The sale of eggs and chicken meat boasted farmers’ incomes and according to the development plan, there was a bright future for the enterprise (Ibid: 14).
From the foregoing discussion, it is evident that livestock industry among the Keiyo in the period after independence to the 1980s was on the rise. More emphasis however needs to be put
121 on infrastructural development so as to ease transportation of livestock produce to market areas and open up more markets for farmers to access.
4.5 Development of Co-operative Societies and Agricultural Credit Facilities
This period experienced an increase development in co-operative societies. As at 1966, there were co-operative societies dealing with pyrethrum and milk in Chepkorio, Nyaru, Kaptarakwa,
Kamwosor, Irong, moiben and Lelan. The Elgeyo Farmers Co-operative Society Ltd was also established by wheat farmers. However the Co-operative Officer looking after societies was still stationed in Eldoret town, some twenty eight miles away from the District Headquarters. There was however an assistant in the district working under his supervision. Artificial insemination in
Mosop Division at Chepkorio was run by Co-operative Societies under the supervision of the
Veterinary Department. As per the Elgeyo-Marakwet Annual Report of 1968, there were a total of nine registered co-operative societies in the District dealing with cereals, pyrethrum, and milk.
These co-operatives included Metkei Farmers’ Co-operative Society Ltd, Chepkorio Pyrethrum
Co-operative Society Ltd, Lelan Pyrethrum co-operative Society Ltd, Kaptarakwa Farmers Co- operative Society Ltd, Nyaru Livestock Co-operative Society, Irong Pyrethrum Co-operative
Society Ltd, Moiben Farmers Co-operative Society Ltd, Chepkorio Pyrethrum Co-operative
Society Ltd and Elgeyo Farmers Co-operative society Ltd. These societies played crucial roles in agricultural development of the Keiyo by advancing credit facilities to farmers in the form of farm in puts and fertilizer, providing services like Artificial insemination as well as marketing their farm produce.
Co-operative society members were trained on various skills like book keeping and co-operative principles at Chebororwa Farmers’ Training Centre (C.F.T.C). This helped to improve their
122 efficiency. Seminars were also organized to teach farmers on various agricultural issues like proper running and maintenance of dips as well as crop and livestock disease control. In 1972,
Chepkorio Pyrethrum Co-operative Society Ltd and Chepkorio Livestock Co-operative Society were amalgamated to form Chepkorio Farmers’ Co-operative Society Ltd. A new society,
Sengwer Farmers Co-operative Society Ltd also got registered (KNA/DC/ELGM/2/9). As a result of the the marketing efforts of the societies, milk which was produced mainly in Mosop
Division fetched Ksh. 1,861,167.10 while pyrethrum which came from all over the highlands of the district and marketed by all registered societies realized a total of Ksh. 1,086,192.23 in 1972
(ibid). This discussion demonstrates the tremendous changes in agricultural production among the Keiyo as well as their willingness to adopt modern agricultural technologies introduced in the colonial period and accelerated after independence.
Co-operative societies continued to play key roles in Keiyo’s agriculture throughout the period between 1970 and 1980s. They took part in educating farmers in the District Agricultural Show at Kamariny, Divisional Show at Chepkorio and Co-operative Day celebrations at Iten centre.
Their activities saw an increase in the out put of farm produce as well as raising livestock farming among the Keiyo. More societies were registered too. In 1973, for instance Mutei
Farmers Co-operative Society was registered and in 1979, three cotton growing and marketing societies had been established. Kamoi and Arror Farmers co-operative societies also came up. By
1990, a total of thirty eight co-operative societies were operating in Keiyo. This was achieved partly through government support through subsidized loans and partly through the Keiyo’s initiative.
Apart from the credit facilities through co-operative societies which has already been discussed,
Keiyo farmers had other avenues of obtaining loans for their agricultural development. They
123 included the Agricultural Finance Corporation (A.F.C), Kenya Farmers Association (KFA),
U.S.A.I.D and Agricultural Boards. They supplied farmers with farm inputs such as fertilizers, farm machinery like tractors among other inputs on credit terms. They also gave loans to farmers to buy grade animals. A.F.C small scale loans to farmers in Iten in 1976, for instance amounted to Ksh.976, 752 as shown in Table 4.3
Table 4.3: A.F.C Small Scale Loans
Type Amount (K.shs)
Dairy cattle 699, 700
Dairy equipment 46,600
Fencing 122,600
Water Development 4, 850
Poultry 2, 250
Miscellenous Development 9, 700
Pyrethrum 14, 100
Maize 6, 452
Beans -
Vegetable and potatoes 7, 500
Miscellenous crops 12, 000
Total 926, 752
Source (KNA/ DC/ELGM/2/13)
In conclusion, this period experienced an accelerated agricultural changes in Keiyo as more farmers accessed credit facilities needed for the development of their agriculture.
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4.6. Veterinary Services.
This period saw more concerted efforts in the veterinary field with a view to controlling livestock diseases and uplifting education among livestock farmers. Diseases like Black Quarter, typanosomiasis, Anthrax, Foot and Mouth, Heart water and East Coast Fever were treated by the
Veterinary officers. They also carried out Artificial insemination and supervised the co-operative societies which complemented them in Artificial Insemination. The Veterinary Department through their Field Staff also carried out inoculations as prophylactic measure against various livestock diseases (KNA/DC/ELGM/2/5). Veterinary staff also carried out frequent visits to farmers especially in the dipping sites for the purpose of teaching them on how to use dips to control ticks in livestock.
Veterinary department also carried out compulsory vaccination on cattle leaving the District for various destinations as well as vaccination for cattle grazing in forests bordering Uasin Gishu
District. In 1974, for instance, a total of 2,420 cattle were vaccinated in Mosop Division
(KNA/DC/ELGM/2/11). Prophylactic measures in the form of vaccination were applied for the case of anthrax and in the case of Black Quarter disease, blantrax vaccine was used with good results. For Trypanasomiasis cases, blood slides from suspected cattle were often taken and examined in the Laboratory and cases confirmed microscopically were treated. Compulsory rinderpest vaccinations were also carried out. Anaplasmosis was a common disease in the
District especially in areas where dipping facilities did not exist. In particular, most parts of the
Kerio Valley suffered from this disease. Cases which were promptly reported to the Veterinary staff were treated with good response.
The most common calf-diseases in the region brought to the attention of the Veterinary Staff were: Coccidiosis, Diarrhoea and Para-typhoid. Advice on treatment was given by the field staff.
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Worm infestation was noted to be a common problem in the District as very few farmers realized the need for dosing their cattle against worms. As aresult, many cattle were infected with worms and the field staff applied treatment and gave them advice in regard to the appropriate control measures. Different types of drugs were used for treatment and control of worms
(KNA/DC/ELGM/2/11). In 1976, the outbreak Foot and Mouth disease in Southern Division was successfully controlled by the Veterinary Department. A total of 4,645 heads of cattle were vaccinated. Annual Rinderpest campaigns were also undertaken by the Veterinary Department with an aim of controlling the disease. For each subsequent year, the number of animals turning up at vaccination crutches increased considerably. This demonstrated positive reception by the
Keiyo to modern livestock practices.
Veterinary Department also carried out disease investigation survey in order to establish the disease problems facing livestock in the region especially in Kerio Valley which was prone to animal diseases. The major diseases were Mypanosomiasis, tick borne diseases and Brecellosis to a less extent. Other diseases were Anthrax, Black Quarter, Trypanosomiasis, East Coast Fever and Anaplasmosis. Mastitis was common among dairy cattle and farmers were advised to report any notice as soon as possible so that control measures and treatment could be carried without delay. Vaccinations against such diseases was done. For those farmers keeping poultry, free veterinary drugs against New castle virus disease were given to them. Whenever there were major outbreak of livestock diseases, the Veterinary Department would issue a quarantine notice to curb the spread of the disease.
From the foregoing discussion on Veterinary Department, it is evident that concerted efforts were made towards animal health in Keiyo after independence. The Keiyo too were receptive to these changes as they enabled them to improve on their livestock development.
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4.7 Summary
This chapter has looked into the agricultural developments in Keiyo from 1963 when Kenya attained independence to 1985. In chapter three, it was argued out that the period after the war saw a change of colonial attitude towards African agriculture seen through the introduction of
ALDEV and the initiation of the Swynnerton Plan which aimed at land consolidation and changing African land tenure system which was an obstacle to development in the reserves. The
Process for the allocation of land for Africans which started after Swynnerton Plan went on to independence as the independence government carried on with land adjudication especially in the highlands of Keiyo.
The chapter has also discussed livestock and crop development in the post colonial period to
1990. It has been noted that agricultural production went up during this period owing to farmer’s access to factors of production like land and other opportunities provided by the government including improved seeds and fertilizer as well as credit facilities. The role of co-operative societies and Veterinary Department in bringing about agricultural changes in Keiyo has also been discussed. Independence therefore enabled the Keiyo to exercise their full potential in agricultural and livestock production. The ‘modern’ agricultural changes brought about by the political liberation, thus found suitable condition among the Keiyo who adjusted and became adapted to the changing conditions to their own advantage. The next chapter therefore will give a summary of the agricultural changes of the Keiyo across the period under review.
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CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS.
5.1 SUMMARY
An in-depth analysis of the agricultural transformation of the Keiyo from 1894 up to 1990 has been attempted in the study. The Keiyo’s pre-colonial economy as the basis of subsequent changes or transformation has been documented. Chapter one has introduced the detailed procedures employed during the time of research which aimed at achieving the following objectives; to investigate the nature of Elgeyo’s agriculture on the eve of colonial rule, to interrogate the agricultural changes that took place in Elgeyo during the colonial period and finally to provide an analysis of the agricultural changes from post- independence to 1990. The second chapter of the study highlights the pre- colonial economy of the Keiyo as a background for subsequent transformation under colonial and slightly the post – colonial era.
Also, the study has detailed the colonial encounter which is presumed to have led to major changes in the economic structure of the Keiyo, and illustrated the theme of colonial under development, change and continuity brought about by colonial policies. This has been dealt with in chapter 3 where also the changing colonial attitude towards African agriculture and the
Swynnerton Plan have been addressed. The last chapter has looked at the agricultural changes after independence to 1990. In addition, migration and settlement of the Keiyo community and their socio - political organization has been looked at. This knowledge of migration and settlements is important to this study as it provided valuable information about the people being studied. The social – political organization situated the Keiyo within a social and political framework that determined the distribution and utilization of agricultural resources. Their social
128 organization was viewed as a historical heritage that had evolved and been sustained in the process of adaptation of the population to its social and political environment. The Kokwet emerged as the basic unit of defense, administration as well as economic activities. This socio political set up was destroyed with the advent of the colonial capitalist administration.
The study has demonstrated the dynamism, diversity and productivity of the Elgeyo’s indigenous economy in both crop and animal production. Hunting and gathering also demonstrated their response to the constraints imposed by their physical environment. They emerged as resourceful people who were well versed with their environment and knowledgeable in their economic pursuits. Their prevalent communal land tenure system reflected their desire to avail the resources to every member of the Kokwet and beyond. There was no property in land and any natural products upon it. The Keiyo idea of land as a property was that which one had done some work on, otherwise land never became the property of an individual, nor were the saltlicks, rivers, watering points or foot paths. Such diversity and flexibility in land ownership reflected the Keiyo’s understanding and adaptation to their environment. Land was abundant and plentiful for all and thus no need arose to appropriate it for private use except the patches very close to the household.
The study has shown that the onset of colonialism in Elgeyo led to a paradigm shift in most of the pre-capitalist modes of production. Customary system of land tenure underwent a transition from communal systems of ownership to individual land ownership which created a class of landless people in a society where land was a resource for the community. The nature of land tenure reflected pathetic situation on the people who were displaced from their ancestral land as they were dispossessed of their inherent right of ownership. This sparked migration to the white highlands as squatters.
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The study has examined the transformation that took place in crop production and has shown that the sector underwent a great deal of changes through the introduction of crops such as maize, wheat, potatoes, pyrethrum and Wattle trees among others. The Keiyo were integrated into being commodity producers. This incorporated the Keiyo peasantry into the capitalist world economy where appropriation of their produce was monopolized by the colonial regime aided by Indian merchants. The intensive encouragement of maize production especially in the war period affected the indigenous crop, wimbi as a staple food.
Livestock rearing also took a different trend when the colonial government alienated land in
Elgeyo creating scarcity of land for grazing livestock. With reduced grazing fields, the number of livestock kept declined. Furthermore, shortage of grazing land made some Keiyo men to migrate to European farms as squatters so as to access the elusive pasture. Also, in the initial stages of colonialism, the Keiyo suffered a great loss of their livestock through confiscation. The seizure of livestock not only paralyzed their economy but also forced them into submitting to the colonial establishment.
The study has also dealt with colonial policies like taxation and coercion as methods employed by the colonial administration to encourage African to move into the labour market. Labour power which in pre – colonial Keiyo was applied to meet societal needs was alienated in the colonial period for generation of surplus. The Keiyo were forced through taxation and other colonial measures to enter the labour market in the interest of colonial capitalism. There was a re- location of labour into capitalist production and this had adverse effects on household labour.
Migrant labour brought about by adverse colonial policies and conditions, negatively affected agricultural production of the Keiyo.
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The able – bodied men entered the wage labour to meet the demand of taxation which had been imposed by the colonial government. This resulted to under development of the reserve for being denied the needed human labour. Resident labour on the European farms made most Elgeyo to migrate to the settler farms whereby they were allowed to reside and cultivate plots and graze their livestock in return for providing labour to the white settler. Besides, the young Keiyo men of Maina generation were recruited into K.A.R to participate in the world war. This denied the
Keiyo, labor required for agricultural activities. Notably, the study found out that in the absence of men a dramatic change of roles occurred in that women played both roles of men and women and thus over burdened by work load.
The government policy of native Registration Ordinance (1915), the Resident Labour Ordinance
(1918) and Northerly circular (1919) brought a lot of changes to the labour system in Elgeyo.
Furthermore, poll tax increase in 1920 forced more young men to enter into wage labour. In view of the above information the implications had far reaching consequences on the Elgeyo agricultural activities especially in meeting their labour needs.
By the coming of independence in 1963, the Elgeyo agriculture had been radically transformed from its pre – colonial state to become an integral part of the international capitalist economy which was mediated through the mechanism of colonial production and exchanges. The study went further into slightly above two decades after independence in order to analyze the post independence agricultural change.
This period witnessed the start of development planning for instance, the 1964,” seven year
Development plan, Elgeyo Marakwet”. This saw the neglect of the valley beyond the escarpment as all the attention was given to the arable Keiyo highlands. The period experienced increased
131 government effort in expansion of commercial agriculture through propagation of high yielding maize varieties and the formation of co-operatives for marketing cash crops such as pyrethrum, wheat and for the commercial selling of milk.
The post independence period also witnessed the opening up of settlement scheme’s which had been acquired by the government from the white settlers-farmers in the former White Highlands.
Land which was previously owned by settlers (white farmers) was made available to some of the indigenous people with the hope of easing population in the densely population areas. Land adjudication which had started in 1954 with the Swynnerton plan continued but under the ministry of lands and settlement. The role of Co-operative Societies in bringing about agricultural changes in Keiyo has also been looked at in detail. It has been noted that the post- independence period saw a rise in the number of Keiyo forming societies to market their produce and offer credit facilities to members for them to expand their agricultural activities. The role of
Veterinary services in livestock development among the Keiyo has also been dealt with. It has been noted that the various inoculations and prophylactic or vaccination measures carried out by the Veterinary Department helped to uplift livestock industry among the Keiyo through curbing of livestock diseases.
Armed with the factors of production like land and labour as well as the provision of extension services by the government and subsidized farm inputs, the Elgeyo agricultural production in terms of crop and livestock development by 1990 had gone up compared to the colonial era.
In brief, research findings on issues addressed by objectives revealed that colonialism brought about transformation in the Elgeyo agriculture, and that this transformation was for the benefit of the colonizers. The post – colonial era experienced increased agricultural production due to the
132 transfer of factors of production like land to Africans and also government initiatives with regards to agricultural planning and subsidies to farmers. The conclusion that can be drawn from this study is that, the current economic or agricultural problems that affect previously colonized countries like Kenya and others in Africa cannot be properly understood and tackled without prior consideration of the effects of colonialism on their economies. In addition, for the prosperity of the agricultural sector, the government should always ensure that the farmers have access to the factors and means of production and should also be protected from exploitation.
5.2 Recommendations
This study recommends further research on the;
1. Keiyo’s agriculture from 1990 after implementation of SAPs so as to see the impact of
SAPs on Keiyo’s agriculture.
2. Role of individual Settlers and Administrators in transforming agriculture in Keiyo.
3. Resilience mechanisms of the Keiyo during times of Agricultural calamities.
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REFERENCES
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DC/ELGM/1/3- Annual Report for Elgeyo, 1933-1937.
DC/ELGM/1/4- Annual Report for Elgeyo, 1938-1939
DC/ELGM/1/5-Annual Report for Elgeyo, 1940-1942
DC/ELGM/1/6- Annual Report for Elgeyo, 1943-1959
PC/RVP/2/4//1-Annual Reports, Rift Valley Province, 1914-1946.
PC/RVP/2/8/6- Annual Report, Uasin Gishu District including Elgeyo and Marakwet Sub- district, 1919-1920.
LND/12/28-Land in Elgeyo Native Reserve, 1928-1937.
DC/ELGM/5/1- Hopkins Baraton Memorandum Relating to Native Rights in Grogan Forest
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DC/ELGM/5/1- Land Tenure in Keiyo, 1921-1956
DC/ELGM/5/2/1- Kenya Land Commission Report.
134
DC/TAMB/adm/1/5/11- Letter from D.C Tambach to Native Chiefs dated September 1939.
MSS/119/3- Handing Over Report, Elgeyo District 1937
BV/10/12- Animal Husbandry Development, Rift Valley Province, Elgeyo/ Marakwet,1967-
1981.
BV/6/1728- Crops in Elgeyo, 1968.
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APPENDIX I: Interview Guide
General Information
Name …………………………………………………………..sex……………….
Age…………………………………
Occupation……………………………
Division………………………….location…………………
Sub- location……………………………………….
Village………………………………………….
Sample questions
1. What kind of agricultural practices did the Keiyo engage in after settling in their present
land?
2. Which major crops and animals were kept during these early times?
3. How was land pattern, ownership and land use during the pre-colonial period?
4. How was labor organized?
5. How did colonialism affect the agricultural activities of the Keiyo?
6. What were the changes ushered in on land systems in the colonial period? How did such
changes affect Keiyo’s agriculture?
7. Which changes were introduced in labor organization and how did such changes affect
agriculture in Keiyoland?
8. With the attainment of independence, which agricultural changes were introduced?
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9. What initiative did the independence government come up with to ensure access to farm
inputs like seeds, farm machinery and fertilizers?
10. Which crops and livestock breeds were kept during the post independence period?
11. Which services were provided to livestock farmers by the government to enhance
livestock development? How were these services beneficial to farmers?
12. What impression do you make of Keiyo’s agriculture by 1985?
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APPENDIX II: Map of Study Area.
Map 1: Map of Elgeyo Marakwet County Showing Divisions.
(Source: Elgeyo Marakwet District Development 2005 - 2009)
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Map 2: Map of Kenya showing Elgeyo Marakwet County
(Source: Kenya National Atlas 1990)
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Appendix III: Contour farm in Elgeyo.
Source: KNA/DC/ELGM/2/6
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Appendix IV: List of Oral Sources
1. Luka cherotich, O.I. Nyaru, February 6, 2016
2. Arap Cheptoo Kuriang, O.I.Tambach, February 13, 2016
3. Murey Keter, O.I. Lelboinet, February 13, 2016
4. Tomno arap Maina, O.I. Changach, February 6, 2016
5. Maindi arap Ruto, O.I. Tambach, February 13, 2016
6. Saniako Misoi Yego, O.I. Kamariny, February 13, 2016
7. Chumbi Kiplamai, O.I. Muskut, December 18, 2015
8. Chemweno Kaplochini, O.I. Sego, December 18, 2015
9. Bartocho arap Maindi, O.I. Kowochi, December 18, 2015
10. Kimoi Kapchebon, O.I. Changach, February 6, 2016
11. John Bundotich, O.I. Tambach, February 13, 2016
12. Kandie Kipyakwai, O.I. Tambach, February 13, 2016
13. Kiptoo chepkeitany, O.I. Tambach, February 13, 2016
14. Taptuwei chepkiyeng, O.I. Changach, December 18, 2015
15. Tapmutwol Kigen, O.I. Kaptarakwa, January 9, 2016.
16. Kangogo Komen, O.I. Kaptarakwa, January 9, 2016
17. Taprandich chesire, O.I. Kitany, February 13, 2016
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18. Zipporah Chemweno, O.I. Chepkorio, February 6, 2016
19. Wilson Kiplagat, O.I. Emsea, December 19, 2015
20. Grace Cherop, O.I. Chepkorio, February 6, 2016
21. Chemoiywo Sitienei, O.I. Muskut, December 19, 2015.
22. Elijah Chemweno, O.I. Chepkorio, February 6, 2016
23. Chamgwony Kibendo, O.I. Tambach, February 13, 2015
24. Chemworem Kiboss, O.I. Nyaru, February 6, 2016
25. Marindich sawe, O.I. Kaptagat, December 12, 2015
26. Susan Taptuwei, O.I. Kaptagat, December 12, 2015
27. Sarah Kongin, O.I. Tambach, February 13, 2016
28. Zipporah Boinet, O.I. Kamariny, February 13, 2016
29. Cheruiyot Chepng’echep, O.I. Chepkorio, February 6, 2016
30. William Chelulei, O.I. Chepkorio, February 6, 2016
31. Kigen arap Korir, O.I. Kapkenda, December 12, 2015
32. Kigen Chemorio, O.I. Tambach, February 13, 2016
33. John Cheserem, O.I. Chepkorio, February 6, 2016
34. Maindi arap Ruto, O.I. Tambach, February 13, 2016
146
35. John Bundotich, O.I. Chepkorio, February 6, 2016
36. William arap Bowen, O.I. Kaptagat January 9, .2016
37. Kipkosgey arap Mining, O.I. Soy, February 6, 2016
38. Kimoi Chebii, O.I Changach, December 18, 2015
39. Komwargei Chesire, O.I. Kaptarakwa; Chemargach, February 6, 2016
40. Sitienei Barmao, O.I. Kapkenda, December, 2015
41. Bundotich Kimugul, O.I. Kamariny, February 13, 2016
42. Komen Chumo, O.I. Rokocho, February 20, 2016
43. Sarah Jelimo Soti, O.I. Rokocho, February 20, 2016
44. Jane Bii, O.I. Soy, February 6, 2016
45. Kandie Kiptoo, O.I. Soy, February 6, 2016
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APPENDIX V: NACOSTI CLEARANCE CERTIFICATE
148