BRITISH COLONIAL TRANSFORMATION OF INDIGINEOUS CATTLE PRODUCTION AND THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC EFFECTS AMONG THE NANDI OF KENYA, 1890-1963 RAEL JERUTO NGISIREI A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF MASTERS OF ARTS IN HISTORY,DEPARTMENT OF HUMANITIES,KISII UNIVERSITY OCTOBER 2017 DECLARATION AND RECOMMENDATION DECLARATION BY THE CANDIDATE This Thesis is my original work and has not been presented for a degree in this or any other university known to me. Rael Jeruto Ngisirei Sign………………..Date…………..…… MAS11/60102/14 RECOMMENDATION BY THE SUPERVISORS This Thesis has been submitted for examination with our approval as university supervisors Dr. Evans Omosa Nyamwaka, Ph.D Sign……………..Date…………. Department of Humanities Faculty of Arts/Humanities and Social Science KisiiUniversity Dr John Yambo, Ph.D Sign……………..Date…………… Department of Humanities Faculty of Education KisiiUniversity PLAGIARISM DECLARATION DECLARATION BY STUDENT i. I declare I have read and understood Kisii University Postgraduate Examination Rules and Regulations, and other documents concerning academic dishonesty. ii. I do understand that ignorance of these rules and regulations is not an excuse for a violation of the said rules. iii. If I have any questions or doubts, I realize that it is my responsibility to keep seeking an answer until I understand. iv. I understand I must do my own work. v. I also understand that if I commit any act of academic dishonesty like plagiarism, my thesis/project can be assigned a fail grade (“F”) vi. I further understand I may be suspended or expelled from the University for Academic Dishonesty. Name__________________________ Signature_____________________ Reg. No____________________________ Date_________________________ DECLARATION BY SUPERVISOR (S) i. I/we declare that this thesis/project has been submitted to plagiarism detection service. ii. The thesis/project contains less than 20% of plagiarized work. iii. I/we hereby give consent for marking. 1. Name__________________________ Signature_____________________ Affiliation ________________________ Date_________________________ 2. Name__________________________ Signature_____________________ Affiliation ___________________________ Date_________________________ 3. Name_____________________________ Signature_____________________ Affiliation __________________________ Date_________________________ DECLARATION OF NUMBER OF WORDS FOR MASTERS THESIS Please note at Kisii University Masters and PhD thesis shall comprise a piece of scholarly writing of not more than 20,000 words for the Masters degree and 50 000 words for the PhD degree. In both cases this length includes references, but excludes the bibliography and any appendices. Where a candidate wishes to exceed or reduce the word limit for a thesis specified in the regulations, the candidate must enquire with the Director of Postgraduate about the procedures to be followed. Any such enquiries must be made at least 2 months before the submission of the thesis. Please note in cases where students exceed/reduce the prescribed word limit set out, Director of Postgraduate may refer the thesis for resubmission requiring it to be shortened or lengthened. Name of Candidate: …………… ADM NO……………… Faculty……………………………… Department………… Thesis Title: …..…………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………… I confirm that the word length of: 1) the thesis, including footnotes, is …………… 2) the bibliography is ……………… and, if applicable, 3) the appendices are ………………………………………… I also declare the electronic version is identical to the final, hard bound copy of the thesis and corresponds with those on which the examiners based their recommendation for the award of the degree. Signed: …………………………………… Date:…………………… (Candidate) I confirm that the thesis submitted by the above-named candidate complies with the relevant word length specified in the School of Postgraduate and Commission of University Education regulations for the Masters and PhD Degrees. Signed: .......................... Email…………..… Tel………………….. Date:…………… (Supervisor 1) Signed: .......................... Email…………….. Tel………………….. Date:…………… (Supervisor 2) COPYRIGHT All rights are reserved. No part of this thesis/project or information herein may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author or Kisii University on that behalf. © 2017, Rael Jeruto Ngisirei Dedication This work is dedicated to my parents the Late Lawrence Kimurei Ngisirei and my mother, Mrs Anne Ngisirei and the entire Laboso family.To all Nandi freedom fighters who defended their country at the dawn of colonial intrution. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I am grateful to Kisii University for offering me an opportunity to undertake a post graduate degree programme. Many thanks go to my supervisors, Dr. Evans O. Nyamwaka and Dr John Yambo for their tireless efforts in guiding me through this academic endevour right from proposal development to the writing of this thesis. My appreciation also goes to other lecturers in the department of Humanities, Faculty of Arts/Humanities and Social Sciences for their advice and encouragement when I was going through the academic hurdles. I also wish to thank my colleagues and friends for being instrumental in the success of this work through their suggestion and constructive criticisms. My gratitude also goes to my family members for their continuous support and continual provision of ample time during course work and preparation of this work. In the same vein, I wish to acknowledge the services of Mr. Boaz Kosgei for typesetting and fine tuning of this thesis to be what 2it is. To the many other institutions, friends and relatives who contributed to the success of this work and I have not mentioned them, may the lord bless them abundantly.While acknowledging the help of all the above, I take responsibility for any errors and mistakes that are found in this thesis though certainly unintended ABSTRACT The Nandi like other ancient traditional societies in the world over depended on cattle production for their livelihood. The purpose of this study was to trace British Colonial transformation of indigineous cattle production and the socio-economic effects among the Nandi of Kenya from 1890-1963. The specific objectives were to examine the origin and nature of cattle production among the Nandi during the pre-colonial period, to trace the impact of early European settlement on the Nandi, to investigate the nature and effect of colonial polices on cattle herding and to establish the history of the response to the various transformations of cattle production. The research study employed the principles of underdevelopment theory, as well as Talbot’s concepts of innovation, diversification, adaptation and commercialization. The study was done in Nandi County. A sample size of 100 respondents was randomly picked from the selected target population of 380 from various locations in Nandi using the snowballing sampling technique. The data collection instruments used were oral interviews and focus groups through visitation to the farms. Archival data from the Kenya National Archives was also utilised together with secondary data from the main libraries. Descriptive methods were employed in data analysis and data was presented in the form of distribution tables. The justification for this study was the need to understand the British colonial transformation of Nandi indigenous cattle production due to operation of colonial modes of production.The study concluded that, there were monumentous transformations of Nandi indigineous cattle production due to the penetration of colonial economy. This occationed the changes, leading to the adoption of new cattle breeds. Deprived of their vital grazing land and salt licks they resourcefully exploited other survival opportunities such as squatterdom and wage labour. The white settlers represent the capitalists’ development which underdeveloped the Nandi by eliminating their stocks and limit the land for grazing and cultivation.The process did not occur instantly nor uniformly but, in a variety of forms and phases leading eventually to transformation of the indigineous Nandi Zebu breed by the use of the sahiwal bulls and other exotic breeds which included the freisian, ayrshire and gurnsey. Nevertheless the transformation of indigineous cattle to exotic and cross breed had positive results for it led to increase milk and animal products .The Nandi were able to send their children to school, built improved houses and slowly transform their lives and improved their living standards. LIST OF ACRONYMS ALDEV: African Land Development Programme DC: District Commissioner EATEC: East African Tanning and Extraction Company IBEA Co: Imperial British East Africa Company KCC: Kenya Co-operative Creameries KDB: Kenya Dairy Board KMC: Kenya Meat Commission KNA: Kenya National Archives NACOSTI: National Council for Science Technology and Innovations OI: Oral Interview RVP: Rift Valley Province PC: Provincal Commissioner TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION AND RECOMMENDATION.........................................................................i Copyright........................................................................................................................................ii Dedication......................................................................................................................................iii