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WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY Department of Anthropology Dissertation Examination Committee: John Bowen, Co-Chair Jean Ensminger, Co-Chair Pascal Boyer Jack Knight Fiona Marshall Douglass North Gautam Yadama CUTTING UP THE COMMONS: THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF LAND PRIVATIZATION AMONG THE SAMBURU OF KENYA by Carolyn Kornfeld Lesorogol A dissertation presented to the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Washington University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2002 Saint Louis, Missouri TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements ii List of Tables iv List of Charts iv List of Figures v 1. Introduction 1 2. Ethnographic Setting, Field Sites and Research Methods 21 3. Privatization of Land in Siambu 41 4. The Political Dynamics of Privatization 114 5. Experiences in Education, the Military and Employment 157 6. The Impact of Privatization of Land on Welfare 186 7. Privatization and Behavior: Evidence from Experimental Games 254 8. Conclusion 285 Bibliography 294 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank the many individuals and organizations that helped make this dissertation a reality. At Washington University, I have enjoyed a stimulating intellectual environment where interdisciplinary work is encouraged and valued. My advisor, Jean Ensminger, has been instrumental to the development of many of the ideas in this dissertation and has tirelessly read and re-read drafts, making insightful comments and concrete suggestions. Even after her move to Caltech, she remained a committed and excellent mentor. John Bo wen has challenged me to think deeply about both theoretical and empirical questions, and I have gained tremendously from my interactions with him over the last few years. Pascal Boyer provided detailed comments on drafts of the dissertation and reminded me that not everyone knows the Samburu. I have enjoyed many discussions with Fiona Marshall about Kenya and pastoralism, both of which we have in common. Jack Knight's intellectual input in this project was pivotal to developing an explanation of the privatization process, and he has also been a careful and constructive reader. Douglass North's ideas about institutions and economic development have provided a new way of looking at change processes that has been very important to the approach taken in the dissertation. I thank Gautam Yadema for our discussions about common property, development and career paths. The research for this dissertation was generously funded by a dissertation improvement grant from the National Science Foundation, a Fulbright-Hays grant from the U.S. Department of Education, a grant from the Center for New Institutional Social Sciences at Washington University and a pre-dissertation grant from International Studies program at Washington University. I am grateful for the support of these agencies. I also thank the Kenyan Ministry for Education Science and Technology for research permission and the Institute for Development Studies at the University of Nairobi for research affiliation. There are many people to thank in Kenya. My two research assistants, Prame Lesorogol and Jonathan Lekeriyo did an incredible amount of work conducting household surveys, monitoring games and helping with interviews. Their companionship was always enjoyable and their insights about many issues were useful. Others provided various types of research assistance on a part time basis and I would like to thank them: Anthony Letirok, Francis Lempushuna, Jeremiah Lekarikei, Simon Letambul, and Simon Lenolkulal. I truly appreciate the cooperation of all the Samburu families that were involved in any part of the research. Even in a difficult year when people were coping with a severe drought, I was invariably welcomed into people's homes and my questions were patiently and respectfully answered. I particularly want to thank Saddam Lelesiit and Anna Kanai Lelesiit for providing housing in Siambu and the Lenolkulal family for their hospitality. I had many interesting discussions with Loraine and Michael Wexler and their family in Poro. I also thank the Dolifka's in Maralal for sharing their views about land with me. The staff at Ministry of Lands and Settlements in Maralal graciously allowed me to read files in their office and clarified the policies and procedures of land adjudication. I thank Mwenda Ntarangwi and his family for hospitality in Nairobi. Special thanks go to Susan Epem who taught my children at home while I was out doing research and Sarais Lolngojine, without whom no one would have eaten or had clean clothes! ii Family and friends have provided tremendous support throughout this process and I would like to thank my parents, Stuart and Rosalind Kornfeld, my sister Kathy Kornfeld and brother Kerry Kornfeld. In Kenya, my in-laws Noosoroitare Lesorogol, Naisia Leseewa, Arno Lekuraa, Naina Lekuraa, Kondelia Leirana, and the whole Lesorogol family have been good friends and companions. Bilinda Straight read parts of the dissertation and made useful comments, and I thank her and Jon Holtzman for many interesting discussions over the years of things Samburu. Fellow graduate students at Washington University have shared their time and intellect as well, and I want to thank Sheela Athreya, Gareth Barkin , Laura Cochrane, Beth Townsend, Vanessa Hildebrand, Lisa Hildebrand, Bert Louis, Eric Repice, and Erin Stiles. Finally, I thank my daughters Sarah, Jennifer and Emily whose presence keeps me grounded in the real world, and my husband Leretin who has endured the separations involved in my rather tardy decision to go back to graduate school. iii LIST OF TABLES Table 6.1 Population Characteristics of Sample Population 191 Table 6.2 Comparison of Livestock Holdings (in TLU) in Siambu and Mbaringon, 2000/2001 195 Table 6.3 Household TLU taking into account drought losses 197 Table 6.4 Polygynous Households By Wealth Category 200 Table 6.5 Wealth Distribution in Siambu and Mbaringon shown in Quintiles 201 Table 6.6 Children's Educational Attainment 204 Table 6.7 Adult Educational Attainment 205 Table 6.8 Average Years of Education Completed by Male Age Groups 206 Table 6.9 Total Income, Per capita Income and Sources of Income, Siambu and Mbaringon 209 Table 6.10 Households Participating in Wage Labor By Type of Job 216 Table 6.11 Average Cash Value of Home Consumption for Siambu Households 229 Table 6.12 Number and Percentage of Households Leasing Out Land in Siambu by Wealth and Income 230 Table 6.13 Land Sales in Siambu 235 Table 6.14 Siambu Survey Household Land Sales by Wealth and Income Categories 237 Table 6.15 Siambu Land Sales By Year 238 LIST OF CHARTS Char 6. Tropical Livestock Units (TLU) Per Capita in 1978 193 Char 6. Per Capita TLU in 2000/2001 195 Char 6. Percent of Total Income By Source t 3 Siambu and Mbaringon 2000 211 Char 6. Income by Source, Mbaringon 212 t 4 Char 6. Income by Source, Siambu 212 Char 6. Percent of Household Income By Source, t 6 Richest (Q1) and Poorest (Q5) Wealth Quintiles 218 Char 7. Distribution of Offers in Dictator Game 262 t 1 Char 7. Distribution of Offers in the Punishment Game 265 Char 7. Distribution of offers received by Player two (as a fraction of Player one's endowment) and Returns from Player two (as a fraction of Player one's offer) in the Punishment Game in Mbaringon 270 Chart 7.4 Distribution of offers received by Player two (as a fraction of Player one's endowment) and returns from Player two (as a fraction of Player one's offer) in Punishment Game in Siambu 270 iv Chart 7.5 Distribution of Offers in 4-Person Public Goods Game 272 Chart 7.6 Distribution of Offers in Double-blind Dictator Game with Norm Set by Elders 277 Chart 7.7 Distribution of Offers in Dictator Game 278 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1 Map of Kenya (Samburu District outlined in black with field sites labeled) 22 Figure 3.1 Flow Chart of Stages in the Land Adjudication Process in Samburu District 54 V Chapter One Introduction: Global Meets Local We pulled up to the edge of the escarpment. From a distance, I could already see the large group of women assembled, decked out in their finery as if preparing for a wedding ceremony. On the very edge of the plateau, a rough structure was being erected that resembled a Samburu house, but one that had been cut in two. A warrior, also regaled in full ceremonial dress, was standing in the doorway to the house, perched on the rocky ledge. If he turned around to enter the house, he would have fallen over the escarpment, plunging hundreds of feet to the Rift Valley floor. It was then that I saw the film crew. They were hard to miss with their truck full of equipment, and their tent under which the director and his assistants were planning the shoot. It was a commercial for German coffee they were filming, and this site on the edge of Malasso in Samburu district, would be one of a half dozen shots to feature in the spot. They had traveled across the world to capture the image of the Samburu warrior overlooking the vastaess of the Rift Valley. The women weren't even involved: they had just come out when they saw the truck, hoping for a chance to sing, and get paid a few shillings. I doubt whether the film crew realized that they were working in the only area of Samburu district where formerly communal range land has been privatized. Their Samburu host, a vociferous opponent of privatization when in occurred in the mid-1980s, looked pleased to have them there, though he declined to disclose how much they were paying him for his hospitality. The land at the end of the escarpment, called Malasso, has become a tourist attraction because of its magnificent views over the northern Rift Valley.

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