Land and Labour in Mijikenda Agriculture, 1850-1985
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Year of publication:
1993
Print title:
Waaijenberg H. (1993). Land and Labour in Mijikenda Agriculture, Kenya, 1850-1985. (Research Reports No.53). Leiden: African Studies Centre.
For reference purposes, cite the following link:
https://www.ascleiden.nl/kenya-coast/brd/waaijenberg/land-and-labour-agriculture
Summary/abstract:
The Mijikenda are the Bantu people living in the hinterland of southern Kenya. During the last two centuries, the Mijikenda have been transformed from shifting cultivators into traders, have changed their settlement pattern, modified land tenure rules, adopted new crops like maize and coconut, and taken up modern techniques. This paper examines two key resources of Mijikenda agriculture that have undergone profound transformations during the period under study (1850-1985): land and labour.
External pressures and internal processes have completely changed the availability, administration and productivity of the two resources. Nearly all parts of the Mijikenda territory are overpopulated and land scarcity forms the backdrop for changes in land tenure and land use. Changes in labour input mean that more work has to be done by less labour and for lower returns. Tree crops and livestock bring extra work, while schooling and off-farm work reduce the amount of labour that is available. The low productivity of labour is aggravated by low soil fertility, proliferation of weeds, shading by tree crops and often long distances to fields, firewood or water.