Selling wealth to buy poverty : the process of the individualization of landownership among the Maasai pastoralists of Kajiado district, Kenya, 1890-1990

TitleSelling wealth to buy poverty : the process of the individualization of landownership among the Maasai pastoralists of Kajiado district, Kenya, 1890-1990
Publication TypeBook
Year of Publication1992
AuthorsM.M.E.M. Rutten
Series titleNijmegen studies in development and cultural change, ISSN 0935-7173 ; 10
Pagination1 - XVI, 510
Date Published1992///
PublisherBreitenbach
Place PublishedSaarbrücken [etc.]
Publication Languageeng
ISBN Number3-88156-562-0
Keywordsanimal husbandry, customary law, fieldwork, Kenya, land law, Masai, pastoralists, policy, theses (form)
Abstract

This thesis gives an overview of the Maasai livestock economy as it has developed between 1890 and 1990. Particularly, it analyses the processes and policies of land use and landownership of the Maasai pastoral areas in Kajiado district, Kenya, from the arrival of the Europeans until the recent massive individualization of land tenure. The loss of grazing pastures due to increased cultivation, the establishment of game parks and mineral exploitation is said to undermine the livestock economy of Maasai pastoralists in Kajiado district. Furthermore, the recent subdivision of group ranches into too small individual holdings, it is feared, will result in the selling of land to outsiders. This study examines the outcome of this process as well as the Maasai response of economic intensification and diversification, including increasing the productivity of the herd, cultivation, wage employment, outmigration, etc. Fieldwork for the study was carried out in 1988-1989

Notes

Proefschrift Nijmegen - Met lit. opg. - Met samenvatting in het Nederlands

IR handle/ Full text URLhttp://hdl.handle.net/1887/9046
Citation Key1194