Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
for literacy was considered useful by the communities. Two cultural factors, however,
influenced the quality and detail of data on some topics. The most affected were
causes and degree of mortality and wealth ranking. In all the communities, the par-
ticipants conceded that they were unable to discuss in detail issues related to mortality
due to cultural values that prohibited discussions of mortality in public. Participants
were reluctant to talk about wealth (common and individual) as this was tantamount
to “telling God that you have had too much to eat.” The concept of agroecosystem
health was well understood by most community members, as evidenced by their use
of health language, images, and concepts throughout the participatory workshops.
3.3.1
C
of m m u in i t y
i
D e n t i t i e s
3.3.1.1
Participatory mapping
Based on the descriptions by participants, individuals in communities in the ISSs
perceived themselves as residents of a village with well-defined boundaries and
membership. In the Kiawamagira ISS, the village was described as the area along
the Nairobi-Kikuyu road and bounded on the southern and western sides by the
Nairobi-Kisumu railway line. The village was described as consisting of 60 house-
holds and homesteads. For the purpose of this study, boundaries of the study site
were changed to correspond with those described by the participants.
3.3.1.2
Institutional mapping
Table 3.3 shows the institutions considered by communities in the ISSs as important
in decision making and the relationships among them and with the communities. All
communities indicated that administrative officials were important in decision mak-
ing, but two study sites (Githima and Gitangu) indicated lack of a collaborative rela-
tionship between the community and the administration. Only one village (Gitangu)
indicated that there were relationships between institutions at the community level.
Other communities indicated that these institutions operated independently. All vil-
lages except Gikabu-na-Buti indicated a collaborative link between the community
and schools.
3.3.1.3
Historical background and time lines
Table 3.4 presents a summary of the historical backgrounds and time lines given by
participants in the six ISSs. Gikabu and Thiririka were recent settlements, the for-
mer consisting of tea estate workers who bought a portion of land from a tea estate
and subdivided it among themselves. Thiririka, the youngest of the villages, is a
settlement of former squatters in government forests. Although the community in
Gitangu village is divided into three different clans, they have a history of working
together as a unit. In Gikabu, the two groups that existed did not work together at all
despite presenting themselves to outsiders as a unit. Information was restricted, and
most projects were managed by each group separately. Gikabu and Thiririka had
the shortest time lines as the most recently settled. All time lines revealed a concern
with biophysical phenomena, especially related to food production.
Search WWH ::
Custom Search