Livelihood capital, strategies and outcomes in the Taita hills of Kenya

To study the changing farming system and livelihoods in the Taita hills in Kenya, an interview survey was conducted on a transect stretching from the northern side of the hills across the highlands and reaching to the southern slopes and foothills. A sustainable livelihoods framework was used to organise the survey. Information was collected on the different livelihood assets. Temporal change was emphasized. Perceived problems with crops, livestock, trees, off-farm activities, and other spheres of life were documented. Priorities and values related to livelihood assets and strategies were studied. Associations between livelihood assets/capital and livelihood outcomes were studied by using multivariate regression analysis. The three biggest livelihood changes of the interviewed farmers over the la st generation are soils depletion, off-farm activity as part of livelihood strategies, and decrease in trees in the landscape. Even though 37% of the interviewed households supplement their farm income by off-farm income, inadequate capital for fertility main tenance and other farm inputs is mentioned as the biggest problem. Other problems mentioned include pests (especially ‘Scania’ Larger Grain Borer, Protephanus trancutus ), drought, unavailability of tree seedlings, animal diseases, and insufficient numbers of customers to maintain a business. More than 80% of the farmers interviewed perceive the unavailability of tree seedlings as the most serious problem with tree planting. A big stone house, a dairy cow, establishment of a kiosk or a shop, poultry, electricity, mo re animals, irrigation, more land, terraces and horticulture are amongst the most impo rtant livelihood improvements desired by the farmers interviewed. An outcome index based on acquisition of desired outcome was related to capital assets by re gression. The linear multivaria te regression analysis shows that only Financial capital has significant positive relation with the outcome. However, the variance accounted for is very little, 11%. Analysis of individual outcomes separately showed some associations. Farmers who have introduced animals are more richly endowed with Financial capital. Ho wever, they are less frequently in groups. Further, farmers with off-farm jobs are less likely to introduce new crops, and farmers with plots in two ecological zones (most often highland farmers) score higher with number of children in secondary schools. The general lack of clear associations between the livelihood capital and the livelihood outcomes can be explained simply that there are too many individual livelihood stra tegies to detect a pattern. One should, however, not completely disregard the indication given by the analysis that Financial capital may be the most crucial of the different types of capital. The shift from agriculture to non-agriculture earning is happening and is going to be more significant in the future. However, the options for off-fa rm income are seriously limited. Increased efforts are needed in the Taita hills to look for an integrated way to create more income generating agricultural options together with providing the rural human potential with marketable skills and variety of alternative non-agricultural livelihood options.

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