Kerio Valley, 1973-2013: A case study of Kenyan smallholder agriculture

Abstract

This article examines changes during the last 40 years in a smallholder irrigation-farming community in Elgeyo-Marakwet County, Kenya. Agricultural productivity has increased thanks to improved seeds and the practice of adding manure and crop residues to fields, a very rare occurrence in the 1970s. People?s range of assets, housing conditions and communications have also improved. Development agencies have had limited impact on these developments, particularly in comparison with their ambitious plans for a radical transformation of the study area. Increased yields and improved living conditions are attributed to local initiatives rather than to external interventions.