THE SOCIO-POLITICAL TRAJECTORY OF AGRARIAN DEVELOPMENT IN COLONIAL AND POST-COLONIAL KENYA
Abstract
This article examines the historical trajectory of agrarian development in Kenya, focusing on the enduring legacy of colonial policies on land tenure, agricultural practices, and socio-economic structures. Utilizing a historical and analytical approach, the study synthesizes archival records and academic literature to analyze the mechanisms through which colonial administration created and perpetuated regional inequalities and a dualistic agricultural economy. We trace the shift from large-scale European settler farms to the rise of smallholder tea production, highlighting how these developments were driven by complex political and economic motives. The findings demonstrate that colonial policies fundamentally restructured traditional systems, disrupted social values, and marginalized certain populations, particularly women. The discussion underscores the importance of this historical context for understanding contemporary challenges in Kenya's political economy. The article concludes that addressing modern rural development issues necessitates a confrontation with the historical roots of structural inequality.
Keywords
Agrarian Development, Colonial Kenya, Land TenureHow to Cite
References
Acland, H. (1971). East African crops. Longman.
Bates, R. H. (1989). Beyond the miracle of the market: The political economy of agrarian development in Kenya. Cambridge University Press.
Berman, B. J. (1990). Control and crisis in colonial Kenya. Heinemann Publishers.
Brett, E. A. (2003). Participation and accountability in development management. Journal of Development Studies, 40(2), 1-29.
Chesang, G. (2009). Smallholder tea production and marketing in Kenya: A historical overview. African Economic History, 37, 69-96.
Daniels, R. E. (1980). Pastoral values among vulnerable peasants: Can the Kipsigis of Kenya keep the home fires burning? In S. Abbott & J. van Willigen (Eds.), Predicting sociocultural change. University of Georgia Press.
Davison, J. (Ed.). (1988). Agriculture, women, and land: The African experience. Westview Press.
Duder, C. J. (1980). The settler response to the Indian crisis of 1923 in Kenya: Brigadier General Philip Wheatley and soldier settlement. Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, 8(3), 349-371.
East African Standard. (1960, July 15). A thousand years of providing comfort. Kenya National Archives BV/128/30.
East African Standard. (1960, August 12). Tea development in African areas. Kenya National Archives.
Elkins, C. (2005). Imperial reckoning: The untold story of Britain's gulag in Kenya. Henry Holt.
Heyer, J. (1976). The origins of regional inequalities in smallholder agriculture in Kenya, 1920-1973. Journal of Development Studies, 12(3), 292-306.
Kanogo, T. (1987). Squatters and the roots of Mau Mau, 1905-1963. James Currey.
Kenya Land Commission. (1933). Report of the Kenya Land Commission. Crown Agents for the Colonies.
Kenya National Archives. (1920). Agricultural Gazetteer: Land tenure in Kipsigis. DC/KER/6/1.
Kenya National Archives. (1925). Annual reports, Kericho District. DC/KER/1/2.
Kenya National Archives. (1950). Annual report: South Lumbwa District. KER/DC/1/30.
Kenya National Archives. (1937). Annual report: Kericho District. DC/KER/1/10.
Kenya National Archives. (1950). Political record book. DC/KER/3/18.
Kenya National Archives. (1952). Tea development proposals. DC/KER/1/25/1952.
Kenya National Archives. (1954). Settlement schemes. DC/KER/1/28/1954.
Kenya National Archives. (1954). Kimulot tea scheme. DC/KER/1/30/1954.
Kenya National Archives. (1957). African tea development. DC/KER/1/30/1957.
Kenya National Archives. (1957). Nyanza Province tea development. NYANZA/2/9/1957.
Kinyanjui, K. (1998). Household livelihoods in transition: The case of tea growing families in Kericho. Institute of Policy Analysis and Research.
Kitching, G. (1980). Class and economic change in Kenya: The making of an African petite bourgeoisie 1905-1970. Yale University Press.
Korir, B. (1976). An economic history of the tea industry in Kenya: 1924-1974Master′sthesis,UniversityofNairobi.
Kosgei, J. S. (1981). Commodity production, tea and social change in Kericho, Kenya 1895-1963PhDdissertation,StanfordUniversity.
Land Ordinance 859 Londiani Allotment File. Kenya National Archives.
Mackenzie, F. D. (1991). Political economy of the environment, gender, and resistance under colonialism: Murang'a District, Kenya, 1910-1950. Canadian Journal of African Studies, 25(2), 226-256.
North, D. C. (1990). Institutions, institutional change and economic performance. Cambridge University Press.
Okoth-Ogendo, H. W. O. (1991). Tenants of the crown: Evolution of agrarian law in Kenya. ACTS Press.
Omwoyo, S. M. (2000). The agricultural changes in the Kipsigis land c. 1894-1963: An historical inquiryPhDdissertation,KenyattaUniversity.
Rodney, W. (1972). How Europe underdeveloped Africa. Bogle-L'Ouverture Publications.
Sorensen, A. (1988). Consequences and potentials of contract farming for women: The case of subsistence tea production among the Kipsigis in Kenya. CDR Working Papers, 88(2).
Sorrenson, M. P. K. (1967). Land reform in the Kikuyu country: A study in government policy. Oxford University Press.
Stichter, S. (1982). Migrant labour in Kenya: Capitalism and African response 1895-1975. Longman.
Swynnerton, R. J. M. (1954). A plan to intensify the development of African agriculture in Kenya. Government Printer.
Talbott, J. E. (1992). Settlers, subsistence, and smallholders: Agricultural development in Kenya, 1905-1940. International Journal of African Historical Studies, 25(3), 545-572.
Towett, T. (1979). Oral history of the Kipsigis. Kenya Literature Bureau.
Van Zwanenberg, R. M. A. (1975). Colonial capitalism and labour in Kenya 1919-1939. East Africa Literature Bureau.
Von Bülow, D., & Sørensen, A. (1993). Gender and contract farming: Tea outgrower schemes in Kenya. Review of African Political Economy, 20(56), 38-52.
Wolff, R. D. (1974). Britain and Kenya 1870-1930: The economics of colonialism. Transafrica Publishers.
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Dr. Peter K. Wekesa, Prof. Mildred Atieno Oduor
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Individual articles are published Open Access under the Creative Commons Licence: CC-BY 4.0.
