| dc.description.abstract | The ouest for rapid rural development in Keny a is a priority factor on the agenda of not only the government but of the majority of the affected communities as well. But the attainment of the concrete objectives of rural development has continued to be elusive since independence Where some positive results have been realized in the past, the conditions have subsequently turned back and assumed a degenerating trend. It is out of this unfavournble rural developilent scenario in Kenya in general and Tongaren in particular that grows the need for continued research efforts that aim at reaching a more lasting solution to the problem of development in the rural arears. this study is a response to this need. The thesis is primarily a case study. It focuses attention on TongarenDivision of Bungoma districtt in the Western Province of Kenya. Apart from being only a rural area,Tongaren has the uniqueness of being the only set tlement scheme in the whole district. (Bungoma district has a total of six divisions). Settlement schemes were established hee in 1965 for occupation by African settler-farmers soon after the departure of their white predicessors. T'he major economic activity designed for the area was maize and dairy prodfuction. Thus rural developement in tongaren, especially with regard to employment and income, was set to rely quite substantially on agriculture. The central thesis of this study is that today Tongaren is experiencing poor rural development conditions. This is inspite of the relatively large amounts of basic resources, notably land, dairy aninamls, credit facilities, marketing organizations, agricultural and veterinary extension services, multi-purpose co-operative societies, etc., which were placed at the disposal of the settlers at the time of the establishment of the sttlement area. Further more, Tongaren does not manifest any measure in rural development higher than the adjoining non-settlement divisions, notably Kimilili, which were not as advantaged as Tongaren as far as the the receipt of such initial resources is concerned. Thus, under normal circumstances Tongaren settlement area was expected to realize higher measures of rural development than the rest of the district. This has, however, not turned out to be the case. In fact, the initial objectives of the settlement programme, namely reliable source of employment, higher incomes and higher standards of living have not been realized satisfactorily.
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