| dc.description.abstract | The socio-cultural factors considered to influence cattle rustling in Kilgoris Constituency, Narok County, include; income level, formal education level, cultural practises and leadership. Low income level has an influence on cattle rustling as this is taken as an alternative means of meeting the daily needs, especially after drought andlor diseases outbreaks. Low level of formal education among pastoralists attributed to factors such as local customs, traditions hostile to change, the nomadic lifestyle itself and insufficient attention by govemmmts to alternative models of schooling has left them with limited opportunities of pursuing economic benefits thus cattle rustling. The pastoral set up characteristics of strong cultural practises compel members to resort to coercive means of wealth acquisition to address needs like dowry payment indeed influence cattle rustling. The type of leadership in a traditional set up plays a role in cattle rustling by either discouraging the practises or enhancing it. This entirely depends on the role played by the leaders or their opinions. The purpose of this study was to highlight on the sociocultural factors that have potential to influence cattle rustling in pastoral communities with reference to Kilgoris Constituency, Narok County in particular.
This research report is organised in five chapters. Chapter one introduces the topic and generally highlights on the background to the study, problem statement, purpose of the study, objectives of the study, research questions, significance of the study, limitations and delimitations of the study as well as definition of significant terms as used in the study. Chapter two presents systematically how the sociocultural factors, namely; income level, formal education level, cultural practises and leadership influence cattle rustling. It sites literature from various references that account for the effects of socio-cultural factors globally, regionally, in Kenya and locally. It also has the theoretical, together with the conceptual framework. Chapter three covers the research methodology that is broken down to research design, target population, sampling size and sampling procedure, research instruments, how the instruments were piloted, their validity and reliability checked, data collection procedures, data analysis techniques, ethical considerations and operational definition of variables.
Descriptive survey research design was used because it allows the researcher to gather useful information, summarize the data, interpret and present the results. Most of the data collected was qualitative in nature highlighting the descriptive influence of socio-cultural factors on cattle rustling. However, quantitative data was generated from responses about frequency of cases of cattle rustling in relation to the socio-cultural factors identified in the study, where validity and reliability of the instruments was ensured. Analysis of data collected using Statistical Packages of Social Scientists was done. Chapter four deals with data analysis, results and discussion of the findings on the influence of social cultural factors on cattle rustling among pastoral communities in Kilgoris Constituency. The data was analyzed with the help of a computer software namely Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). This enabled the researcher to present the data in frequencies, percentages and summarized in tables. The chapter is divided into two main sections, namely results and discussion of the findings. Chapter five presents the summary of the findings, conclusions and recommendations based on the analysis on the influence of social cultural factors on cattle rustling among the communities in Kilgoris constituency. The findings of this study may be useful in developing policies targeting the pastoral communities. The District Security and Intelligence Committee (DIDC), peace committees and other development partners may find the study useful in understanding the phenomenon of cattle rustling for further interventions. | en_US |
