Land Fragmentation and Its Effects on Sustainable Food and Livelihood Security in Kenya: the Case of Banana Farming System of Kisii County.

Abstract

“The study investigated the phenomenon of land fragmentation and the effects on food and livelihood security in Kenya. The study was set in Bonyanchaire Sub-Location of Kisii County, which has banana farming as a significant contributor to the livelihoods of the population in this agro ecological zone. An analysis of the key drivers of land fragmentation was done and an assessment of its effects on the food and livelihood security in the area was done. The aim of this study was to assess the phenomenon of land fragmentation and describe its effects of on sustainable households’ food and livelihood security of rural agricultural parts of Kenya. The research was guided by four objectives namely: To assess the current household land sizes in the study area; to establish the factors which influence land sizes in the study area; to consider the relationship between land sizes and land use patterns in the study area; To analyse the factors that influence the use of land in the study area; and finally To make policy interventions that can lead to improved land resource management for sustainable livelihoods in the study area. The research was guided by relevant literature on land fragmentation, food security and household livelihood strategies. The general approach to this study was exploratory, descriptive and inductive, based on mixed research techniques because the quantitative enquiries helped to explore the extent or magnitude of the situation or phenomenon under study while the qualitative enquiries helped to explore the diversities in a situation or phenomenon. The cross sectional survey method was employed using questionnaires and interview schedule. The respondents were 102 residents of Bonyanchaire sublocation of Kisii County, stratified and randomly selected from the four villages of the sublocation. The data collected was subjected to statistical analyses using frequencies, percentages and chi square analysis. The results of the study revealed that Bonyanchaire sublocation consists of households with diverse social and economic backgrounds. This meant that over time, the households in the sublocation had become heterogeneous in composition with diversity of livelihood sources as against the original residents who were mostly subsistence farmers. The results showed that 52% of the total male respondents engaged in professions other than farming while 55% of female respondents engaged had livelihood sources other than farming. 69% of total respondents claimed to be engaged in both subsistence farming and another livelihood activity. This indicates that there is a trend emerging where local population are diversifying their sources of livelihoods. The result of the first test of the hypothesis revealed that the variable land fragmentation indeed influenced the household land sizes in the study area. The implication of this is that this variable can be used to predict issues concerning the household land sizes in the study area. Additionally, the result of the second test of the hypothesis revealed that the variable land size did not influence the household food and livelihood security in the study area. The implication of this is that this variable of land size cannot be used to predict issues concerning the household food and livelihood security in the study area. The variables for the study were: current land sizes, existing land use patterns, prevailing land holding structure, and land management policies in the study area.

It was further established that land fragmentation and reduced land sizes influenced household food and livelihood security differently. For example land sizes influenced the amount of yield the farms produced. The existing land use patterns influence the proportion of household land that could be put to farming of the main livelihood crop. It was observed that land in the study area was shared between space for homestead, some pasture area for livestock and space for farming of bananas, maize, beans and others. It was also observed that land use patterns was influenced by land subdivision because most sons to whom land had been subdivided established homestead leading to a duplication of the space occupied by homesteads. Availability of non-farm income sources such as business or employment was also found to influence the household land use patterns. Measuring residents’ reaction to land fragmentation which was conspicuous in the study area showed a high degree of social acceptance level at 63% approval among the respondents, in spite of the reduced yields from the farms. Another response to reduced yields from the land based enterprises by residents was a wide adoption of non-farm based sources of livelihood in the study area. Respondents who reported having non-farm income were distributed into the following categories: beekeeping (2.0%), business (44.1%), farming (22.5%), and teaching (4.9%). The study concluded that, although land size and land subdivision influences crop yield from the farms, it does not lead to food and livelihood insecurity in the study area. The study further concludes that rapid population increase in the study area contributes to the increased incidence of land subdivisions which subsequently leads to reduced land sizes held by households. According to this study, adoption of alternative sources of income is one way of supplementing food and livelihood security in the study area.