The Role of Social Network and Regional System in Maintaining Livelihood Security of Smallholder Farmers in Central Kenya

Taking smallholder settlements constituting a relatively compact set of two newly settled villages adjacent Northeastern Slopes of Aberdare, Central Kenya as the main research field, the study: investigates the migration patterns, kinship relations and emerging associational life in the study sites; explores the social networks underpinning the exchange and sharing of information and knowledge by the smallholder farmers; and illuminates the functioning of the regional system driven by local-level area differences arising from ecological gradient of a mountain slope. It draws from both qualitative and quantitative data collected from field surveys between 2007 and 2009. Additional field work was conducted intermitted between 2010 and 2012. Findings reveal that lack of land and the ensuing process of migration led to geographical dispersal of household members and breakdown of common household residence formerly a basis for primary bonds and cohesiveness of the kinship system. Thus, kinship relations have weakened and in their place emerged new associational life at the destination areas for coping with and adapting to uncertainties in the new environment. These local-based associations in the new settlements have replaced the functions of kinship, market and the state in securing livelihoods for the smallholders. Findings on social networks using the case of seed sources information sharing attest to the fact that, farmers are less dependent on social relations in provision of crop varieties and livestock breeds and are highly dependent on market mechanism, an evidence of farmer’s exposure to variable market forces. However, they are continuously engaged in social learning process. The functioning of the regional system revealed a complementary relationship among the studied settlements especially during crisis times such as drought whereby upland farmers have economic, social, and ecological relationships with lowland farmers. Even though the study is limited to the local scope, it provides a basis for designing policies aimed at rural livelihood security improvement and informs and facilitates targeting of outside interventions such as food security programs which can be built on existing social networks and regional system.