Securing Household Income among Small-scale Farmers in Kakamega District: Possibilities and Limitations of Diversification

Henriette Dose

No 41, GIGA Working Papers from GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies

Abstract: In the debate of sustainable rural livelihoods, diversification is seen as a way to secure incomes and to increase food security. On the basis of a data set on income security, this paper analyses to what extent this applies to small-scale farmers in Kakamega District, Kenya. Using the sustainable rural livelihoods approach, this paper draws the conclusion, that (1) diversification in agricultural production is not sufficient for securing rural livelihoods in Kakamega District; (2) a sufficient income diversification depends heavily on requirements like access to education, infrastructure, as well as investment capital; and (3) small-scale farmers in Kakamega District in most cases lack these requirements, therefore not being able to achieve secure household incomes or increased food security.

Keywords: agriculture; income security; small-scale farmers; Kenya; sustainable rural livelihoods (SRL); diversification (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2007
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:gigawp:41

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