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| Traditional Village Institutions in Environmental Management: Erosion Control in Katheka, Kenya |
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Reference |
| Thomas-Slayter, Barbara; Kabutha, Charity; Ford, Richard (1991), "Traditional Village Institutions in Environmental Management: Erosion Control in Katheka, Kenya", From the Ground Up Case Study Series No.1, Washington, DC: World Resource Institute and Nairobi, Kenya: Acts Press. |
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Introduction to the Institution |
| The area is classified as marginally productive semi-arid, recieving an annual average rainfall of 600-800 mm. The Kalala a river and several springs located in the surrounding hills are the major water sources for the villagers.
One hundred years ago, what is now Katheka sublocation was sparsely settled by the agropastoral Bantu-speaking Akamba people who migrated in the 17th century from their original home near Mt Kilimanjaro. British colonial rule allowed commercial farming which in turn attracted many migrant labours to the area. The shift of agrpastoralism to agriculture and increase in population brought tremendus pressure on land and other resources.
The colonial rule, instead of addressing the root causes- land inequities between african subsistence farmers and commercial farming colonists, confronted the symptoms; They tried to force villagers to reduce their livestock to prevent overgrazing and to construct bench terraces to prevent soil conservation measures.
The Akamba and Kenyans elsewhere recognised colonial hypocrisy and tried to resist. Even after the independence in 1963, the hostility toward coerced colonial-era conservation continued. Soil conservation virtually stopped
In 1973, the government appointed an assistant chief for Katheka. Along with some eldres, the villagers adopted three interventions; strengthening local institutions, recruiting local voluntary labour, and beginning projects for which they could provide the great bulk of material from local resources. In additiona to other programmes, most visible success of the assistant chief is to revitalise the local institutions of self-help groups called Mwethya groups.
For many generations, Akamba people used mwethya groups for in times of need. Normally the groups consisted of men and women organised along clan or family lines. They provide emergency assistance or meet special needs such as building houses and clearing new fields. The custom of mwethys groups slipped into disuseduring the colonial period, when they were replaced with a modern formal system of workgroups and conscripted labour units.
Now, the mwethya tradition has been so effectively reestablished and updated in Katheka that today's groups are the most visible and active of the local instituions and the backbone of village's resource management activities. Though the figures are approximate, each group digs a minimum of 1500 m of bench terraces each year and in some cases twice that amount (each member is responsible for digging 2 m for work session). Given Katheka's current 15 groups, annual construction of terraces reaches 20 km. Accomplishments in check dams and cutoff drains are equally impressive. |
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Coverage of the Institution |
| Encouraged by the early success of mwethya groups in other villages in Machakos district, the assistant chief supported the interests of women in Katheka to organise local mwethya groups, By late 1970s, five were operational. |
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Rules for Management
of the Institution |
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(a) Boundary Rules |
| Spatial: The Katheka location is about 11 square km and includes three villages of 1000 residents each.
Social: |
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(b) Governance
rules |
| Modern mwethya groups are still based on tradititonal lines of authority, but they are no longer strictly organised along clan lines. Groups have 25-35 members, mostly women, from a certain farm neighbourhood or household cluster. In most cases, memebrship requirements are a common interest or need and a willingness to share equally in group responsibilities, partocularly cooperative labour. A few groups require a small entrance fee. Memebrship remains stable throughout the year, often for many years.
Post-independence mwethys groups primarily help their members with agricultural work, but they also build and repair bench terraces and dig cutoff drains on private farms. For most part, the woemn of household determines the specific tasks to be performed by mwethya group on her family's land. The groups also build check dams in gullies that run between member farms and that may border on as many as 20-30 separate land holdings. Often they join (sometimes with other groups and individuals) for public works such as repairing roads, developing water systems, and building schools and churches.
The first task these women took up was soil conservation. Group members learned soil conservation techniques in different ways. The women learned how to lay terraces by attending some training coures and through experimentation. They also learnt to reinforce new terraces with grass plantings, plan for drainage, and differentiate among soil types and their agricultural potential.
Each mwethya group is headed by an elected leader and has a secretary and treasurere responsible for keeping attendance and financial records, seting rotation schedules, maitaining logs of work work accomplished and related activities. In addition, Katheka now has a council of mwethya groups known as the Katheka Women's Group, with a chair, secretary, and treasurer dedicated to coordinating work in community development. The council recently opened a bank account in nearby Tala to improve its financial management and save money for developing and income generating efforts that require capital input.
Customarily, the groups work two mornings a week throughout the year. For ten months (From October to July during growing season), they emphasise agriculture related activities such as hoeing, sowing, weeding and harvesting on privately owned farms; land clearing is men's work. The peak labour need is from March to June. Each member has the benefit of the group labour force three or four times a year. In August and September, when the demand for agricultural labour is low, groups work on community and resource management projects. Just before the short rains, the land is dry, allowing for terrace construction. Much of teh conservation work is done on teh private land, but the groups also work on communal land 6-12 days per year usually on Saturdays, when they build check dams between farms and repair roads.
Each mwethya group sets specific rotation schedules and enforces individual members' participation. A member who misses two or three sessions may be fined, or the group may skip her farme during the rotation. Both are serious losses, so attendance is high. Exceptions are made for example, when a woman is sick, but even then she usually sends someone in her place. |
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(c) Resource Allocation |
| Not reported |
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Conflict Resolution Mechanism |
| Not reported |
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Problems Faced by Institution |
| Deep sand deposits in the Kalala river and feeder streams retain water and provide a much needed dry-season water source for Katheka's residents. The Nairobi construction businessmen are causing a threat to this process by scooping sand deposits for construction. The villagers are struggling to get control over these sand deposits. |
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Other Features of Institution |
| The success with terraces emboldened the community to take up other problems such as water projects. Village groups on the advise of division water engineer, constructed several check dams in gullies, built a few subsurface dams, and installed a hand pump in a well that now provides year-round water for about 100 households. In addition, the mwethya groups find ways to generate income. Mwethya groups are working together to find markets for their handmade baskets and with the church and other local institutions, are raising funds for larger development projects and new enterprises such as selling paraffin (kerosene0 in Katheka. The new use of mwethya institution constitutes an avenue whereby Katheka, on the periphery of cash economy can begin to mobilise not only labour but also cash fr development. |
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Purpose |
| Traditional self-help groups, mwethya (self-help ) groups have been revitalised and mobilised for soil conservation |
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Country |
| Kenya |
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Region |
| Katheka sublocation lies 75 km east of Nairobi in Machakos district (eastern province). |
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Date Of Publication |
| Srinivas: 30/07/96 |
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