|
|
|
Previous
Next
|
| Traditional Village Institutions in Environmental Management. Erosion Control in Katheka, Kenya - The Mwethya groups |
|
Reference |
| Thomas-Slayter, Barbara; Kabutha, Charity and Ford, Richard: " Traditional Village Institutions in Environmental Management. Erosion Control in Katheka, Kenya.", from The Ground Up Case Study Series - No.1., Ed. by The Center for International Development and Environment, World Resources Institute, African Center for Technology Studies, ACTS Press, Nairobi, 1991. |
|
Introduction to the Institution |
| The Katheka sublocation of the Machakos district is an area of about 11 sq. km., including three villages with more than 1000 inhabitants. The overall number of inhabitants is 3500, distributed among 360 households of which most are farmers.
ECOLOGICAL CONTEXT: Katheka is a hill area with elevations from 1240m. to 1500m. With an average rainfall of 6-800mm. p.a., it is considered a semi-arid region, and droughts occur regularly - every 3 to 4 years. The long rainy season is from March to May and the shorter, but more reliable, is from September to October. The Kalala River and springs located in the surrounding hills are the major sources of water, but neither of these flow year-round. As vegetation is sparse and soil porous, little protection is offered when torrential rains cause intensive water run-off and massive soil losses.
HISTORY: In the early 1900's large waves of immigrants arrived to Katheka from nearby villages as British settlers had established two large coffee and sisal estates close to Katheda. The estates already occupied 20-30 % of the grazing land but in addition to this loss, the remaining land had to be shared with the immigrants and their herds. This created problems of overgrazing and expanding household agriculture. The population pressure on land lead to severe crisis in the 1970'es when food production per capita was declining and land use patterns had not changed. Resource degradation was evident; soil loss, water shortage and excess tree cutting. In 1973 government appointed a new assistant chief for Katheka. In cooperation with the village elders and informal leaders, he revitalized the concept of "Mwethya" groups, traditional voluntary self-help groups, which had not survived the colonial era, as more formal work groups and labor units had been promoted. In 1987 12 Mwethya groups comprised 400 members of which only 40 were men. The achivements of the Mwethya groups have been remarkable. Each group digs a minimum of 1500m. of bench terrases each year. With 15 groups in the community this sums up to an annual construction of 20km. of terrases which helps soil conservation. Several check dams has been build, a few subsurface dams and a hand pump has been installed in a well that now provides 100 households with water. |
|
Coverage of the Institution |
| Mwethya groups has been used by Akamba people for many generations. The institution is concurrent. |
|
Rules for Management
of the Institution |
|
(a) Boundary Rules |
| SOCIAL BOUNDARIES: Traditional Mwethya groups were strictly organized along clan lines. Today, however, membership requirements are a common interest or need and a willingness to share in group responsibilities, particularly cooperative labor. A few groups require entrance fees
SPATIAL BOUNDARIES: Katheka area of Machakos district. |
|
(b) Governance
rules |
| A "Mwethya" group is headed by an elected leader and has a secretary and a treasurer responsible for keeping attendance- and financial records, setting rotation schedules, maintaining logs of work accomplished and related activities. Furthermore, Katheka now has a council of "Mwethya" groups known as the Katheka Womens Group, with a chair, secretary and treasurer dedicated to coordinating work in community development. |
|
(c) Resource Allocation |
| Mwethyas primarily help their members with agricultural work, but they also build and repair bench terraces and dig cut off drains on private farms. Sometimes they will join for public works such as repairing roads, developing water systems and building schools and churches. Normally the groups will work two mornings a week throughout the year. From October to July, agriculture related activities are emphasized, such as hoeing, sowing, weeding and harvesting. In August and September the groups will work on community and resource management projects. Before the short rains, the land is dry, and terrace construction is allowed. Much of this conservation work will be done on private land, but 6 - 12 days a year the groups will work on communal land - usually on Saturdays. Each member will have the benefit of the group labor force three or four times a year. The group will set specific rotation schedules and enforce individual members' participation. If a member misses two or three work session she might be fined or the group might skip her farm during the rotation. |
|
Conflict Resolution Mechanism |
| Villagers and the Mwethya groups have been struggling with Nairobi business men to gain control of the area's abundant river sand deposits, which are vital to conserving dry-season water. Water is retained in the deep sand deposits of the Kalala river and feeder streams. Thus, it provides dry season water for animal and household use. Since 1974, the Nairobi construction business has removed sand from the Machakos district. The removal of sand decrease the long term water retention capacity of the river beds and increases the likelihood of water shortages. As the sandscooping is perfectly legal, the people of Katheka have found themselves in a weak position. For a period, women dug trenches across the roads, which discouraged the sandscoopers for coming for a period during the mid - '80'es. But as resistance grew in other communities too, the sandscoopers came back to Katheka and resumed their sand loading. |
|
Problems Faced by Institution |
| The worst problem was the level of soil erosion due to the overexploitation of land. Accordingly soil conservation was one of the first tasks taken up by the women in the Mwethya. Earlier, bench terraces had been built due to government coercion. When coercive measures stopped in the 1960'es, bench terrace construction also came to a halt. In the early 70'es when the people of Katheka organized themselves to solve the problem, they realized that the techniques they mastered were insufficient. Most of the knowledge on how to built bench terraces had been eroded. They asked the agricultural extension officers to come to Katheka and train them, but this was not done, 4 Mwethya group leaders were appointed by the leaders of Katheka to attend a soil conservation workshop in Machakos Town. The knowledge obtained from this workshop became the basis of soil conservation in Katheka together with what knowledge was left in the village on how bench terraces had been built before the 1960'es. |
|
Changes in the Institution over time |
| Historically, the farmers of Katheka constructed bench terraces during the colonial period when the work was forced on them and more recently through local initiatives. The first effort was never popular and collapsed at independence. The second appears more stable and consistent. The reasons for this are reported to be partly the awareness of the erosion of the resource base since independence. But more important in an institutional context is that the efforts have developed from a local initiative housed in traditional institutions which function in acceptable social contexts. Terracing activities conducted by the Mwethya groups do not disrupt social continuity, they fit well into the seasonal calendar of activities and they lead to a better distribution of benefits. |
|
Other Features of Institution |
| In 1981-82 a donor organisation provided an agricultural assistant and funds for 18 months of local wages for soil conservation work in Katheka. Women were paid to construct bench terraces. However, disputes quickly developed between women and managers about the wage level, hours worked and work quality. When the program ended, no provision was made for wages from alternative sources and the work languished for several months. As resource problems began to increase, the women gradually returned to their voluntary work status and today the payment for conservation work is considered unescessary.
Generally, the interest of foreign donors in the roles of women in development has enchanced the proliferation of the concept of Mwethya groups. Eventhough such aid has not been guided directly to Katheka, this interest has improved the visibility and legitimisation of the role of Mwethya groups in development. |
|
Purpose |
| Resource management. |
|
Country |
| Kenya |
|
Region |
| Machakos |
|
Date Of Publication |
| TroB 010496 |
|
| |
