Going Their Separate Ways: Agrarian Transformation in Kenya, 1930-1950

by Maxon, Robert M.

• ISBN13: 9780838638934
• ISBN10: 0838638937
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-03-01
• Publisher: Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Pr

Summary

From 1930 to 1950, Vihiga and Gusiiland, relatively similar regions of western Kenya, went their separate ways and in opposite directions. For Gusiiland this involved a more extensive involvement in the agricultural economy of Kenya as the region moved, over the next two decades, to become a major producer of small holder cash crops, part of the country's agrarian revolution zone. Vihiga, on the other hand, moved from being the major source of commodity production for sale in western Kenya to a region which could no longer feed itself from its own resources after 1950. Vihiga's place in the Kenyan economy after 1950 was primarily that of a labor-exporting zone. This account of the contrasting experiences of the Vihiga and Gusiiland provides a framework for enhanced, understanding of the history of agrarian change in Africa.

Author Biography

Robert M. Maxon completed his undergraduate education at Duke University and a Ph.D. in History at Syracuse University. He has long-standing connections with Kenya, having served as an education officer in Western Province, research associate at the University of Nairobi, and visiting Professor of History at Moi University. He has been a member of the Department of History at West Virginia University since 1969 and holds the rank of Professor

Table of Contents

Abbreviations	7	(2)
Preface	9	(10)
Environment and Historical Background	19	(38)
Gusiiland in the 1930s	57	(44)
Vihiga in the 1930s	101	(51)
Vihiga in the 1940s	152	(68)
Gusiiland Transformed, 1940--1950	220	(39)
Going Their Separate Ways	259	(14)
Notes	273	(60)
Bibliography	333	(14)
Index	347