Aspects of a Peasant Mode of Production: Exchange and the Extent of Sufficiency Among Smallholders in West Laikipia, Kenya

Abstract

The Laikipia Plain in the north-western footzone of Mt. Kenya is one of the semi-arid areas where migrating Kikuyu cultivators go for land and permanent residence. However, unfavourable ecological and economic conditions create contradictions, and many households undergo a considerable risk to fall into marginality. In this paper, the autor aimes at reexamining the thesis that the extent of a household's sufficiency can rise if mutual exchange within a network is practised. The aspect of social networks is obviously manifest in the access to land and other key resources. With regard to the ability to survive in Laikipia, it is obvious too, that the migrants must rely on social capital and informal transactions. Thus it is argued, that the 'invisible' economy of affection is a predominant feature in order to succeed and to generate certainty and sustainability among the small-scale farmers.