Slow progress with integrated rural development programmes in Kenya's arid and semiarid lands

Abstract

AbstractIntegrated rural development programmes (IRDPs) in Kenya's Arid and Semiarid Lands (ASAL) arose out of a recognition that they had been neglected in the past and that levels of poverty, the need to increase production and the threat of environmental degradation merited special attention. The primary goal of the IRDP activities was to increase agricultural productivity, thereby contributing to food self‐sufficiency. This goal was reflected in the heavy concentration of resources in natural resource development. Such concentration was frequently at the cost of the development of human resources. Similarly, investment in physical infrastructure and in small‐scale industry was neglected. It was expected that IRDPs would be planned and implemented at the District‐level and would assist in the establishment of district administrative capacity. Participatory planning at the local level was considered a prerequisite to effective and sustainable integrated development. Sadly, IRDPs have been largely unsuccessful in both primary goals. While the reasons for failure are complex, it appears that two key issues stand out: (a) assumptions about the ability of government agricultural services to develop the potential of the ASAL were unrealistic, and (b) there was a lack of real devolution of power to district administrations, and more noticeably, to subdistrict levels. Despite the difficulties, the attraction of IRDPs to the ASAL remain strong. In a time of declining government budgets, they provide a means of getting funds to the district‐level and of catering for the special problems of semiarid environments. The continuing justification for IRDPs may be summarized as follows: (a) there is still a real problem of feeding a growing population in ASAL districts and in high agricultural potential zones; (b) without IRDPs in ASAL districts, standards of living would certainly fall; (c) this may prompt out‐migration from ASAL areas into high potential zones; (d) such out‐migration would occur in the context of increasing land pressure and rising unemployment in high‐potential areas; (e) IRDPs, by sustaining populations within ASAL districts, could contribute to food security in high‐potential areas; (f) IRDPs might also contribute to food security in ASAL districts themselves, by strengthening traditional production systems in these areas. The primary goal is to sustain the populations in ASAL districts by improving their food security. Although natural resource management is still necessary, there must be increasing attention paid to human resource development. Only then can a true transfer of power take place to ASAL districts, whereby their people effectively participate in overcoming and managing local problems.