Browsing by Author "Mbogo Mary Wangai"

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Colonial transformation of the Aembu access to land and labour division systems on food crop production and food security, 1906-1963
(Chuka University, 2024) Mbogo Mary Wangai
Expansion of British colonialists to Kenya and their interaction with the Aembu people changed the traditional system of access to land and labour division in food crop production. British colonial practices and policies undermined the Aembu land and labour systems in food crop production and replaced them with new policies. Thus, the aim of the study was to analyse the effects of colonialism on the system of access to land and labour division in food crop production on the Aembu in Embu County between 1906 and 1963. The study’s objectives were; to explore the Aembu pre-colonial land and labour systems on food crop production in Embu County up to 1906, to examine colonial transformation of the Aembu access to land and labour division in food crop production from 1906 to1963 and to analyse the influence of the co-existence of pre-colonial and colonial access to land and labour systems on food security from 1906 to 1963. The study used descriptive research design. Articulation of Modes of Production Theory was employed to examine the interaction between the pre-capitalist and the capitalist modes of production. The study was conducted in Embu Easts sub-county, Embu West sub-county and Embu North sub-county. Targeted population was16,144 people based on the 2019 Census from which a sample size of 50 respondents was used. Purposive sampling method and snowballing technique was utilized to reach out to the most resourceful respondents. Data was collected from oral interviews, archival records and secondary sources which were corroborated to guarantee validity and reliability of the study. Oral interviews and focus group discussions were used as instruments of data collection. Data was analysed using the Qualitative Data Analysis method. The study found out that the pre-colonial Aembu food crop producers had elaborate systems of land ownership and land use under clan heads which guaranteed all members land in different ecological areas suitable for production of crops. The land access system further accommodated practices like shifting cultivation and intercropping for increased food productivity. Further, the study revealed that the pre-colonial division of labour in food crop production incorporated all household members for enhanced food supply. However, when pre-colonial labour system was integrated into the colonial system through forced labour, low wages, migrant and communal labour it resulted to significant decline in food crop production. The study concluded that British colonialism transformed the Aembu land and labour systems while co-existence of pre-colonial and colonial access to land and labour systems on production of food crops exposed the community to food shortages. The study contributes to social, political and economic historiography of the Aembu people.
Colonial Transformation of The Aembu Land Access and Labour Division Systems in Food Crop Production From 1906- 1963
(Journal of History and Cultural Studies, 2024-09-10) Mbogo Mary Wangai; ;Caroline Mucece Kithinji(; Muraya Martha(
This study examined the colonial transformation of the Aembu access to land and labour division in food crop production from 1906-1963. Colonial practices and policies undermined the Aembu land and labour systems in food crop production. Methodologically, the study used descriptive research design and Articulation of Modes of Production Theory. The study was conducted in Embu East, Embu West and Embu North sub-counties of Embu. The study targeted a population of 16,144 people based on the 2019 census. Corroborated data was obtained from oral, archival and secondary sources to establish the reliability and validity of the research. The study’s findings were that the creation of African reserves to pave way for white settlement and labour supply from Africans led to the abandonment of crop farms since they were far away; the reserves had limited land sizes with poor soils for the production of enough food while most of the food storage facilities were destroyed in the process of migration and that during the political crisis of World Wars and Mau Mau, labour in food crop production was reduced. It concluded that colonialism transformed the Aembu land and labour systems while the co-existence of pre-colonial and colonial access to land and labour systems on the production of food crops exposed the community to famines. The study recommends that policymakers should come up with strategies for promoting traditional forms of access to land and labour to ensure adequate food crop production.
The Aembu access to land and labour systems on food crop production and food security up to 1906
(Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 2024-09-16) Mbogo Mary Wangai; Caroline Mucece Kithinji; Muraya Martha(
This study sought to analyse how the pre-colonial Aembu organised their land and labour systems in food crop production for guaranteed household food security up to 1906. The pre-colonial African societies had either matrilineal or patrilineal systems of land ownership, while labour was gender specific. The study employed a descriptive research design. The study was conducted in Embu East, Embu West and Embu North sub-counties of the larger Embu County. Purposive sampling with a snowballing technique was applied to get 50 respondents who were interviewed from a target population of 16,144. The study corroborated data from oral, archival records and secondary sources. The findings were that the pre-colonial Aembu food crop producers had elaborate systems of land rights and land use under clan heads. The land access system accommodated practices like shifting cultivation and intercropping; the pre-colonial division of labour in food crop production combined all household members and those other forms of labour like communal, paid and corporate were sourced from outside the household. The study concluded that the pre-colonial Aembu were food secure in spite of occasional rainfall failure, locust invasion and warfare, while the articulation of pre-colonial and capitalist land and labour systems exposed the society members to food insecurity. The study contributed to the pre-colonial social, political and economic historiography of the Aembu people. The study recommends that the post-colonial government should employ strategies that can be effectively used to mitigate food crop production insecurity by focusing on the adoption of various traditional methods of land and labour access.