Women and Famine in Colonial Kenya’s Kitui West Region, 1895 – 1963

Abstract

The problematic of famines is not new to African communities; African communities have overtime, experienced frequent famines with varying degrees of coping mechanisms. The long history of pre-colonial and colonial communities in Kenya cannot therefore be adequately re-constructed without reference to the serious problem of famines. Famines have a disruptive impact on individuals and communities.The current study interrogates women and famines in Kenya’s Kitui West region, between 1895-1963. It analyses specific famines and assesses their effects on women in the region under review. It also outlines the varying copying mechanisms women employed to deal with famines. The study employs a combined theoretical framework of Feminist Marxism and articulation of the modes of production. From the Marxist Feminist approach, the study, argues that many societies tend to suffer profound gender inequalities because of the cultural marginalization of women. Such societies, including the Kamba people of Kenya, women have been socially constructed to be inferior to men. Consequently, all the good things of such societies are reserved for men while all the bad and painful experiences are secured for women. Yet from the point of view of the articulation of modes of production theory, the study explores the economic and social distortions which occurred when the colonial capitalism was imposed on pre-capitalist modes of production. This study assumes that the Kamba cultural practices assigned the task of food production to women .It assumes that the colonial political economy in Kitui West region had key pillars within the capitalist modes of production. It also assumes that the colonial policies dismantled and re-articulated pre-capitalist modes of production, which created famines in the region, and in turn gave rise to diverse copying mechanisms during the colonial rule. Methodologically, the study employed the purposive sampling technique which was used to draw the informants on the basis that they were believed to be knowledgeable on the history of Kamba women, famines and colonialism. The primary data was verified against secondary information that is readily available in local libraries like the Kenyatta University Post Modern Library. Lastly, data was analyzed through the translation of oral information. The study concludes that the pre-colonial gender roles of the Kitui West women played a significant role in enabling women deal with the severities of famines