The voices of women and smallholder farmers in Kenya’s Lamu Corridor

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Date

2023

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

UWC PLAAS

Abstract

The Lamu Corridor Project in Kenya promises to develop infrastructure to connect a vast area covering Northern Kenya, South Sudan, and Southern Ethiopia with global markets. Driven mainly by oil and mineral transport needs, state planners hope the development will boost agricultural investment, including building processing plants and distribution centres, while also creating special economic zones and free trade areas. To boost agricultural production, the focus is on establishing large plantations, nucleus farms, out grower schemes, and large holding grounds for livestock, which presents both risks and opportunities for land users: for women in particular, as well as for smallholders across all sectors. Small-scale and iI, pastoralists, and fishers along the corridor are responding in diverse ways: some oppose the project, while others negotiate the terms of inclusion in advance of investments. Pressures on land, associated with livestock commercialisation, are already creating conflict, social differentiation and imbalances in pastoral communities.

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Keywords

Kenya, Lamu Corridor, Informal farmers, Livestock

Citation

Chome, N. & Sulle, E. (2023). The voices of women and smallholder farmers in Kenya’s Lamu Corridor. UWC PLAAS

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