Comparative ecological perspectives on food security by Abanyole of Kenya

Abstract

This paper focuses on implications of sustained food deprivation situations on the behavioural patterns of the Abanyole of Western Kenya. Using an ethnographic approach, the paper examines two ecosystems occupied by the Abanyole; the first ecosystem manifests typical indigenous, socio-cultural features, while the second epitomizes a cosmopolitan outlook. The study uses a comparative ethnography to show that while land is the main means of production in the two ecological niches, the amount of this critical resource that is available for household dispensation, and the strategies employed to exploit it, varies. This, the study finds, has implications for food security situations among households in the two areas. In addition, when faced with food deficit situations, the Abanyole resort to varying and contrasting coping mechanisms distinct to each ecosystem.

Keywords: Food security, agrarian, ecological perspectives, ethnography, Abanyole, Kenya.