Islands of Intensive Agriculture

Islands of Intensive Agriculture: Past & Present . Edited by Mats Widgren and John E G Sutton Eastern African Studies, British Institute in Eastern Africa, Nairobi, and Stockholm University, Stockholm E.A.E.P. Nairobi, Mkuki na Nyota, Nairobi, Ohio University Press , Athens OH and James Currey, Oxford . 160 pp £14.95 ISBN 0 85255 428 1 This book is made up of seven chapters comprising an introduction by Mats Widgren, a concluding discussion by Bill Adams and five intensive local case studies of so-called ‘islands of intensive agriculture’ in East Africa. As it turns out, these ‘islands’ are metaphorical islands in the sense that they are located in remote hill districts along the East Africa Rift valley. They are like islands because they are isolated by lower lying, dry and sparsely populated land. The islands are often characterized by systems of labour intensive agriculture adopting a complex repertoire of methods, skills and devices including furrow irrigation, terracing, stall-feeding of livestock, application of livestock manure, crop rotation methods and labour management systems. The lands between them are often exploited very differently by pastoralists, further isolating the settled cultivators. The case studies include Kerio Valley in Kenya, Konson in Ethiopia, two studies on the Iraqw of Tanzania and Engaruka in Tanzania. The studies are multi-disciplinary, but all examine the evidence of historical developments of their respective cultivation systems and the driver to intensification or change. The book originates from a seminar that was held in the British Institute in East Africa in Nairobi in 1998 that was part of a collaborative research project between Stockholm University and the Institute. More details can be fund on the Stockholm University website: (http://www.humangeo.su.se/research/project/islands/). The book starts with an engaging introduction placing the following chapters in context, though it does seem to end a little abruptly. The book then leads into a highly readable and closely argued set of case studies that draw on geography, archaeology, social anthropology and economics among other disciplinary approaches. They provide further compelling evidence that the dominant population-environment discourse should separate out population and environment to examine the complexity of forces and relations. In particular the case studies focus on the issues of agricultural intensification and innovation and, in the case of Engaruka, the evidence for the emergence and disappearance of a pre-colonial community of intensive agriculturalists that has since disappeared under the re-growth of bush. The chapters vary in approach and style, but the general thrust of their argument is the same. It is occasionally difficult to follow the wash and backwash of the various ethnic groups across the fabric of the landscape. This is particularly the case in Chapter Two where Őstberg's point is that it is difficult to separate ethnicities when they link, mix and conflict through history, with some disappearing and others emerging and strengthening as a result of links with other groups. The maps and diagrams also vary in quality and style both within and between chapters. Some kind of ‘house style’ could have been imposed for the integrity of the publication. In the final chapter, Adams brings together the themes of the case studies. He points out that the theme of the book provides insights into a key question for development planners in twenty-first Century Africa: why do farmers intensify? The answer is not simple and these case studies effectively undermine past simplistic explanations. On the contrary the explanations are complex and variable and based on the interaction of the production system, household labour economics, links between the cultivation system and the wider culture and external factors. These case studies illustrate that farming systems in Africa comprise a highly complex set of responses to a variety of factors that are only effectively understood by local intensive and multi-disciplinary studies. The emphasis in this book on the historical dimension facilitates an understanding of the changes in these factors over time. This is an excellent addition to a very strong and now extensive series published on East Africa by James Currey. It will be of considerable interest to everyone concerned with rural Africa and to rural environment-human interaction in the World's lowest income countries. It would make a valuable accompaniment to textbooks for advanced students of development studies where rural issues or the discourse on population and environmental degradation comprise an element of the focus of study

Agriculture · Archaeology · Geography · Intensive farming · Livestock · Pastoralism · Tanzania · Agriculture and Rural Development Research · Forestry