bird feeders
the elusive granary herder farmer and state in northern kenya
first published in 1992 this book examines the social and political dimensions of africas food and environmental crises . written by an anthropologist it focuses on the changes and the problems faced during the last century by one particular ethnic group the il chamus of kenya and traces the areas transformation from a food surplus granary to one that is dependent on food imports and aid . by documenting the history social structure and ecology of the area peter little is able to show that the crisis among the regions herders is rooted in processes that preceded the devastating droughts of the 1980s . drought is in fact a normal state of affairs in semiarid kenya but the processes that have inhibited herders from adequately coping with it are not . the author analyses the relationships between social political and ecological variables and he treats topics such as land management food production marketing state policy making and labour organisation in an integrated fashion . this is a book that challenges many of the stereotypes about african social life agriculture and ecology and it will be of interest to anthropologists academics and practitioners in development studies historians ecologists and geographers .