“you’ve got to pump it up” - wur

“You’ve got to pump it up”

Analysis of the appropriation and utilization of petrol pumps

for small scale horticulture in West-Uyoma, Kenya.

MSc. Thesis by Luwieke Bosma

May 2015

Water Resources Management group

The cover photo is taken by Luwieke Bosma at Obenge beach adjacent to Lake Victoria, and near to Obenge

farming area. The picture shows a petrol pump which is placed at the lake side by a farmer for irrigation. At the

same time fishermen are seen in the background pulling in the nets. This is a typical image on the banks of Lake

Victoria in which two main economic activities are practiced beside each other; fishing and horticulture farming.

‘You’ve got to pump it up’

Analysis of the appropriation and utilization of petrol pumps for

small scale horticulture in West-Uyoma, Kenya.

Master thesis Water Resources Management submitted in partial fulfilment of the degree

of Master of Science in International Land and Water Management at Wageningen

University, the Netherlands

Luwieke Bosma

April 2015

Supervisors:

Dr. Ir. Gert Jan Veldwisch

Water Resources Management

Wageningen University

The Netherlands

www.wageningenur.nl/wrm

Dr. Paul Hebinck

Rural Development Sociology

Wageningen University

The Netherlands

www.wageningenur.nl/rds

“It is good to have the machine, it can make work easy. When I get the machine I will be happy, I can even

dance. I can work too much for it. I had a dream to get a machine and it knocked me down. If the tomato

could do well, it was my ambition to get a machine, it is a dream.” (Quote from farmer)

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ABSTRACT

In the past two decades petrol pumps have quickly emerged as an irrigation technology for smallholder

horticultural farmers along the shores of Lake Victoria, providing an alternative for diminishing fisheries. Petrol

pumps for irrigation have been integrated in different farming styles of horticulture production. Based on

interviewing- and observation methods, farmers in West-Uyoma, Kenya, have been questioned about their

organization of production in combination with their experience on petrol pumps.

In this research it is found that farmers take different strategies in horticulture farming which they base on

different underlying logics and notions. Petrol pumps are part of this heterogeneous farming practice and are

experienced and deployed in different manners. The quick spread of petrol pumps in the area has emerged in a

rather autonomous manner and is considered farmer-driven. Farmers are seen as strategic agents who have

integrated different modalities of petrol pumps in particular farming styles. A key aspect is that both the

configurations of farming styles, and modalities of petrol pumps are interconnected in a process of co-

construction. Besides this, the farmers have different forms of capacity in which they can negotiate over petrol

pumps and can make decisions concerning its appropriation and utilization.

This case-study research has recognized the drivers of farmers in appropriation and utilization of petrol pump

technology. Their experiences and perspectives on petrol pumps offer a better understanding of their needs and

desires in the development of irrigation technologies for smallholder farmers. This can contribute to future

development of farmer-led irrigation for small scale horticulture farming, and asks for a different approach in

irrigation development.

Keywords: heterogeneous agriculture, small scale horticulture, farming styles, farmer-led irrigation, petrol pump

technology.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First I want to thank Gert Jan Veldwisch and Paul Hebinck for guiding and helping me in my research, they have

assisted me from the early phases of proposal writing onto the finalization of the report. In the process of writing

they have given me valuable insights, and encouraged me to critically reflect on my findings. This has contributed

in developing and improving this thesis report in a comprehensive manner.

I also want to thank mister Amos Otiende Kochiyo, ‘japuonj’, especially for assisting me the first week in Kagwa.

He was like my ‘local supervisor’ who introduced me to the chiefs and leaders in the area, and made me familiar

with the people and environment. This has been of great contribution to my research and opened many doors

for me, so I could go my own way during the fieldwork.

Furthermore I want to express my gratitude to Alec Dimba Kiaka for making it possible to stay in his house at the

dala with his wonderful family. Thank you for taking care of so many things that enabled my research in the area

of Kagwa. And above all I want to thank my dear family in Kagwa for giving me a home, and adopting me as their

lastborn. My mama, baba, brothers and sisters have given me a great time in Kagwa. I learned a lot and miss

making kuon with mama, learning Dholuo after dinner, going to the lake with my sisters for washing and buying

fish, playing with the children, and everything else that made life beautiful in Kagwa. Erokamano ahinya kuom

duto te, aheru maber, gi adwar duogo kende chieng’ moro!

Finally of course I want to thank all the interviewees, I greatly appreciate that you have taken time to share your

experiences and opinions with me. Especially I am thankful to the farmers that were willing to welcome me on

their fields and in their homes, and who took the time to answer the many questions I had. Often they welcomed

me with food and drinks, and we took the time to sit down and had very nice conversations. I have learned a lot

of your ways and opinions in life and farming, and I am very grateful for your help. Because of you I was able to

establish my findings and create this report.

And during the writing process the time spend in ‘The Office’ with my fellow students was very much appreciated.

In The Office we had our own peculiar way of life, with coffee, music breaks, yoga, communal breakfast, and of

course thesis writing. It was a pure delight (-;

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Table of contents

Chapter 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 1

Chapter 2 Research Background ............................................................................................................................. 3

2.1 Scientific background .................................................................................................................................... 4

2.2 Research context of Kenya ........................................................................................................................... 5

2.3 Case-study area ............................................................................................................................................ 6

Chapter 3 Research design & methodology .......................................................................................................... 11

3.1 Concepts and theories ................................................................................................................................ 12

3.2 Problem statement and research objectives .............................................................................................. 16

3.3 Research questions ..................................................................................................................................... 17

3.4 Research methodology ............................................................................................................................... 19

3.5 Conclusion................................................................................................................................................... 23

Chapter 4 Organization of production .................................................................................................................. 24

4.1 Land, cultivation and production ................................................................................................................ 25

4.2 Inputs and instruments ............................................................................................................................... 27

4.3 Labour organization and management....................................................................................................... 28

4.4 Markets ....................................................................................................................................................... 30

4.5 Conclusion................................................................................................................................................... 31

Chapter 5 Farming styles classification ................................................................................................................. 32

5.1 Established farmers .................................................................................................................................... 33

5.2 Innovators ................................................................................................................................................... 35

5.3 Diversifiers .................................................................................................................................................. 37

5.4 Starters ....................................................................................................................................................... 39

5.5 Conclusion................................................................................................................................................... 41

Chapter 6 Appropriation and utilization of petrol pumps .................................................................................... 43

6.1 Petrol pump characteristics ........................................................................................................................ 44

6.2 Application .................................................................................................................................................. 47

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6.3 Ownership and renting practices ................................................................................................................ 49

6.4 Farming styles compared ............................................................................................................................ 50

6.5 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................. 55

Chapter 7 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................ 57

Chapter 8 Discussion & recommendations ........................................................................................................... 60

8.1 Theories & concepts ................................................................................................................................... 61

8.2 Results ......................................................................................................................................................... 62

8.3 Recommendations ...................................................................................................................................... 63

Chapter 9 Bibliography .......................................................................................................................................... 65

Annexes ................................................................................................................................................................. 67

Annex 1: Farming areas .................................................................................................................................... 67

Annex 2: Interview guide .................................................................................................................................. 70

Annex 3: Interview transcription format .......................................................................................................... 76

Annex 4: Overview of interviews conducted and coding for farmer referencing ............................................ 77

Annex 5: Overview of key informants, including coding, and some characteristics......................................... 79

Annex 6: Local and urban markets ................................................................................................................... 80

Annex 7: Characteristics of petrol pumps and pipes in use by farmers in the case-study area ....................... 81

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LIST OF KEY TERMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

Acre 1 acre is 0.4 ha

Boda Boda the Boda Boda Company provides a public transport service, they drive on motorbikes and bring people to their destination.

Dala Homestead (Dholuo)

DEAP District Environmental Action Plan (Bondo)

Jembe Dholuo word for a type of English hoe, used on a farm for digging, ploughing and weeding.

FAO Food and Agricultural Organization

FS Farming Style

FSA Farming Styles Approach

FSC Farming Styles Classification

GDP Gross Domestic Product

GoK Government of Kenya

Ha Hectare, 1 hectare is 2,47 acres

Hp Horsepower

IFAD International Fund for Agricultural Development

KaCoHo Kagwa Cooperative Horticulture, a horticulture group both active in Kamariga and Obenge

Kes Kenyan Shilling, during the research period 1 euro was on average equal to 110 Kes.

NGO Non-Governmental Organization

PLAN PLAN international, NGO and donor organization to several projects in Uyoma. Supporting KaCoHo and other horticulture groups.

Sanduku Swahili word for a crate, mostly wooden, in which tomatoes are sold, most likely the weight of one sanduku is 64 kg.

SCOT Social Construction of Technology

SSA Sub-Saharan Africa

STA Socio-Technical Approach

Western Kenya Project of the Kenyan government in cooperation with the World Bank, 8 year program involving livelihood and horticulture projects.

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1 Map of Kenya, and of West-Uyoma in more detail ................................................................................... 6

Figure 2 Map of Obenge beach where horticulture cultivation is practiced .......................................................... 7

Figure 3 Space in the interface of technology supply and market relations ......................................................... 14

Figure 4 Conceptual framework ............................................................................................................................ 18

Figure 5 Illustration of cultivation of kales ............................................................................................................ 26

Figure 6 Illustration of sticking of tomatoes ......................................................................................................... 26

Figure 7 Space of manoeuvre with the four farming styles .................................................................................. 41

Figure 8 Typical portable petrol pump .................................................................................................................. 44

Figure 9 Example of characteristics written on the petrol pump ......................................................................... 45

Figure 10 Debris in the centrifugal part of the drum ............................................................................................ 47

Figure 11 Example of furrow irrigation in practice ............................................................................................... 49

Figure 12 Example of a furrow system .................................................................................................................. 49

Figure 13 Farmer using a hose pipe on a self-manufactured double outlet pipe ................................................. 53

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1 Irrigation Potential by Basin in Kenya ......................................................................................................... 5

Table 2 Overview of the farming styles classification ........................................................................................... 33

LIST OF BOXES

Box 1 Group organization and dynamics .............................................................................................................. 29

Box 2 Case of an established farmer ..................................................................................................................... 33

Box 3 Case of an innovator ................................................................................................................................... 35

Box 4 Case of a diversifier ..................................................................................................................................... 37

Box 5 Case of a starter .......................................................................................................................................... 39

Chapter 1 Introduction

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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

The picture shows a typical image in West-Uyoma at the shores of Lake Victoria. A petrol pump is situated at

the waterfront from where the water is taken for irrigation to be applied on the field.

Kagwa, 9th of September 2014; on this day the research area on the Uyoma peninsula in Kenya, is visited for the

first time. During a walk around in the case-study area the first petrol pumps are heard near the Lake side. The

proximity to the lake shapes the context for diverse activities that the Luo inhabitants traditionally practice,

especially fishing is widely practiced. In addition to the lake being a major source of fish, it also provides abundant

fresh water, and therefore there is potential for irrigated farming in this area. This is where petrol pumps enter

the scene; on the banks of Lake Victoria these small, motorized pumps are used by smallholder farmers to irrigate

their horticulture crops.

Petrol pumps provide the farmers with a means to lift up the water from Lake Victoria and are currently widely

in use. A pump is placed near the lake and water is pumped from the lake, the water continues in the delivery

pipes to the field, and there the farmers apply it to the crops. Petrol pumps appear to fill a gap in irrigation

mechanisms, and have emerged in relation to the development of commercialized horticulture production in the

past two decades. Outside interventions have had a marginal contribution in this spread of petrol pumps, in

contrast this development took place in an organic and autonomous manner. Individual farmers and

businessmen in the area who saw the potential and interest for this irrigation technology, have introduced petrol

pumps. The purchase and use of petrol pumps can also be linked to its social meanings and relations which goes

beyond the mere practice of irrigated horticulture production. Therefore a wider context of irrigation dynamics

is considered which involves a co-construction of social and technical aspects.

Chapter 1 Introduction

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The underlying problem that has urged the development of small scale irrigation technologies is that of poverty.

The West-Uyoma area, being a highly rural area, is part of the 2nd poorest region of Kenya in which approximately

47,2% of the population is poor. Unprofitable farming is one of the key factors for this poverty and related food-

insecurity, considering this is one of the major economic activities in rural areas (DEAP, 2007). In West-Uyoma a

combined development of diminishing fisheries and commercialized horticulture has triggered people to engage

in horticulture production. In relation to this a development of small private irrigation has taken place. It resulted

in increased need for small private irrigation means for farmers to get involved in horticulture farming and

increase their production standards. In the last two decades farmers have started to use petrol pumps mainly on

their own initiative. Therefore this research focuses on farmer-led irrigation development regarding the use of

petrol pumps in horticulture production. Farmer-led irrigation drives on strategic agency of farmers being the

initiators for using irrigation technologies. This focus on the farmers being the drivers for small private irrigation

development has potential to contribute in alleviation of poverty by improving food security (Giordano and de

Fraiture, 2014). Although its dynamics and development are not fully understood, therefore more research is

needed on the challenges and opportunities of farmer-led irrigation. This improved understanding can contribute

in recognizing supporting and constraining factors for future farmer-led irrigation development. In this research

this is done from a recognition of heterogeneity and multi-functionality in farming, involving irrigation

mechanisms. Central are farmers’ experiences on petrol pumps, and their farming strategies in order to gain

understanding in farmers as strategic agents and drivers of change. This analysis, therefore, can improve

understanding in the dynamics and value of petrol pump development, as individual small scale irrigation for

smallholder horticulture farmers.

In the remainder of this thesis at first the research background is provided in chapter two. This chapter provides

a scientific background, in which the current debate on farmer-led irrigation is discussed. Furthermore it explains

the horticulture and irrigation development in the case-study area from a historical perspective. Following on

this the research design and methodology are explained in chapter three. In this chapter the theoretical

framework is discussed, and moreover the problem statement and resulting research questions are provided

including their operationalization. In chapter four, five and six the results of the analysis are presented. In chapter

four the organization of production in horticulture cultivation in the case-study area is discussed in detail. Next,

in chapter five the farming styles classification is provided in which a configuration of different farming styles is

presented. Following on this, chapter six describes the process of appropriation and utilization of petrol pumps

based on farmers’ experiences. Chapter seven presents the conclusion of this research in answering in what ways

farmers appropriate and use petrol pumps. Finally in chapter eight the theories and concepts, and findings are

critically reflected upon, and its value is discussed in a wider context of farmer-led irrigation.

Chapter 2 Research background

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CHAPTER 2 RESEARCH BACKGROUND

The picture shows a petrol pump on the beach in Obenge with Lake Victoria in the background. Walking around

the different beaches often a petrol pump was encountered, which a farmer had installed for irrigation. The

location of West-Uyoma, situated adjacent to the lake which serves as a fresh water resource, is of great

importance for the irrigated horticulture potential in the area.

The research background provides a theoretical and contextual background for the case-study research. At first

a scientific background places this case-study research in the context of a wider debate on farmer-led irrigation

development. The current state of knowledge on this topic is discussed and explained in which the relevance for

this research is grounded. In addition understanding is gained in the development of farmer-led irrigation.

Furthermore this chapter focusses on the research context in geographic and socio-economic aspect. The

background of Kenya is described, after which the case-study area is presented including an explanation of

horticulture and irrigation development in the area. This background chapter explains the setting in which this

analysis is embedded. In addition it shows its relevance considering the scientific debate and socio-economic

context of farmer-led irrigation.


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2.1 SCIENTIFIC BACKGROUND

The development of farmer-led irrigation and types of small private irrigation have recently emerged in South

Asia and sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Molden et al. (2007) indicate that the Comprehensive Assessment of Water

Management in Agriculture has identified individual small scale irrigation development as a major trend in

agricultural water management (Molden et al., 2007). Recent studies have found that millions of smallholder

farmers in both South Asia and SSA benefit from readily available and affordable irrigation technologies. Where

in South Asia small private irrigation had a proven positive effect on poverty alleviation, in SSA a similar trend is

taking place. The smallholder irrigation sector is the fastest growing segment of irrigation, and in the past decades

the largest expansion in irrigated area in SSA has originated from farmer-led irrigation development. In addition

this spread of small scale irrigation technologies has taken place against a backdrop of poorly functioning large-

scale irrigation schemes with public investment (Giordano and de Fraiture, 2014) (Nkoka et al., 2014) (Beekman

et al., 2014) (Burney and Naylor, 2012) (Lankford, 2005). (Nkoka et al., 2014).

This type of small scale irrigation development is also referred to in literature as ‘small private irrigation’,

‘unplanned irrigation’ (Giordano and de Fraiture, 2014), and ‘spontaneous irrigation development’ (Veldwisch et

al., 2013). In this research the term ‘farmer-led irrigation’ is used in order to stress that farmers strategically

initiate this irrigation development. It furthermore entails that irrigation development is initiated, financed,

owned and managed by individual farmers or small informal groups and responds to a genuine demand of

smallholders (Giordano and de Fraiture, 2014).

The potential of farmer-led irrigation is to substantially boost smallholder incomes and food security. Recent

research has shown that small-scale irrigation technologies generate positive impacts on land- and labour

productivity and economy. Farmers can benefit through the cultivation of cash crops, in combination with

improved access to local and urban markets, and in this way improve their net income (Giordano and de Fraiture,

2014) (Nkoka et al., 2014). But there are also challenges due to this development which relate to equity,

efficiency and sustainability. Besides this, resource poor farmers can face difficulties concerning the use of

irrigation technologies because of limited financial capital, unstable markets and lack of knowledge. Furthermore

intervention frameworks can discourage poor smallholder farmers from using productivity-enhancing irrigation

technology (Giordano and de Fraiture, 2014).

Despite the potential of farmer-led irrigation, its development remained largely unnoticed by policy makers and

donors. Although supporting farmer-led irrigation makes economic sense according to Giordano and de Fraiture

(2014). Supportive structures can enhance farm-level initiatives and ensure positive returns for smallholder

farmers in order to realize poverty reduction, and minimize potential negative impacts (Giordano and de Fraiture,

2014). A number of case-studies in Burkina Faso, Ghana and Mozambique (de Fraiture et al., 2014) (Nkoka et al.,

2014) (Namara et al., 2014) (Beekman et al., 2014) have highlighted the potential of farmer-led irrigation and

have drawn attention on future development and support. So far research has mainly concentrated on this

potential of farmer-led irrigation, but its dynamics are still rather unclear. Former studies have urged for further

research in identification of smallholder irrigation and the way farmers are leading in developing this sector

(Lankford, 2005).

In addition to the development of farmer-led irrigation also the agricultural context has to be taken into account

in order to gain understanding in how farmers strategize farming in relation to the use of irrigation. Therefore

heterogeneity that exists within agricultural structures, related to processes of rural change in SSA are central

tenets that are considered. Especially with regard to the development of new technologies, which is often taking

place in a reality that deals with change, disorder and process (Woodhouse, 2012) (Mango, 2002). Heterogeneity

is interconnected with the use of irrigation technology, moreover Malik (2014) argues that technology

development is a dynamic process that changes over time. Development of irrigation technology does not


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necessarily follow a linear path from ‘simple’ manual methods to ‘advanced’ motorized technologies. The

interaction of farmers with labour, markets and technology, and also their social backgrounds are important

factors in the development of irrigation technology. In the past two decades mechanized, small, cheap and

lightweight petrol pumps became widely available in SSA (Malik et al., 2014). This process is interconnected with

agricultural development, market development and commoditization of labour. All these aspects lead to

particular types of farmer-led irrigation development, in which farmers as beneficiaries strategize their irrigated

farming practices.

This case-study research adds understanding to this current debate on farmer-led irrigation by analysing

irrigation development from the perspective of farmers as drivers of change. Farmers’ experiences and strategies

regarding petrol pumps in relation to their farming styles are object of study in order to gain understanding in

the dynamics of farmer-led irrigation development in its wider context. Farmers are the beneficiaries and

initiators of individual small scale irrigation, and analysing their experiences can give more in-depth

understanding on their drivers in this development. The related commercialized horticulture and farmer-led

irrigation, offers an interesting case to gain more insight in how farmers initiate and strategize appropriation and

utilization of petrol pumps.

2.2 RESEARCH CONTEXT OF KENYA

In this section the geographical and socio-economic context of Kenya, in which the case-study research is taking

place, are provided. Furthermore it concentrates on the horticultural development, and contributes in

understanding of the current conditions of agriculture and irrigation dynamics.

Kenya is situated in the East of Africa and has a tropical climate along the coast to arid in the interior. There are

44 million inhabitants in Kenya with an estimated area of 584.000km2, and one third of the total land area is

suitable for agriculture. Of the total number of inhabitants, 60% live in rural areas and are occupied with

subsistence farming, a majority of Kenyans depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. The contribution of

agriculture to the GDP is 30% and the 60% to foreign exchange. According to the International Fund for

Agricultural Development (IFAD, 2013) Kenya has a growing economy while it is challenging the existing poverty

in the country. The reduction of poverty is a profound challenge for the country with almost half of the 44 million

people in the Kenya living below the poverty line. Currently the Government of Kenya (GoK) recognizes that

agricultural-led growth can be effective in reducing poverty. In addition to this Kenya also has a large irrigation

potential and the opportunities for increased irrigated agriculture are immense (GoK, 2015). With agricultural

being of major economic importance for the country, irrigation development can contribute in meeting demands

for national food security as well as for export markets. The irrigation potential in Kenya has not been fully

developed as Table 1 indicates (GoK, 2015).

Table 1 Irrigation Potential by Basin in Kenya

Irrigation potential is lingering and in

recent policy the GoK invests in

development of irrigated agriculture. It is

recognized that much of the land is not

fully used to its potential, with surface

and underground water resources

available for irrigation practices. It is

acknowledged that the bulk of

horticultural produce in Kenya is

produced by smallholder and community

based irrigation practices (GoK, 2015). This smallholder horticulture in combination with irrigation potential, is

Water Basin Area developed (hectares)

Irrigation Potential (hectares)

Tana 67,427 546,875

Athi 45,710 278,526

Lake Victoria 19,206 292,858

Rift Valley 13,589 73,080

Ewaso Ng‟iro North 7,908 150,561

Total 161,840 1,341,900


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the setting in which the case-study research is taking place and makes this an area of interest to analyse a

development of petrol pumps.

The scope of research is narrowed down from a country-wide situation and development of Kenya, towards the

case-study area. In order to clarify the geographic location of the research area, Figure 1 zooms in on West-

Uyoma in which the research is conducted. The locations visited are located in proximity of the Kagwa village

which functioned as the home base during the fieldwork. Kagwa is a sub-location and is part of the location of

West-Uyoma, which is part of the Madiany division, this is again part of Rarieda district which belongs to Siaya

County in the province of Nyanza in Kenya. In contrast to other parts of the country, Siaya County has plenty of

water sources, especially with Lake Victoria on its side. Although the availability of water in the area is plenty,

the agricultural production is reasonably low and there is chronic and debilitating poverty. It can be said that the

agricultural sector is a top priority sector in the district contributing 79% of the total household incomes

according to the District Environment Action Plan (DEAP, 2007). This area is chosen because of smallholder

horticulture farmers using individual small scale irrigation techniques (Dimba, 2014).

2.3 CASE-STUDY AREA

In this paragraph the five areas, Kochilo, Kamariga, Obenge, Likunu and Osindo are shortly described with a focus

on agricultural development. Moreover the development of commercialized horticulture with a focus on small

scale individual irrigation is discussed.

2.3.1 THE FIVE FARMING AREAS

The research is conducted in five farming areas situated in West-Uyoma. These five areas are selected on the

basis of prior knowledge on horticulture farming and irrigation practice. Also their proximity to the homestead

from which the research is undertaken is taken into account. Both an overview of the five farming areas in West-

Uyoma as well as an image of each farming area can be found in annex 1.

Figure 1 Left: Kenya, Siaya County is shown in green. Right: Rarieda district showing West-Uyoma, in which the research area in

encircled.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Siaya_location_map.png


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The farming areas share important characteristics in that they border Lake Victoria, have a similar bimodal

climate and soil conditions, and the majority of the population belongs to the Luo-tribe. The proximity to Lake

Victoria is an important feature for the irrigation practices of farmers in horticulture production. Lake Victoria is

a vast fresh water resource and is part of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. The overall shore length is 3440 km in

total. The five farming areas in this research are within a shore length of approximately 13 km. The shore length

of each of the five farming areas is on average 1-1,5 km. Cultivation is taking place on fields that are adjacent, or

close to Lake Victoria, functioning as the water source for irrigation. The fields are mostly in a range of 200 m,

and exceptionally to 300-500 m from the lake shore. The total size of each of the five farming areas in which

horticulture production is taking place, is approximately 10-25 ha, which is 25-60 acres. During times of manual

irrigation, production took place at a scale of 10x10m in these areas, which is a fraction of an acre (0,025 acre).

The scale has increased with a factor of 20-60, and is now on average ½ - 1½ acre, this factor indicates the increase

in scale of farming. Currently there are on average 15-40 farmers active in each area, the exact number of farmers

differs per area, and moreover depends on the specific surface area and scale of farming. The cash crops that are

cultivated mainly come down to tomato and kale varieties. In addition indigenous vegetables, fruits and recently

introduced crops, such as watermelon and capsicum are grown. In Figure 2 the farming area of Obenge is shown

as an example of how these farming areas look like.

2.3.2 HORTICULTURE DEVELOPMENT

In this section development of fishing and farming activities are discussed with a focus on the development of

commercialized horticulture. The importance of fishing as economic activity is discussed, and moreover the

recent decline of fisheries. Furthermore a change and development of agricultural practices is discussed, with a

focus on recent horticulture and irrigation development.

FISHING AND FARMING

The people living in West-Uyoma belong to the Luo ethnic group, they are Nilotic people who come from Sudan

and migrated through Uganda in the 1500s (Mango, 2002). Luos are from origin fishermen, travelling down along

the Nile they were migrating to places where they could continue their fishing practices, for instance in the

proximity of Lake Victoria. Fish is an important resource in Lake Victoria and for many men in the research area

Figure 2 Map of Obenge beach where horticulture cultivation is practiced


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fishing is their main economic activity. A few characteristics of fishing activities are that you get little daily cash,

you need to be strong, and furthermore collaboration is necessary.

Besides fishing also subsistence agriculture is a widespread activity in Luo-land. The people cannot live on fish

solely, therefore cereals, beans and other subsistence crops have been cultivated for a long time. In subsistence

farming farmers rely on the rainfall pattern. Furthermore animal keeping is a common practice, many people

have cattle and poultry. Luo people have a long tradition in subsistence agriculture, aspects of land and labour

are central aspects in this practice. At first it can be recognised that Luos are strongly attached to land, it is more

than just a resource for agricultural production. There is a whole organisation of social relationships built around

land which ties people together and defines their position with respect to each other. Sons can inherit the land

from their fathers and again pass it on to their sons. In addition to this the complex and multi-levelled meaning

of land for Luo people have often led to non-understanding and difficulties after intervention of agencies.

Organization of farm labour in Luo custom was mainly drawn from relatives and friends within a number of

homesteads. When labour was needed, friends and family could help in exchange for food. Due to the

commercialisation of the economy, labour has become a commodity and people were not willing to give it away

for free. Therefore, family labour has become more important on most smallholder farms. Well-off farmers can

hire additional labour, small farmers often join small labour groups based on women, church groups or youth

groups. The agricultural practices in general largely rely on family labour, but due to factors including ageing and

migration, hired labour is now becoming more important (Mango, 2002).

The long tradition of Luos being fishermen in combination with subsistence agriculture sets the socio-economic

context in this research. In this light fishing is the main economic activity aimed to raise income, and subsistence

rain-fed farming is done to provide food for own consumption.

COMMERCIALIZED HORTICULTURE

Coming from traditional activities of fishing and farming, horticulture development is discussed in this section.

Before moving on to the specific horticultural development in the case-study area, first a general account on

agricultural commercialization provides a first understanding of this development in smallholder agriculture. This

agricultural commercialization indicates a shift from subsistence agriculture to a system of production and

consumption that is increasingly based on the market. This shift includes decisions on marketing, outputs and

inputs based on principles of profit maximization (Olwande and Mathenge, 2012). This phenomenon of

agricultural commercialization is triggered by economic growth, and is currently also taking place in Kenya

(Pingali, 2001). The horticulture industry is stated as one of the most vibrant sub-sectors of agriculture in the

economy of Kenya (Sigei et al., 2014). Currently it contributes to 8% of the country’s GDP and 36% of the

agricultural GDP, and it has increased in the last decade with an annual rate of 15-20% (GoK, 2015) (Sigei et al.,

2014). Commercialized agriculture, in this research in the form of horticulture production, implies a different

farming strategy compared to subsistence farming.

There are a few reasons why this horticulture development has emerged in the last two decades. First the

decrease in fish population, and consequently less people being able to depend on fishing, is an important factor

which triggered many people to change their economic activity. Secondly, the money involved in horticulture is

a key driver, people have recognized the potential income they can get in horticulture. With farming a bigger

amount of money can be earned at once after a longer period of time, and it can happen on an individual basis,

both in contrast to fishing. More and more people see the benefits and potential of horticulture farming and

abandon fishing. Thirdly, due to conditions of high unemployment and access to land and water resources in the

area, people got involved in horticulture. Farmers see horticulture production as something they can do without

technical knowledge, and pioneers in farming have provided examples that are now followed by others. Currently

horticulture is taking place in the form where cash crops are produced and marketed. This development entails


9

a shift from growing traditional vegetables, towards horticulture with increased land scale, higher input

investments and higher outputs.

Commercialized horticulture is different from subsistence farming in various aspects. The aim with horticulture

farming is to make profit and this implies a different logic and notion in agricultural production compared to

subsistence farming. The commercialization of horticulture strongly increased the commoditization of labour due

to its economic nature and potential. Labour therefore got a price, and changes in workload and the socio-

economic conditions, made that farmers could no longer rely solely on family labour. This resulted in an increased

demand for casual labour. To conclude the part on horticulture development two quotes of key informants

illustrate the extent this development has taken.

[K2] Competition has increased concerning farming around the lake, because you need a field close to the

lake to do horticulture. If your field is 500m away you cannot do it. Water is life.

[K17] There is now a pattern of land use along the shores. You used to find that the shores were not utilized

as such, only for grazing cattle. Now no land there is left for grazing, it is all occupied. The people try to utilize

all the land, there is a continuous outward from the shore, also due to competition. To me I think that this

reflects the extent it has taken.

2.3.3 IRRIGATION DEVELOPMENT

The climatic conditions in the area have characteristics of a bimodal rainfall pattern, there are long rains from

March to June and short rains from September to December (Mango, 2002). Farmers do horticulture cultivation

in two or three seasons, two if cereals are produced in the long rainy season, and three if only horticulture

production takes place. Irrigation is of pivotal importance for these farmers, due to erratic and insufficient rainfall

in a part of the cultivating seasons. At first a general account is made on the practice of irrigation for agricultural

production after which the case-study situation, and spread of petrol pumps, is discussed in more detail.

It is widely acknowledged that irrigation has a lot of potential to increase production in agriculture especially for

poverty alleviation and improving food security. Irrigation is defined as a process of supplying water to crops and

other plants in cultivation. A number of benefits can be contributed to irrigated agriculture. Firstly, higher yields

can be achieved per hectare in comparison with non-irrigated agriculture. Secondly, by means of irrigation

multiple cultivation seasons can take place, and year-round cultivation is enabled. Therefore the production

process can be more continuous with irrigated farming, which benefits the value chain of the product. And this

can improve regular household income and contribute to food security. Thirdly, not being dependent on rainfall

can increase the range of possible crops to cultivate, therefore diversification in production can be facilitated

(Ruthenberg, 1980). A disadvantage concerning irrigated farming are the costs, especially in poor rural livelihoods

this can be a hindering factor for farmers to get involved in irrigated agriculture.

From this basic understanding of irrigation, now the focus is on how irrigation practices have developed in the

case-study area in relation to horticulture development. Before the emergence of horticulture, irrigation was not

prevalent in the area. Although manual irrigation with buckets took place at a small scale, irrigated horticulture

was not a main economic activity, but moreover it was part of subsistence farming. Currently farmers practice

horticulture cultivation near the lake, and this happens in a commercialized way. Therefore also a transformation

in irrigation development has taken place and currently petrol pumps are used as irrigation means. A spread of

petrol pumps has happened in the last two decades, in the same time frame as the commercialized horticulture


10

development. The first petrol pumps are said to have arrived in 1995 and their number has increased over time1.

In the spread of petrol pumps in West-Uyoma several aspects and drivers play a role. Initiative of farmers and

businessmen has resulted in a widespread use of petrol pumps. Farmers saw the potential of horticulture

production and needed irrigation technology to assist them in cultivation. Therefore they started to use petrol

pumps in order to increase production, and the economic potential of commercialized horticulture has triggered

this development. Organizations have also joined in the introduction of petrol pumps, by means of group

support. Although their influence is rather marginal, because they only support farmers through groups and do

not support farmers on an individual basis. Whereas most farmers work individualistic, and therefore cannot, or

do not want to make use of this type of support. The spread of petrol pumps, therefore, happened in an organic

and autonomous way, mainly initiated by farmers or business men with interest in this development.

Diminishing fisheries and commercialization of horticulture have triggered people to shift to horticulture

production as a main economic activity. This background has set the context of this research, involving

development of commercialized horticulture in combination with a spread of petrol pumps as individual small

scale irrigation technology. A type of farmer-led irrigation development is recognized, in which farmers mainly

autonomously started to use petrol pumps in order to increase their production standards. In what ways farmers

organize their horticulture production including the use of petrol pumps is the central issue in this research. In

the following chapter the research design and methodology are discussed in which the research focus,

conceptualization, and operationalization are elaborated upon.

1 The following quote gives an impression of the spread of petrol pumps in the last two decades. [K17] “Many

farmers use the water pump and the number of pumps is increasing compared to when I came in 1998. In 1998

there were only 2 or 3 water pumps in this area, right now I cannot even count the amount of water pumps that

are there, and they jump this place.”

Chapter 3 Research design & methodology

11

CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH DESIGN & METHODOLOGY

The picture shows my local guide in the research area, pointing me in a direction. This picture serves as an

imagination for this chapter which points the direction, and serves as the basic guideline for this research.

In this chapter first the concepts and theories are explained, these offer a framework in which the analysis is

grounded and provide an approach to execute the research. This theoretical framework consists of a

conceptualization of irrigation dynamics, and furthermore the Socio-Technical Approach (STA), the Farming

Styles Approach (FSA) and Social Construction of Technology (SCOT) are discussed. The concepts and theories

provide the foundation on which the research is build, and the context in which it is embedded. Based on this

theoretical framework, the problem statement and research questions are provided, which form the basic

structure for further analysis. Finally the methodology is provided in which is explained how the research is

operationalized and by what methods.


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3.1 CONCEPTS AND THEORIES

The purpose of this section is to create a theoretical framework in which this research can be manifested. At first

a conceptualization of irrigation dynamics presents the starting point of this research. Furthermore the concepts

are presented, starting with the socio-technical approach as umbrella concept. The interrelatedness of the social

and the technical serves as the theoretical foundation. Both the FSA and the SCOT are based on a co-construction

of social and technical aspects. The FSA describes this co-construction of social and technical concerning

heterogeneity in farming strategies. And the SCOT concentrates on the interrelated influence of both the social

and the technical regarding the process of technology construction. These concepts provide the means to analyse

how petrol pumps are used in a heterogeneous context of smallholder horticulture irrigation.

3.1.1 CONCEPTUALISATION OF IRRIGATION DYNAMICS

The definition of an irrigation system from Mollinga (1998:16) is: “a labour process with the objective to bring

water from A to B in order to grow agricultural crops.” He describes it as a labour process with a certain objective

to transport the water with the final purpose to cultivate crops. There are many factors that can change in this

irrigation process due to divergent objectives and interests of the actors involved. The resulting dynamics in

irrigation involve interaction with water, people and technology (Mollinga, 1998). In the interface of people and

technology social aspects of people and society, and technicalities together co-construct an irrigation practice.

Furthermore different backgrounds, logics, and strategies in farming can lead to a different perspective on

technology, and farmers can negotiate over its meaning and function.

Through the eyes of the farmers the multi-functionality of petrol pump technology is investigated. It is

acknowledged that the interviewees, the researcher and human beings in general, socially construct

understandings of the world. Standing in the critical realist tradition, it is believed that a world is existent out

there and people can have different understandings of this. Therefore flexibility and an open mind to multiple

constructed realities is important. Concepts and theories are used in order to value the collected data and

provide a means to strategically execute this analysis. Although flexibility in the concepts and theories are

necessary so to let the interviewees speak. At the same time the theoretical framework enables the researcher

to explain a phenomenon under analysis. The concepts and theories presented are considered as a means to

strategically analyse the research data and do not aim to be an end in itself.

3.1.2 SOCIO-TECHNICAL APPROACH

At first the ‘umbrella’ concept, the socio-technical approach is discussed. This approach acknowledges the

interrelatedness and interaction of social and technological aspects. In its core the approach has a holistic nature,

it emphasises that social and technical systems are different but internally related dimensions of a single object

or system as a network of heterogeneous elements (Sayer, 2014). They are directly interlinked and are not

separate parts following different laws, the joint structure is more than the sum of its parts. Therefore the

process of matching both social and technical systems can lead to a joint optimization. In other words they are

described as co-producers of a system as a whole (Trist, 1981). Technological innovation in irrigation is not an

isolated development, it is interconnected with social systems in the interface of people, water and technology.

Irrigation systems are therefore a co-construction of social and technical systems.

The process of construction of technical artefacts can be regarded as a symmetrical interaction wherein both

human ideas and technology together constitute the artefact. This conceptual approach is more widely adapted

lately within the water resources management field (Mollinga, 1998). The research culture of this research

derives from this conceptual approach and can be described as critical realist and socio-technical. From the point

of a critical realist a phenomenon can be explained by linking different mechanisms that are interrelated in its

development. Kloezen & Mollinga (1992) subdivide the socio-technical system into three dimensions in which


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technology can be considered socially relevant. These dimensions are (i) the social construction, (ii) the social

requirements for use and (iii) the social effects. (i) The social construction deals with the way in which different

interests and objectives can be translated into a design. Technical artefacts are analysed as social processes with

physical subject matter. Within the process of social construction negotiation takes place between different

actors which is informed by social and technical considerations. (ii) The social requirements for use are mainly

about the management demands of a particular technology. A technical artefact has to be used properly which

can only be done in limited ways by fulfilling conditions that are set through the design. (iii) Finally, once a

technical artefact is being used it has social implications that derive from the technology in use and therefore

produces social effects (Kloezen and Mollinga, 1992).

The socio-technical approach as described above serves as the underlying principle for this research, because it

enables the analysis of the irrigation technology as a socio-technical construction. Both the FSA and the SCOT

incorporate this socio-technical approach. The FSA emphasise on how social forces and technology development

are interwoven, and interact with each other in a heterogeneous farming organization. The SCOT focuses on how

technology development is shaped by social systems and vice versa. Both concepts emphasise the

interrelatedness of social and technical systems. The organization of production and irrigation technology

development are both socio-technical processes and can therefore be linked to each other, both are socially

constructed. The FSA and the SCOT function as the more practical concepts for analysis in this research. In the

coming paragraphs first the FSA, followed by the SCOT concept are discussed in detail.

3.1.3 FARMING STYLES APPROACH

Being acquainted with the umbrella concept of the research now the concepts that are deployed for the analysis

are discussed. Starting with the Farming Styles Approach (FSA), which is developed in order to analyse

heterogeneity of agriculture, and emphasize on the interwoven social and technical nature of agricultural

systems. The FSA is an example of an approach which takes into account broader expressions of differentiation

in farming, which goes beyond the economic and modernization aspects, in which the farmer is recognized as a

strategic agent. Three interconnected and relevant perspectives are introduced considering differentiation in

agriculture (Van der Ploeg et al., 2009a).

Firstly, a farming style is seen as a ‘coherent set of strategic notions about the way in which farming should be

practiced’ (van der Ploeg et al., 2009b:126). The farming style is a specific collection of strategic notions that

guides practical actions in agriculture and also informs farmers on their choices. In this respect it also provides a

model for decision-making in which these strategic notions can be shared by a group of farmers. Secondly, ‘a

farming style also appears as a particular practice: as an internally consistent mode of farming’ (van der Ploeg et

al., 2009b:126) This internal structure and coherence of the farming practice are grounded in the collection of

strategic notions, and these are in turn also influenced by specific practices. Furthermore a farming style

constitutes a specific organisation of production that is amongst others reflected in the characteristics of labour.

Veldwisch and Spoor (2008) explain the organisation of production as follows: “the internal logic of organisation,

i.e. the links between the organisation of inputs, land, management, labour and outputs” (Veldwisch and Spoor,

2008:432). ‘Thirdly, a farming style can be defined as a set of particular relations between markets and

technology supply on the one hand, and farming on the other’ (van der Ploeg et al., 2009b:126).


14

The FSA recognizes the different social,

economic and productive logics in

agriculture and is not based on an a-priori

hierarchy, in contrast to existing

modernization policies. Within the

farming styles approach, farmers can be

seen to own a strategic agency, and from

their strategic notions the different

farming styles emerge. Differentiation in

agricultural development is an ongoing

process with unclear outcomes. The

difference with the FSA is its focus on

farmers agency and heterogeneity in

farming (van der Ploeg et al., 2009b).

Farming styles are constituted from

diverse aspects concerning agricultural

activities, its dynamic environment and the cultural repertoire. A farming style consists out of a particular

strategy taken in farming as an economic activity and includes the interconnection with markets and technology.

Figure 3 explains the space in which the farmers can take different positions regarding the relations with markets

and technology. In this sense it is important to consider that markets involve inputs, outputs and labour and the

extent of dependency on these markets. The supply of technology deals with the normativity of the design, or

whether a type of craftsmanship is taking place (Van der Ploeg, 2013).

The recognition of diversity and multi-functionality in agricultural practices can be linked to the concept of

multiple realities. Long and Van der Ploeg (1989) state that one must see an “intervention as a ‘multiple reality’

made up of differing cultural perceptions and social interests, and constituted by the ongoing social and political

struggles that take place between the social actors involved”. In the co-construction of irrigation technology it is

important to consider different viewpoints of the ‘multiple reality’, instead of looking at one ideal construction

developed by one actor (Long and van der Ploeg, 1989:226). Within the FSA it is possible to go deeper into

heterogeneity in horticulture production. This can be expressed in farming styles based on strategies regarding

the organization of labour, relations of market and technology and in objects and instruments that are used in

farming. In these strategies irrigation dynamics also play an important role, and furthermore the underlying logics

and notions of farmers are taken into account.

On the basis of the FSA, the organization of production is discussed in chapter four, and in chapter five the

farming styles classification (FSC) is presented. The FSA makes it possible to analyse and characterise the different

types of organisations within agricultural production. Moreover the heterogeneous nature of the organization

of production sets the context for the FSC. This classification scheme based on the farming styles, is a tool for

inquiry, in which each classification highlights a specific part of reality. They are not an objective representation

of reality, but multiple realities still exist and go beyond the boundaries of the classification scheme. The

classification scheme in this research is used to recognize heterogeneity and multi-functionality of farming

strategies, and to gain understanding in the different logics and notions underlying farming styles. The SCOT

approach is focussed on the technological aspect, by using the FSA the social construction of the petrol pumps

and its practices of use, can be embedded in the context of horticulture production. Because both farming styles

and petrol pumps are a socio-technical construct, both approaches are merged in this research. In different

farming styles petrol pumps are used in different ways, this is a process of co-construction in which both social

and technical aspects together shape irrigation development.

Figure 3 Space in the interface of technology supply and market relations


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3.1.4 SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF TECHNOLOGY

In addition to an explanation of FSA as a first step in the analysis, the SCOT concept is discussed. First a short

summary of key concepts from SCOT is presented. This concept deals with social structures that influence the

development of technology, in other words the social shaping of technology. It proposes an agency centred

approach in which is emphasised that social and technical borders are not a-priori given and static, but are

continuously shaped by actors in a dynamic interplay (Klein and Kleinman, 2002). The technology under study is

a petrol pump and its practices of use in the context of horticulture production. This irrigation technology is co-

constructed in the interface of social and technical systems. In this section the SCOT concept itself is discussed

and it is explained how this co-construction of irrigation technology is analysed. Originally the concept is

presented by Pinch and Bijker (1987) and it consists of four related components that each are discussed below

(Pinch and Bijker, 1987).

The first is interpretive flexibility which explains that the design of technology is a process that depends upon

social circumstances and can generate different outcomes. A technical artefact, in this case a petrol pump, is

interpreted by the social environment in different ways, and they in turn also construct an artefact. This co-

construction of a petrol pump and its practice of use depend on the social circumstances and can generate

different outcomes. It can both be seen as an output and input of social interrelations that exist between farmers

themselves, and between farmers and the irrigation environment (Klein and Kleinman, 2002). The second notion

is that of the relevant social group that represents a particular interpretation. Pinch and Bijker (1987) define a

relevant social group as follows: ‘all members of a certain social group that share the same set of meanings,

attached to a specific artefact’ (Pinch and Bijker, 1987). The relevant social group can be seen as the embodiment

of particular interpretations in the social-construction process of technology (Klein and Kleinman, 2002). A

technological design can work because relevant social groups can give meaning to it, there is no objective sense

of success of the artefact itself (Pinch and Bijker, 1987). In light of this research, sets of meanings of members of

different farming styles on the use of petrol pumps are analysed.

A third concept is that of closure and stabilization which addresses the process of closing down controversies and

conflicts by the social groups in the process of technology development. When no relevant social group has

problems with the design, an artefact can be stabilized in its shape (Pinch and Bijker, 1987, Klein and Kleinman,

2002). Core aspect of this third concept is the multi-group design process, different ideas can be controversial in

the co-constitution. Resulting in closure when an extent of agreement is reached, so the technology can be

stabilized in its form. In addition to this Russell (1986) emphasises that we must also recognize how different

actors can influence the outcome of technology development. In this sense the capacity of actors embodied in

resources of power and knowledge are important to consider, because these can influence the closure and

stabilization (Russell, 1986). And the fourth and last concept concerns the wider context, which involves the socio-

cultural and political milieu in which the development of the artefact takes place. The background conditions,

institutions, interrelations, differences in power and dependency relations are aspects of importance in this social

realm (Klein and Kleinman, 2002). In this research the wider context is discussed in order to understand the

dynamic mechanisms in which the co-construction of irrigation is embedded.

In sum the SCOT concept, mainly being developed by Bijker & Law (1992) emphasises that the physical object of

technology can not strictly be distinguished from the social aspects it holds (Bijker and Law, 1992). It therefore

applies the same principles as both the STA and the FSA, in recognizing the interrelatedness of the social and the

technical in irrigation development. In the SCOT concept the focus is on the co-construction of petrol pumps

from the perspective of farmers. It can provide an in-depth analysis of the use and construction of technology,

and does so within a context of a heterogeneous farming reality as discussed with the FSA. Based on the SCOT

concept it is analysed how petrol pumps are appropriated and utilized.


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3.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT AND RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

Based on the research context in which the concepts and theories have been discussed, in this section the

problem statement and objectives are provided. The problem statement deals with the central gap of knowledge

which is the focal point of this research.

3.2.1 PROBLEM STATEMENT

Petrol pumps are widespread in the West-Uyoma area in Kenya and are utilized by smallholder horticulture

farmers. This spread of petrol pumps has emerged in the last 20 years in relation to a broader development

involving commercialized horticulture. This widespread use of petrol pumps is considered an organic and

autonomous irrigation development mainly initiated by farmers, and is therefore a type of ‘farmer-led irrigation’.

It is unclear how farmers appropriate and utilize petrol pumps, and develop irrigation in the context of

smallholder horticulture in such a way to increase its socio-economic potential. There is a knowledge gap on the

understanding of farmer-led irrigation and how this development has taken place. From the perspective of

farmers acting as strategic agents, different ways of farming and uses of petrol pumps are identified. In this way

a co-construction of farming strategies and the use of petrol pumps can be analysed. This provides insight in how

farmers are drivers of small scale irrigation development. Moreover these findings contribute to an identification

of farmer-led irrigation and increase understanding in the ways how farmers initiate and strategize this irrigation

development.

3.2.2 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

The objective of this research is to gain understanding in the dynamics of farmer-led irrigation. Through an

analysis of a heterogeneous organization of horticulture production and use of petrol pumps, insight is gained in

this co-construction of irrigation development. Irrigation dynamics are situated in an interface of social and

technical systems which are interrelated. This research is innovative because until now no research has been

done on irrigation dynamics in horticulture in Luo land. This combined research of irrigation technology in

relation to a heterogeneous practice of horticultural production can offer new insights regarding farmer-led

irrigation development. Petrol pumps and its practices of use are the focal point of research that is analysed in a

heterogeneous farming context, on the basis of farmers’ experiences.

This research contributes to an understanding in individual small scale irrigation as a means for poverty

alleviation. Increasing agricultural returns through irrigation measures has great potential to reduce rural poverty

and increase food security. Although the dynamics of farmer-led irrigation are often not fully understood and

therefore its potential and implications are unclear. This research aims to gain more insight in farmers’

experiences and strategies in the use of petrol pumps for smallholder irrigation in horticulture production. In this

way farmer-led irrigation can be better understood, in order to inform policy making on sustainable future

development.

Within this research personal objectives are to gain more insight in how farmer-led irrigation development, in

this case with petrol pumps, work in practice. And having little experience so far in doing field work, the aim is

to gain experience with case-study research and the different methods that are part of this study. In addition to

this also the agricultural practices in a very different context compared to what I am used to, are interesting to

compare. Moreover the experience of a different culture, expanding my horizon and taking part in a traditional

Luo way of living is very valuable to me.


17

3.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

In this chapter the specific research questions that are addressed in this research are explained. First the main

research question is given and furthermore the sub-questions provide more detail, and take smaller steps in

order to answer the main research question. These sub-questions are each linked to a result chapter in the

remainder of this report.

3.3.1 MAIN RESEARCH QUESTION

Petrol pumps are spread in an organic and autonomous manner initiated by farmers and is characterized as

farmer-led irrigation. Farmers strategize their farming business including irrigation mechanisms in

heterogeneous ways. The focus in this research is on how farmers experience petrol pump technology

interconnected with multiple configurations of farming styles. Moreover this research aims to understand how

this co-construction of farming strategies and use of petrol pumps is taking place. Therefore the main research

question is as follows:

In what ways do farmers appropriate and use petrol pumps for irrigation in a horticulture production

process in West-Uyoma, Kenya?

3.3.2 SUB-QUESTIONS

The main research question which is stated above is subdivided into three sub-questions each addressing a part

of the main research question. Each of the three sub-questions is elaborated upon in a result chapter, to know

chapters four, five and six. The three questions are provided below and are briefly discussed in order to explain

the focus of each question.

Sub-question 1: How is production organized in horticulture farming in West-Uyoma?

This first sub-question aims to gain insight in the organization of production which can be characterized as

heterogeneous and is emerging from a wider socio-economic development in West-Uyoma. Production can be

organized in different ways, and consists of a set of elements including land, cultivation, labour, inputs, outputs

and markets. This offers a range of possibilities in which farmers strategize their farming business, and in which

they interact with the dynamic context of horticulture production. The organization of production is explained

as the basic context in which farmers make choices and decide on a certain strategy in farming.

Sub-question 2: What are configurations of different farming styles, and what are underlying logics and

notions in farmers’ strategies?

This second sub-question aims to provide understanding in how farmers act as strategic agents and how they

shape different configurations of farming styles. Based on the organization of production, in this section the

different underlying logics and notions of farming strategies are taken into account. The FSC is provided and

identifies the multi-functionality and heterogeneity in farming styles. A distinction in farming styles provides a

means to discuss heterogeneity in the appropriation and use of petrol pumps.

Sub-question 3: How do farmers appropriate and use petrol pumps, and how do they negotiate over the

meaning of petrol pumps?

The last sub-question specifically deals with how farmers experience the use of petrol pumps in smallholder

horticulture farming. The analysis of petrol pump technology is framed by the FSC, in order to gain insight in how

petrol pumps are appropriated and utilized in different farming styles. In this section different experiences and

sets of meanings adhered to petrol pumps are discussed. This includes the capacity of the farmers in the process


18

of negotiation over a petrol pump. A key issue is to gain understanding in the co-construction of irrigation

development and heterogeneity in farming.

3.3.3 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

This conceptual framework as shown in Figure 4, brings the research- conceptualization and questions together.

It provides a quick overview of the structure of the result chapters based on the theoretical framework as

described above. The socio-technical approach is regarded as the umbrella concept under which the FSA and the

SCOT provide the more practical means and structure for analysis. The research questions have been established

based on these concepts, and the sub-questions can each be linked to a separate chapter. The first two sub-

questions are analysed based on the FSA and are discussed in chapters four and five. The third research question

is analysed based on the SCOT concept and is discussed in chapter six. The central line in this conceptual

framework is the interrelatedness of the social and the technical regarding the organization of production and

irrigation development.

Figure 4 Conceptual framework


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3.4 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Having set the central line of this research and having discussed the research questions on which the analysis is

set, now the shift is made towards the operationalization of the research. Within the research methodology at

first the design of the qualitative research is discussed, focussed on case-study research. Following from this

different methods that are utilized in the research are explained and linked to objectives that are set in the

research design. In this section interviewing and observation methods are discussed in detail.

3.4.1 QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

The characteristic qualitative research is that it aims to gain understanding in meanings that people have

constructed. The purpose of this research is to understand the unique situation of horticulture famers using

petrol pumps and the meaning they adhere to their experiences. This happens in a context in which especially

the interconnectedness of the social and the technical are central. In this case the use of petrol pumps

interconnected with heterogeneity in farming is the phenomenon under study in which understanding is

obtained. In this type of research the researcher is the primary instrument for data collection and analysis in

order to expand his or her understanding on the phenomenon under study (Merriam, 2009). In order to analyse

this development of petrol pumps, qualitative research is necessary to gain insight in the experiences of farmers,

and their underlying logics and notions that influence this process.

CASE-STUDY RESEARCH

First the literature review conducted serves as a fundament for the case-study research. This review is not

initiated to determine the answers about what is known about the topic, but is provided in order to contribute

to a better insight in the topic and through this it can be regarded as a means to develop sharper and more

insightful questions about the topic. In sum the literature review itself does not provide the answers to the

research questions, but as a matter of fact it aims to develop a conceptual and methodological framework in

order to structure and operationalize the research in an appropriate manner (Yin, 2009).

A case-study research is executed in order to improve understanding in the unique situation of smallholder

horticulture farmers using petrol pumps. A case-study research is relevant when the research on the

phenomenon is context specific and in-depth. In order to understand a real life phenomenon in-depth, the

specific contextual conditions that are encompassed fulfil a key role, because these conditions are highly

pertinent to the phenomenon of study. The case-study inquiry copes with the technically distinctive situation in

which there are many more variables of interest than data points. And as one result relies on multiple sources of

evidence, the data is needed to converge in a triangulating fashion. And as another result, it benefits from the

prior development of theoretical propositions to guide data collection and analysis (Yin, 2009). A case-study

research is suitable, because through this form of empirical inquiry the phenomenon of petrol pumps can be

analysed in-depth with regard to its specific context. In order to get a clearer view on what is involved in case

study research, Yin (2009) shortly describes the basic characteristics of such an inquiry. “The essence of a case

study, the central tendency among all types of case study, is that it tries to illuminate a decision or set of

decisions: why they were taken, how they were implemented, and with what result.” (Schramm, 1971, emphasis

added, in (Yin, 2009). Case studies have the availability to focus on a large number of variables and can analyse

how these interrelate. Therefore it can be said that case studies have a high internal validity based on the more

profound understanding of the behaviour of different actors. The theoretical underpinning in case study research

is of great importance in order to attain value for wider generalization outside its specific case context. By taking

the theory as a fundamental starting point and reference in the case study research, external validity in the form

of logical replication can be attempted (De Vaus, 2001). The case-study design therefore strongly relates to the

aim of qualitative research to gain understanding in the meaning of farmers’ experiences on the use of petrol

pumps.


20

The selection of the case is made from a strategic point of view concerning the characteristics of the particular

case based on theory derived from literature review. (De Vaus, 2001). Besides this the area of study is also chosen

due to the recommendation of a local inhabitant and former student. He has indicated the suitability of the West-

Uyoma area for this particular research and provided housing facilities and other practicalities. The case in this

research consists of the smallholder horticulture farmers using petrol pumps in the area of West-Uyoma in the

vicinity of Lake Victoria. Gaining understanding in farmers experiences in heterogeneous farming practices

interconnected with the use of petrol pumps are central tenets in this research. This case-study design has

explained the choice for this method and its importance to suit the objectives of this research. In the following

section the specific methods for data collection, based on the qualitative case-study research are explained.

3.4.2 RESEARCH METHODS

In this section the operationalization of the research methods are described. In order to execute a case-study

research multiple methods are deployed. At first methods for data collection, consisting of interviews and

observations are described in detail. The researcher is the primary instrument for data collection and aims to

increase in-depth understanding on the research object through interviews and observations. Secondly the

operationalization of the data analysis is explained.

INTERVIEWS

The interviewing method was used as the main data collection method in this research, mainly semi-structured

interviews were used. Interviews are especially useful in order to gain insight in the experiences and opinions of

the relevant stakeholders. An interview can be regarded as a particular kind of conversation with a specific aim,

and with a role differentiation between the interviewer and the interviewee (Crouch and McKenzie, 2006). The

concept of triangulation was used to verify data from different sources to make the data more valid. Concerning

the interviewing technique at first the sampling methods are discussed, followed with an explanation on the

practicalities of the interviews especially concerning the two interview rounds. Interviews are conducted with

farmers and other key informants. In total 67 interviews have been carried out during 13 weeks of fieldwork.

Purposeful and strategic sampling were used to determine the interviewees in the West-Uyoma area. The

farmers interviewed are mainly from the farming areas of Kochilo, Kamariga, Obenge, Likungu and Osindo, a few

farmers outside these regions were also interviewed. The interviewees were approached through connections

with the contact person, through university connections and moreover by approaching local farmers and

communities. Purposeful sampling also took place with so-called ‘mentor farmers’ as indicated by key

informants. Snowball sampling was also used, because farmers often told me to approach their colleagues. Also

for the key informants’ interviews this happened in a similar way, often the interviewee would provide the

connection to other key informants. The selection of interviewees mainly depended on the farmers’ presence at

the field, available time, and them being pointed out by others to connect with.

In the early stages of fieldwork more informal interviews were held, this happened in order to become familiar

with the people in the field, and to build up a relationship with the interviewees. Following on the first

acquaintance, more in-depth interviews were held through semi-structured interviews. As a preparation an

interview guide was developed which contains a structuration of main and follow-up questions. Although the

interviewees have the opportunity to address topics on their own initiative, an open and flexible attitude is

necessary to give interviewees the freedom to share what they find important (Hart et al., 2005). The interview

guide that was prepared for the interviews with farmers can be found in annex 2.

The interviews were mainly held in the morning as most farmers start working on their fields early in the morning.

The farmer was approached in the field and an introduction took place in which was explained why this research

is conducted. Farmers approached were willing to cooperate in an interview depending on the time they had


21

available. When doing interviews I would also walk through the farming area and could observe other farmers

on their fields. Often I stopped by to have a short conversation, this improved the relationship with the farmers,

and it also provided valuable information which they did not share in the interviews. Each day a report was

written on the interviews, short informal conversations and observations. These reports enabled the researcher

to process the information, from both interviews and observation. For the transcription of the interview a format

was made including a table to note some basic information. This short overview was utilized in the remaining

analysis of the data to get a quick idea of some basic characteristics of the farmer and his farming business. An

example of the interview format which was used for transcription is enclosed in annex 3. After finalizing the

transcription, arrangements for interviews for the next day were made and prepared.

Of a total of 67 interviews in 13 weeks, 50 interviews were executed with farmers in two interviewing rounds,

both lasting six weeks. In between there was an intermezzo-week in which acquired data was analysed in order

to prepare for the next round of interviews. The first round of interviews was held in order to gain insight in

farmers’ strategies in farming based on their organization of production. The second round of interviews

consisted of follow-up interviews and was focussed on farmers experiences on the use of petrol pumps based on

information from the first interviews. In annex 4 a table with the overview of the farmers that are interviewed is

provided, including the coding of the farmers in order to secure them anonymity. This coding was made on the

basis of the FSC which is discussed in chapter five. This is done in order to enable the reader to quickly identify

which farmer from what farming style is quoted in the remainder of this report.

In the first round of interviews 34 different farmers were interviewed of which 30 have their fields in one of the

five farming areas. The other four farmers from different areas are left outside this research for the following

reasons. These farmers and their area are only visited once, so no relationship is build up and no observation

could take place over time. And besides this their fields were at a longer distance from the homestead, and

therefore more difficult to reach with transport available. Due to a sufficient amount of farmers available in the

nearby areas, it is chosen not to include these four interviews in the analysis. Furthermore three more farmers

are not taken into account in the specific analysis on the farming styles and the irrigation technology. These

interviews have taken place to gain insight in the group dynamics and did not provide sufficient information on

the farmer as a strategic agent in his/her own farming business. Sideways these interviews are taken into account

for general analysis and to provide more insight in the context of horticulture farming and collective irrigation

systems.

The second round of interviews consists of 19 interviews in total, of which 16 follow-ups, conducted with 18

different farmers. The second round of interviews is focussed on the irrigation technology and application

methods, and provided a means to recuperate missing information from former interviews and to go in-depth

on irrigation technology. Farmers for the second round of interviews were selected based on information from

first interviews, and by taking the preliminary farming styles classification into account. The selection criteria

were to find farmers from different farming styles and areas, specifically at least two follow-ups are done per

farming style and per farming area.

In addition to the interviews with farmers, also 17 interviews with key informants were conducted. The key

informants have different fields of expertise considering horticultural production and irrigation technology. The

analysis of these interviews is mainly used as background knowledge, and to improve understanding on the

research context. In addition it can add a reflection on farmers’ experiences, and on the different sets of

meanings towards petrol pumps. Although it is important to consider that these key informants also have their

experiences and perspectives in relation to the matter, as well as the farmers. Their different viewpoint can offer

different perspectives, which is critically discussed by the researcher. In annex 5 a table with key informants

interviewed, and a number of characteristics is provided, including the coding system.


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(PARTICIPATIVE) OBSERVATION

Participative observations are mainly executed with the aim to construct a full picture of what is going on in the

field. Considering that within the interviews not all data is covered, there is an uncertain factor incorporated in

interviewing people, because one cannot be sure that someone speaks the truth or might not remember

everything in detail (Atkinson and Hammersley, 1994). Participation in the daily routines and practices of actors

that take part in the social construction process has contributed to a better understanding of their experiences,

opinions and interests. Field observations have given the possibility to improve the validation of the data and

gave new and fresh insights.

Observation took place with all farmers’ visits, the farmers were nearly always approached at the field or in the

proximity of the field. Observation took place throughout the full period of fieldwork, which gave insight in the

different stages of cultivation, and in the farmers’ presence and labour at the field. Also the scale of farming

could be observed in a very direct manner and possible discrepancies in dimensions could be resolved. Also in

other interviews observations have proven very valuable and have provided the researcher with an increased

understanding of the matter. E.g. during an interview with a local engineer, two petrol pumps were brought in

by farmers with common problems, the engineer repaired both pumps in his workshop. Additionally also a field

day was attended under the header of the world food day. Here also lessons in agricultural production were

given, and test fields provided information on a number of crops and their cultivation. The participative

observation was executed in collaboration with the farmers, mostly this happened while an interview was

arranged with the particular farmer. This for instance implies that when an interview was taking place at the time

of harvest, a helping hand was offered while in the meanwhile questions were asked in an informal manner. This

participative observation mainly contributed in building a relation with the farmers.

DATA ANALYSIS

In this section it is shortly described how the processing and analysis of the collected data has taken place. After

conducting the interviews the transcription was executed preferably the same day in which the interview was

held, or as quickly as possible. The processing of interview data happened through analysis based on the concepts

used. Beforehand a systematic set-up for the interview transcription was made in which the same themes are

discussed for each interview. The interview guide highly contributed in ordering the data and enabled a quick

and systematic analysis of the data. In this analysis choices are made on which information was supportive for

the arguments that came to the fore in this research. Also coding of the interviewees has taken place in order to

secure their anonymity as is explained before.

3.4.3 DISCUSSION OF METHODOLOGY

This section provides a short reflection on the research design and the methods used. At first the case-study

research proved valuable in gaining understanding in the experiences of farmers on the use of petrol pumps. The

position of the researcher as primary instrument for data collection is needed to gain insight in different

interpretations, but is also subject to interpretation by the researcher. Therefore it proved important to structure

the conduct of interviews themselves and their analysis. Semi-structured interviews functioned as the main data

collection method, beforehand an interview guide was prepared before going into the field. This interview guide

proved helpful to structure the interview and to be consistent throughout all interviews undertaken. However it

was also experienced important to remain flexible and open to the farmers to express what is on their mind.

Especially this information gave a valuable impression of the underlying logics and notions of farmers. Many

factors that were not considered beforehand, were highlighted by farmers and improved understanding of their

experiences and strategies.


23

Moreover it has to be considered that interviews deal with the personal account of people that does not

necessarily corresponds to their actions or perspective. Also other factors can play a role in the strategies and

decision-making. In the interviews the focus was on the experiences of farmers, to understand why they do what

they do. In this way it is not about right or wrong, but the principles of use can be illuminated based on their

experiences. In fieldwork interviews are combined with observations, which often proved helpful to verify

information given by farmers, for example on field dimensions and crops in cultivation. Within a time frame of

3,5 months the farming areas were regularly visited, this also contributed in gaining insight in the stages of

cultivation and the presence of farmers on their field. In-site interviewing is recommended because it enables

the researcher to directly verify information, and ask questions based on what is seen in the field.

In the field I had a rather ‘free’ position as a student doing a research from personal interest, and not being part

of an organization. This in combination with the fact that I was part of the community living with a local family

at the dala proved helpful in approaching the farmers. The farmers mostly knew the family and me, which quickly

created a relationship of trust and willingness to cooperate.

A number of limitations can also be discussed regarding the fieldwork. At first the language barrier resulted in

limitations in data collection. The interviews were done in English, and therefore I could only communicate

directly with the farmers with a sufficient level of English. For a small number of farmers their proficiency was

limited. In one case a local translator was used, but otherwise only farmers speaking sufficient English were

interviewed. Therefore the language barrier has influenced the interview outputs. Also a lack of information on

dimensions and other statistical data proved difficult. This sometimes left the researcher uncertain about the

correctness of quantities, because this could not be verified.

3.5 CONCLUSION

This chapter on research design and methodology has provided a theoretical framework for analysis and has

operationalized this analysis. First of all the socio-technical concept is the umbrella concept in which both the

FSA and SCOT are linked in. This interrelatedness of the social and the technical is interwoven throughout this

research and the FSA and SCOT offer ways to analyse this co-construction. Horticulture production and

development of technology are both a co-construction of social and technical systems. The FSA offers an

approach to analyse heterogeneity in horticulture production. And furthermore the FSC is established in which

different farming styles provide a frame for analysis, and relate to irrigation development. The operationalization

of the SCOT concept entails an in-depth analysis of the co-construction of petrol pumps and its practices of use

in the context of heterogeneous horticulture production. Based on these concepts the analysis is operationalized

in a case-study design using interviews and observation methods for data collection. Furthermore the

information is structured and brought in line with the main arguments in a uniform and qualitative manner.

This has resulted in an in-depth analysis of petrol pumps used in heterogeneous smallholder horticulture.

Furthermore understanding is gained in the use of petrol pumps concerning its appropriation and utilization,

interconnected with different farming styles. In the following chapters four, five and six the results of this analysis

are discussed, starting with the organization of production.

Chapter 4 Organization of production

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CHAPTER 4 ORGANIZATION OF PRODUCTION

The picture illustrates a type of labour organization during transplanting. A farmer is practicing irrigation on his

field, while two people help him with transplanting the vegetables.

Sub-question 1: How is production organized in horticulture farming in West-Uyoma?

Coming from a wider context of diminishing fisheries and the development of commercialized horticulture, this

first result chapter focusses on the characteristics and heterogeneity of smallholder irrigated horticulture

farming. The different features that are part of how farmers organize their system of production include land

and cultivation, inputs and instruments, labour organization and management, and market characteristics. This

chapter provides a basic understanding of the logics and notions that underlie farming strategies in

commercialized horticulture production. This chapter forms the basis for the following FSC in the next chapter

and describes the range of possibilities in which farmers can decide on a farming strategy.


25

4.1 LAND, CULTIVATION AND PRODUCTION

In this section features concerning land, cultivation and production are discussed. Aspects on land management

are discussed in relation to different cultivation practices. In addition to this estimations are given on the

production characteristics of different farmers considering yield and income.

4.1.1 LAND

Most farmers in the area hire land from the owner, in rare cases the farmers own land by themselves. In those

cases farmers have inherited the land from their father, which is a common practice in Luo tradition. Farmers

who own large pieces of land can partly rent out these lands to get an extra source of income. Most farmers

however hire land and they often do this per season of three to four months. The prices of land vary, depending

on the region, location, proximity to the lake, and competition of land. The prices range from 3000 - 6000 Kes for

½ acre, and some hire for 3 seasons, and some only hire two seasons because the owner wants to use his land

for cereal production during the rainy season. Farmers indicate that the land price is good when you can get

something good out of it. Although hiring land is considered a risk, because the investment is done beforehand

you can run at a loss when you fail in production. Farmers have different reasons why they choose to hire more

pieces of land and expand their business, two farmers indicate why they took this strategy.

[LB] You have recently leased a new field, why?

[F21] Because farming land can become exhausted, for diversity and for expansion. In order to expand

the income, because when the demand is there, one piece of land to harvest is not enough. When the

demand is high, you should harvest every day and sell your products.

[F10] I hire three fields of ¾ acre. We hire more fields, so we keep on moving. When one field is finished

we move to another field to prepare, meanwhile you can start with the nursery.

Land for hire is in demand in the research areas, the horticulture farmers aim to expand their farming activities

first of all by expanding their scale of farming. Farmers who own land have advantage over the farmers who have

to hire in terms of costs and security. Furthermore competition over land is increasing and prices are raising,

which makes it difficult for farmers to find affordable land close to the lake. Owners of land adjacent to the lake

demand higher prices because now they see the good earnings that farmers get from horticulture production.

4.1.2 CULTIVATION

Mainly tomato and kale varieties are cultivated in the case-study area, and to a lesser extent different types of

indigenous vegetables, watermelon, capsicum, butternut, fruits and others. Countrywide the tomato is one of

the vegetables that is produced most, it is the second leading vegetable in Kenya when looked at production and

value, after the potato. The tomato is known for its wide adaptability and versatility and therefore can often be

grown in open field, this accounts for 95% of total tomato production in Kenya. Incidence of pests and diseases

are agronomic challenges in tomato cultivation, and also poorly organized rural and urban market infrastructures

which permit unpredictable price fluctuation challenges farmers. These constraints can have a negative impact

on the production and marketing of quality tomatoes (Sigei et al., 2014).

The soil characteristics are an important aspect concerning the horticulture cultivation and irrigation potential.

The five farming areas share the same soil types, which is primarily clay and loam 2 . The most important

2 Black Cotton soil is the name given to the fertile and black clay soil prevalent in Uyoma, the soil has a high clay

content and a good water holding capacity. The name stems from its suitability for cotton production.


26

characteristic is the water holding capacity, this is indicated as a benefit especially for horticulture in the dry

season. This research took place during the dry season from September-December. Farmers prefer to grow

tomatoes in a dry season due to the soil conditions and irrigation benefits. In rainy seasons waterlogging, and

vulnerability to pests and diseases are caused by excess of rainwater. Despite this a few farmers mentioned they

cultivate tomatoes in the rainy season because of market timing. Below two farmers give their reasoning in why

they cultivate tomatoes, their choices focus on the output of tomatoes and their experience with the cultivation

practice. Figure 5 and Figure 6 provide an image of how kales and tomatoes are cultivated in the case-study area.

[F25] Tomatoes and kales are cultivated now, we are only interested in tomatoes.

[F20] Now I cultivate only tomatoes, after this season I will plant maize and beans, and after that

tomatoes again. I like tomatoes, I know how to treat them, and I have experience with it.

New and upcoming crops in this area are watermelon and capsicum, only a small number of farmer has recently

started to produce these crops. Their motivation to grow watermelons is that it can be sold at a good price and

can render a good profit. The cultivation they say is not all that difficult and one watermelon plant can produce

multiple balls, which can be sold for 200-300 Kes at the market. There is little supply of these new crops, and

therefore some farmers try to fill this ‘gap’ in the market. In short the main cash crop in the research area of

Uyoma during the research is the tomato. In addition new crops, like watermelon and capsicum, are recently

cultivated. Whereas tomatoes are often flooding the market resulting in low prices, these new crops can be sold

at a higher price.

4.1.3 PRODUCTION

The production characteristics give an idea of the quantity of production and profit of horticulture farmers in the

research area. Although they can all be considered as smallholder farmers, there is substantial range in

production and profit as indicated by the farmers. The range in production can be ascribed to different ways of

cultivation and use of inputs. And the range in profit also depends on market demand and price fluctuations. An

estimation is given on the average production of tomatoes by a few farmers.

Figure 6 Illustration of sticking of tomatoes Figure 5 Illustration of cultivation of kales


27

[F3] From tomatoes grown on 1 acre, you can get a production of 40-50 sanduku3, this is a good

production.

[F27] The average production for ¼ acre is about 10 sanduku.

[F12] Tomatoes on ¾ acre = 20 sanduku

The range of tomato production is on average between 25-50 sanduku on 1 acre. Considering that a sanduku is

64 kg, the average production ranges between 1600-3200 kg of fresh weight produce per acre. This comes down

to an average production of 4000-8000 kg/ha. In addition to this farmers also indicate their net income returns

from farm production. This seems to be much influenced by the market, especially by demand and price. The

wide range in profit from farm produce is indicated by farmers below.

[F23] The first year was very difficult, only for 8000Kes was sold and I had loss, the market was bad. In

the second season I got benefit, I sold for 20.000 and the profit was 5000Kes of tomatoes on ¼ acre.

[F2] The profit from tomatoes on ½ acre is within a range of 30-100.000 Kes. With 30.000 you get a loss.

[F5] At a field of tomatoes of ¾ acre the production can be 45.000 Kes for one season, the profit of it

can be half and half of the money is spent on inputs.

[F25] On a farm like this of ½ acre, you can make 70.000 Kes with hybrid, when you have local you can

make 30.000-40.000 Kes.

Considering the outputs and production characteristics and levels, there is a wide range in quantity among the

farmers. The level of inputs is a determinant factor in the income that can be generated on the farm. But mainly

it is expressed that with a larger farming scale and high production levels it is not necessarily the case that you

also get a high profit. The market is a determining factor in this respect, this is discussed later in this chapter.

4.2 INPUTS AND INSTRUMENTS

When explaining what inputs and instruments are in use in the case-study area, it is important to notice that the

high investments of inputs can be a restriction for many farmers. Especially for farmers who have limited financial

capital, this can be of profound importance in their farming strategies. How they organize their production is

dependent on their financial situation, and has implications for the use of inputs and instruments. The inputs and

instruments that are discussed below involve seeds and ploughing instruments, because this can provide insight

in distinctive opportunities of farmers. Fertilizers and pesticides are also in use by farmers, but are often used in

a similar manner.

Hybrid seeds are commonly used by farmers in the research area. Despite the fact that hybrid seeds are very

expensive, they also say that hybrid varieties are better compared to local varieties. Because hybrids are often

disease resistant, and moreover because they render higher production and profit. The farmers explain that the

money they can make from a higher production outweighs the fact that the seeds are expensive to buy. Hybrid

seeds are available since the last decade, but the actual use of hybrid seeds differs for each farmer. In general

hybrids are in use since five years in the research area. Below a farmer explains why he started using hybrids.

[F1] The tomato seeds are hybrids, Dani F1 and Fortune maker. They last longer, the harvesting time for

these types of tomatoes is longer, and it is good for the market. Three years ago I started to use the

hybrids, before I used local varieties. The hybrids give more production and they have a good quality.

3 ‘Sanduku’ is a Swahili word for a wooden crate in which tomatoes are sold, the weight of one sanduku with

tomatoes is most likely 64 kg, although the farmers were often not aware of its weight.


28

Besides the type of seeds farmers can also invest in instruments and farming equipment. The ploughing

instruments are highlighted here in order to illustrate the type and level of instruments used. Most farmers use

an oxen-drawn plough, some can also use a tractor, but this is more expensive to hire. Although farmers indicate

that using a tractor gives a better ploughing result for the soil compared to ploughing with oxen. In addition a

combination of both methods can also be done, in that case the first ploughing is done by a tractor, and the oxen

are used to do harrowing. Concerning the use of ploughing instruments farmers make different choices based

on expenses, quality of tilt, size of the land, and on weather conditions. Farmers who have ownership of an oxen-

drawn-plough are in the position to rent it out to others as an extra source of income, others depend on hiring.

In general the investment capital is a decisive factor in deploying inputs and instrument for farming activities, in

order to render higher outputs.

4.3 LABOUR ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT

In this paragraph different types of labour in the cultivation practices of farmers in the research area are

discussed. A distinction is made in labour done by family and friends, and labour that is hired. Following on this

also the availability of casual labour in the area is touched upon. Lastly farm management is discussed in relation

to labour, which provides insight into farmers preferred ways of working.

4.3.1 LABOUR ORGANIZATION

Many farmers indicate that it is common that friends and family help at the farm, especially in busy times,

irrespective the scale of farming. Some farmers indicate that work done by family members, often done by wife(s)

and children, is sufficient to complete the workload. This depends on the household situation and also the scale

of farming. Also in groups they can help each other, in those cases colleague-farmers are often seen as ‘friends’.

Another possibility to organize labour is to hire workers. Farmers can hire labour, for instance in times of land

preparation and clearing, ploughing, preparing the seedbed, and transplanting. There are different reasons

mentioned to hire labour, the main reason is that the workload is too much for one person. Due to seasonality

of farm-labour, casual labour is hired and no permanent labour exists in this research area. The farmers all work

on the farms themselves, and only hire labour in times of need. Hiring labour obviously comes with a price in

contrast to labour from family and friends. This commoditization of labour is an important development; due to

the price of labour farmers have to take different strategies in farming taking the costs of labour into account.

Prices of labour are negotiable and can either be determined on a time- or scale dimension. Often casual labour

can be hired for a day, this mostly implies an average of 5-7 hrs. Another possibility is to pay the worker for a

certain area that has to be finished, with weeding for instance. In these cases a certain area is dimensioned and

the worker receives a fixed amount for the weeding of that specific area. Below a number of farmers give an

indication of the variation of labour costs.

[F18] To hire one person for one day of work you pay 500 Kes, for 6 hours.

[F21] The costs are roughly 200 Kes for one day, from 8am to 1pm, 5 hours. That is average.

[F4] The price is negotiated, we can pay per day or per size, we call this ‘keo’. You measure a distance

by foot of 5 by 25 m, this is 100Kes, if you are strong you can do this in one hour, it is like a paddock.

[F9] Per paddock you pay 400 Kes, this will be about 6/7 hours of work.

Hiring labour is a common practice among the farmers. Mainly due to the scale of farming and the often high

workload in limited time, hired labour is necessary. Besides the price, farmers also take the well-being of the

crops into account. Farmers look for skilled labour, and do not want careless labourers to harm their crops.

Because skilled labour is hard to find, farmers specifically do the tasks that require experience and skills by

themselves. Farmers also indicate that in general it is difficult to find reliable labour on the farm. One reason


29

mentioned is that fishermen who earned fishing money in the morning, do not want to work on a farm that day.

Below a farmer explains this situation, and the difficulties he faces with finding reliable labourers.

[F21] There are enough people who can work, but they are not so reliable. Men tell you that they will

come, but they do not come, if they have money from fishing they will not come to work. That is the

reason why women work on the field, because they cannot go fishing. Fishing is ready cash for the men.

The organization of labour is an important aspect in the agrarian structure in the research area. A parallel in the

strategies is the prevalence of labour from family and friends. Due to the commoditization of labour in

horticulture production the organization of labour has changed, and this has led to different strategies in farming.

The necessity and price of labour is balanced, and also the skills of hired labour are taken into account.

4.3.2 MANAGEMENT

The management of farming deals with the rate of collaboration of farm labour. A distinction can be made

between individual farmers and farmers who collaborate either in a partnership or in a group. In a partnership

two people can work together on one field, they can both either purchase or hire some instruments and share

costs and profit. Also groups are formed in which farmers can share labour and input costs, although farmers

who operate in a group also have their individual farms. Within groups the labour can partly be done in a

collective manner, a farmer explains how group work and individual work go hand in hand. And below Box 1

provides a more thorough discussion on group organization and dynamics in the research area.

[F8] We work together, we do group work, and we also have an individual farm. If you have a big farm

and you want to do transplanting, then you need help, so you can call others to assist. They can just help

on that one day, from the next watering you start to work by yourself.

Box 1 Group organization and dynamics

In the farming areas there are a number of groups operating in different ways. Also organizations are often

involved in the constitution and the workings of these groups. When farmers want support from e.g. donor

organizations, a group has to be formed because support only takes place throughout a group organization.

[K9] We work through groups, not through individuals. This is the mandate we have, the aim is to

reach as many people as possible, it is mandatory at Plan to work through groups. And these groups

must be formally registered.

Plan International and Western Kenya are organizations with livelihood programs in which they support

horticulture groups. Western Kenya is a collaboration between the World Bank and the government and they

run an 8 year program from 2008-2015. Western Kenya builds a structure through groups in order to achieve

wealth creation. This happens through grants, inputs, materials and trainings. And the groups in turn have to

write a proposal and procurement plan, set up a board, and set objectives that are monitored. There are a

number of groups active in the case-study area, KaCoHo (Kagwa Cooperative Horticulture) sponsored by Plan

International, is active in Kamariga and Obenge. The farmers involved in groups express their troubles and

discomfort with group collaboration. They indicate that individual farming has their preference, because then

you can dictate your own planning and the profit is for yourself. But the farmers organize in groups because

they seek support, as the chair of the KaCoHo group in Obenge explains.

[F2] Individual work is better than group work. In the group it is bothersome, there are a lot of errors.

NGOs can only help groups, they cannot help individuals. So we are forced to come in groups for their

help. I don’t know why, but they refuse to help individuals.


30

There are a number of problems that occur in groups, these include small politics because of clan/kin issues.

Moreover group work is considered problematic, because not everybody in the group works as required, and

this causes friction and conflict over sharing of proceeds. And often only a small part of official members are

actively involved in group work. In the KaCoHo group only 5 out of 17 members actually contribute in work

and finance.

In Kochilo a group of 14 members has recently started, it has registered and is hoping for a donor to connect

with. The group is now only sharing ideas and wants to do bulk purchase of inputs, the farmers involved have

their individual farms. The group secretary indicates that he likes the group organization, but getting together

is difficult. Because some farmers also do fishing, some have a small farm, some large, the farmers do not

work in the same way which causes friction he argues. There is also a group active in Likungu that is organized

by farmers themselves and does not receive external support. This group consists of 10 members and they

provide loans for each other and help each other with work. They are content with this way of working and

do not want involvement from organizations.

In addition to farmers’ perspectives on group work, the project manager of Western Kenya acknowledges that

farmers are not used to work in groups. Therefore he argues however, that an attitude transformation is

needed. In his opinion group work can enable farmers to achieve something which is not possible individually.

It was indicated that farmers working in groups are not successful, but for the future this would be better. He

argues that in groups farmers can be better trained, and also marketing strategies can be better organized.

Farmers often do not recognize this potential, but experience discomfort in a group organization. Due to

support mechanisms they do cooperate, but if farmers are able they rather focus on their individual farm.

Many farmers prefer an individualistic way of working, because then you know what you will get from your land,

and it is your own responsibility. Group farming is mainly initiated in order to get support when investment

capital is problematic. Farmers with financial limitations can seize this as an opportunity to expand farming and

increase capital. Besides this, groups can also be initiated by farmers in order to share labour, provide loans for

and share ideas. In general farmers are foremost individual farmers on their own field, and the level of

individuality goes up in proportion with the scale and intensity of farming.

4.4 MARKETS

In this paragraph market characteristics are briefly discussed in relation to horticulture production. With the

emergence and expansion of commercialized horticulture, also more products were sold at the market. Sell of

horticultural products takes place at the farm gate, local markets and urban markets. This short description

explains different markets and their features.

There are four local markets distinguished that are relevant in this research, these are Kamariga, Manyuanda,

Amoyo and Aram. These markets are all located in small village centres and mainly tomatoes, kales, other

vegetables, and cereal products are sold. In Kamariga there is a daily market which is indicated as a famous

market in the wider area. People from ‘far’ can also come to sell their produce in Kamariga. Both Amoyo and

Manyuanda are also daily markets, and are smaller in size than Kamariga. And there is also the Aram market

which has two market days, the size of the Aram market is comparable to Kamariga. The urban markets are

Bondo, Siaya, Mbita, and Kisumu. The urban markets are bigger in size compared to local markets. There are

more sellers and more customers, moreover there is more diversity in products, and quantities are higher. In

annex 2 two figures show the geographical location of respectively local and urban markets.

The marketing of tomatoes involves getting the tomato produce from the point of production to that of

consumption. Inaccessibility of the market has been a major constraint in the agribusiness sector of tomatoes.

Aspects that impede market penetration include poor road infrastructures, costs of transport, high price

fluctuations and poor storage facilities (Sigei et al., 2014). The marketing strategies of farmers are discussed


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starting at the farm gate where marketing activities of horticulture produce starts. Middlemen4 can come to the

farm to buy when demand is high, and they again sell the produce to sellers at the market. When the demand is

low farmers indicate they go to the markets by themselves. Farmers express their concern about the local

markets and its price volatility. When supply is high it becomes more difficult to sell at these small markets and

prices go down. Although prices are better at urban markets, many farmers go to local markets because they do

not have access to urban markets. The price difference can be substantial comparing local and urban markets,

and the price goes down closer to the farm gate. The next farmers gives an indication of the differences in prices

at different markets.

[F25] Prices for 1 sanduku of tomatoes in: Kisumu 5000Kes, Bondo 4500Kes, and Kamariga and

Manyuanda 3500 Kes.

The variations in supply and demand and resulting price volatility influences the price farmers can get from the

produce. Availability and security of markets is very important to farmers and is highly determinant for their

income generation. A good production itself is not the end of the story, the farmers are dependent on sales in

order to render income. Specific strategies that farmers take in marketing are discussed in chapter five.

4.5 CONCLUSION

The organization of production shows that horticulture is taking place in different ways. This chapter has

identified heterogeneity in the organization of production in horticulture farming practice in West-Uyoma.

Multiple ways of farming is practiced in the same time and place in the same context, although there is a wide

variety of possibilities which are interconnected. In particular a development of commercialized horticulture and

related commoditization of labour, are recognized as key processes in the process of agricultural production. It

is recognized in this chapter that the context of farming involves a range of social and technical systems that

together construct this production process. The basic resources of land and water are regarded similar for all

farmers, although variation in farming scale exists. Furthermore a lot of different choices can be made on the

use of inputs and instruments, labour organization and marketing strategies. This chapter has set the context

and provides a range of possibilities on which the FSC is based. In the following chapter different farming styles

are explained based on the discussion of the production organization. In this chapter insight is gained in particular

strategies taken in farming based, on underlying logics and notions of farmers, irrigation dynamics are an

inclusive part in these strategies. Although a thorough discussion on the use of irrigation takes place in chapter

six. Here the appropriation and use of petrol pumps is analysed which identifies the strong ties, and

interconnectedness between horticulture and irrigation dynamics.

4 In addition this quote indicates marketing difficulties for farmers with regard to middlemen. [K8] The problem

with farming is marketing of produce. Many farmers produce, but there is no group marketing, but only individual

marketing. Now middlemen take a lot of money, and the farmer has no transport means. If they would organize

marketing in groups, this would be better.

Chapter 5 Farming styles classification

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CHAPTER 5 FARMING STYLES CLASSIFICATION

In the picture a farmer is shown harvesting kales which he sells to a school, the kales are weighed and sold per

kg. His son is helping him during holidays.

Sub-question 2: What are configurations of different farming styles and what are the underlying logics

and notions in farmers’ strategies?

In this chapter the farming styles classification (FSC) is presented and explained. This classification is based on

the FSA and emphasises heterogeneity in agricultural production. Heterogeneity entails that different farming

strategies take place simultaneously in the same area. In this light the farmer is seen as a strategic agent who

developed his own farming style. The FSC is regarded as a tool to show this heterogeneity in farming strategies

and illuminate what underlying logics and notions are the foundation for specific strategies. A relevant distinction

for the farming styles is proposed in this classification and it is explained how and why farmers take on a particular

strategy.

At first the FSC is presented as a tool to recognize heterogeneity in agriculture, and to distinguish relevant farming

styles. At first an overview is provided of the FSC with the differing features of each farming style. Furthermore

each farming style is discussed in detail with a focus on their distinctive characteristics. Finally a short conclusion

is provided with a brief discussion on the space of manoeuvre of the farming styles involving farmers’ relations

to markets and technology.


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In this research area four different farming styles are distinguished which is shown in Table 2. To know the

established farmers, the innovators, the diversifiers, and the starters. The different farming styles are based on

characteristics in the organization of production that distinguishes them. The experiences of farmers is taken

into account to describe how and why they strategize their farming business in a particular way. In this chapter

it is sought to find the differing logic behind strategies, in order to fathom the strategic agency of the farmer.

This analysis provides insight in the farmers’ experiences, opinions, and ideas regarding their farming practice.

At the same time understanding is gained in how farmers cope with challenges and how they create

opportunities to develop a farming business with the resources available. In the discussion of each farming style

the focus is on what distinguishes them from other farming styles instead of a comprehensive description of each

farming style. At first the established farmers are discussed, followed by the innovators, diversifiers and starters.

In addition also boxes are provided for each farming styles with a case of one particular farmer. These boxes aim

to highlight key aspects that are typical for a farming style, and provides a deeper layer of understanding in

providing an individual context.

Table 2 Overview of the farming styles classification

Group Key words Crop diversity

Market Other income sources

Petrol pump Labour organization

Established farmers

Experience, stable position, safe market, financially capable, instruments owned, large scale

Cash crops, mainly tomato, depends on market

Urban markets, timing, year round

Livestock Individual ownership

Access and means to hired labour

Innovators New market opportunities, trying new crops, high input level, risk taking

New crops besides cash crops

Urban mainly, find gap in the market

Livestock Individual or shared ownership

Means to hired labour, access is difficult

Diversifiers Combine farming with other income source, economic focus

Cash crops, make most profit

Urban and local

Livestock, business

Individual or shared ownership or hire

Means to hired labour, access is difficult

Starters Financially limited, small market, fishing money, vulnerable, small scale

Cash crops, risk averse

Farm gate and local

Mainly fishing

Shared ownership or hire

Means and access to hired labour limited

5.1 ESTABLISHED FARMERS

Box 2 Case of an established farmer

Martin - classified as ‘established farmer’

Martin is a 42 year old farmer in Osindo and has started farming 16 years ago, in 1998. He is cultivating horticulture on 2½ acres of land which he inherited from his father. He can grow various crops, like tomatoes, onion, kales, coriander, watermelon and butternut. He has also tried spinach and carrots before, but there was a lack of market for these products. Currently he is growing watermelon on 1½ acre, only few farmers do this, so it has a good market he explains.


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Martin is mentioned by the Agrovet owner in Manyuanda as a ‘mentor farmer’ in the area. The mentor farmers are known for their experience and expertise in farming and can be asked for advice by other farmers. For labour on the farm he hires people. A certain piece of land, called a ‘keo’ is dimensioned and the workers get paid per keo. Martin together with his workers is doing the weeding during a field visit.

The markets are mostly looked for in the urban centres, he can go by himself on the motorbike, or he can hire a pick-up truck. He is doing this often, it costs 2000 Kes, and then he can go to Bondo, Siaya or Kisumu to sell the produce. In addition Martin also does timing in order to get a better price for his tomatoes.

Martin owns his own petrol pump, this is a Briggs & Stratton of 6,5 hp. He argues that the price of this Briggs & Stratton was fair and it is a famous brand. The Briggs & Stratton was the best petrol pump originally, but now piracy makes that he does not know which pump is good no more. This pump was bought three years ago for 40.000 Kes, before he used to own a Honda 5,5 hp from 1998. Martin also owns sufficient pipes, 30 in total and oxen which he also rents out to other farmers. He rents a tractor during the dry spell, a tractor gives a better tilt and in the dry season the cows are too weak to plough.

Martin is happy with the pump, because it gives him the means to move from one class to another. But he also argues that their method of application with the pump is not all that good. From experience he can say that with a petrol pump crops get a lot of ‘food’ in once and then they are ‘starving’. Water is given in excess with this system, therefore drip irrigation would be a better option. Martin also has ideas about future farming, he mainly indicates that a bigger pump is needed. He thinks of shifting to a diesel pump, this is expensive, about 200.000 Kes, but it could help to serve many people.

The established farmers are the ones who have developed their farming business over the years and have

stabilized through a process of expansion and innovation. In the research four farmers are classified as

‘established farmers’, they are the highest age-group being 42, 42, 50, and 52. They have all been farming for

long, to know 10, 16, 20, and 30 years, and have gained experience throughout. The characteristics of ownership

of land and instruments, labour and marketing strategies are discussed in particular.

All these farmers have in common that they have a piece of land in ownership, often through inheritance. Often

their land size is larger than other horticulture farmers who have to hire land for cultivation. The established

farmers own 8, 3, 2 ½, and 1 acre. Two of the farmers have full ownership of land, the other two partially hire.

The farmer owning 8 acres of family land indicates that not all land is used in horticulture cultivation by himself,

he rents out 6 acres and uses 2 acres himself.

The use of instruments is a differentiator for the established farmers, through time they have acquired oxen and

ploughing materials and irrigation material. All farmers in this category own oxen themselves, often they have

more livestock at home also. The oxen can be used to plough the field, but some farmers also choose to hire a

tractor because they think it gives a better tilt. This indicates that they have the opportunity to use high level

instruments to improve production standards. A supplementary advantage of owning and using high level

instruments is that these can be rented out to other farmers and can give you an extra source of income. This

practice of renting out also accounts for petrol pumps, the established farmers are in a good position regarding

equipment and do not depend on other farmers. Also regarding labour these farmers are in a position where

they have access to sufficient labour. Because of their socio-economic position they have improved access to

labour, this includes their financial means, social background and position and the high provision of farm labour.

For two farmers labour is hired on a constant basis, although not permanent. The other two farmers have

children and other family members able to work on the farm, and therefore only rarely hire labour.

A combination of experience, investment capacity and scale of production enables these farmers to search for

good market opportunities. They aim to find urban markets and other stable markets to get a good price for their

produce. And besides this they have the possibility to time cultivation in order to supply tomatoes at a time of

high demand and price. Both marketing strategies result in selling the products for a high price. Two farmers tell


35

that they can hire a pick-up truck when they want to go to the urban market centre, they are the only two using

this method of transport to the market. The advantage of this pick-up truck for them is that they can bring a large

amount of products to the market in one go. In this way the take-off can take place less frequent and it gives

them the opportunity to sell their products in large quantities for a good price at the urban markets.

Transportation charges are involved, but due to the high quantity of produce and the relative higher prices

compared to local markets, the profit is higher. Below is an example of the strategy of one farmer in hiring a pick-

up for the market.

[F4] I can go to the market by myself on the motorbike, or I can hire a pick-up truck, you can hire a pick-

up including a driver, I do this often. It costs 2000 Kes, you pay for the delivery transport. I can go to

Bondo, Siaya and Kisumu, other farmers can also use this. With the motorbike you can transport only

little amount, and with a pick-up truck you can take 10-12 sanduku. I do not go to markets like Kamariga

and Manyuanda, these are very small, and maybe you only get a few customers.

Timing in cultivation is also of importance as two farmers mention. They take the opportunity to cultivate

tomatoes in the months from January to May, this is at the end of the dry season and the start of the following

rainy season. During the rainy season farmers generally say that cultivation of tomatoes is difficult, tomatoes are

then vulnerable to diseases due to an excessive amount of rainwater. Despite this, these farmers indicate they

can cultivate tomatoes in the rainy season and sell the products for a good price.

[F3] The market for tomatoes is best from March-April-May, these are the best marketing days to get a

high price for your product. You can get about 5500 Kes for one sanduku of tomatoes. In the rainy season

I grow a small part with tomatoes close to the lake, the slope is good, so the water is drained very well.

I can sell these tomatoes for a good price.

Another example of a marketing strategy is a farmer is selling the production of his kales to two schools in close

proximity. These secondary boarding schools have a stable and year round demand for kales, and therefore offer

a secure and year round sales market for the farmer.

In general the established farmers have gone through a process of innovation, finding new market solutions,

expanding their land and acquiring and utilizing improved instruments. But also their socio-economic position

and their place in community makes that they are termed established farmers. Currently they are in a stage of

farming where they can use the things they have and there is no such need any more for innovation. The land is

available to them and production standards have increased, now the farmers can continue the chosen path and

prepare for the future.

5.2 INNOVATORS

Box 3 Case of an innovator

Steven – classified as ‘innovator’

Steven is a young farmer of the age of 27 who is farming since this year, 2014. This season is the first time that he is cultivating watermelon on a field of two acres in Kamariga. The land is from an uncle of him, he can use it for free. He has gone to college in water technology and resources management, after his diploma he decided to do farming first.

A friend of Steven is helping him with weeding on the field Steven is encountered for the first time. He always works himself, he can get help from friends, and normally family does not help on the farm. He is committed to his production and spends a lot of time on his field to scare the animals away.

Steven has his own pump and grows watermelon on a relative large scale in the area, his field is two acres. The pump he owns is a Huawei of 7,0 hp. Because the land is a bit further away this type of pump is needed,


36

and the delivery pipes are constructed underground. Because of the high discharge of this pump he can go further uphill and do irrigation in a relative short time; time is the critical factor for him. He argues that a 5,5 hp petrol pump can also bring the water to the same point, but those pumps will give the water at a lower discharge. In buying the pump Steven has considered many aspects that determine the quality of the pump, the discharge, fuel consumption, suction height, distance ratio and inlet- and outlet sizes.

Steven indicates that a good quality product is obtained by maintaining the crops well, he uses fertilizers, pesticides and other high-level inputs. You have to control the diseases and spray the crops in order to keep them healthy. He bought seeds in Kisumu, because the capacity he wanted was only available in Kisumu, the one of 250 grams. Steven is also focused on the market and on new products with high demand, he argues that the market is ready for new products and the profit margin will be higher compared to tomatoes and kales. Watermelon, and especially strawberry are unique products, only a few or no other people cultivate them, this is a gap in the market. In addition to this he also wants to look for a supermarket to sell the watermelons to, this will give him a good price and a stable market. In two years’ time he wants to grow strawberries on a large scale. He wants to move to larger fields further away, on which he can cultivate for a longer time to expand his farm.

The eight farmers that are labelled as innovators share that they are looking for new strategies in farming. Their

age varies from 27 to 45, and they have either recently started farming for a few years, or have been farming up

to 10 years. They show a ferocious attitude in farming and in expanding their business and looking for profit

maximization. This group of farmers has a divergent amount of land and instruments, but they are all looking for

new opportunities and aim to develop better farming strategies and are therefore termed innovators.

These farmers all have in common that they have the objective to find new and improved crops and varieties for

their horticulture production. Either they diversify and introduce new crops such as capsicum and watermelon,

or they try to find a better variety of crops that they already cultivate. In trying different crops the farmers

indicate that they are looking for a crop which has market potential, and look for a gap in the market. Capsicum

and watermelon are mentioned as such newly introduced cash crops. One farmer below explains why he

switched to watermelon.

[F6] At the start of farming I did tomatoes, but too many people have started doing this. So there is too

much supply, which is why I shifted to watermelon. Now more people are joining with me, so next

season I again want to switch to capsicum. I do not want the other farmers to join me in what I am

growing. Then I will start a next crop again, I will create my own market.

They base their choice of growing watermelon on the unicity of the crop, with only limited production the

demand and price will be high they reason. They indicate the importance of the market, and are pro-active in

looking for market potential to sell new crops at a good price. Marketing can sometimes be a problem, at local

markets it is often hard to sell the products due to the high supply resulting in low demand and high price

fluctuations. Therefore they are also looking for urban markets and other customers to sell their products to. In

addition to trying different types of crops, farmers can also improve their production of existing cash crops in the

area. As tomatoes being the most rewarding cash crop in the area, the farmers try to find better varieties of

hybrid tomatoes. Through trial and error and experimenting with new varieties they can find a variety they think

is best in its quality, production and suitability to sell at the market.

[F12] Normally I use hybrids, I use Dani F1, because it has an early maturity, a high yield and you can

store it longer, up to 2 weeks. I have tried many varieties, but have come to choose this one based on

the reasons mentioned.

The price of hybrid seeds is much higher compared to local seeds, e.g. the price of 50 gram of Rambo F1 is 12.500

Kes and 50 gram of local seeds is 850 Kes. The costs of hybrids is a challenge to farmers, but they indicate that

the outputs are also much higher for hybrids compared to local varieties. Besides the use of high inputs like


37

hybrids, fertilizers and pesticides, they also try to upgrade on instruments like ploughing- and irrigation means.

According to the farmers this is needed in order to improve their farming business. Among the innovators, 7 out

of 8 farmers own their own petrol pump, and one uses a group pump to which he has direct access. Most of

them have chosen to buy a petrol pump in order to expand their farming and enlarge their production. Due to

the workload that comes with a larger farm the pump is needed to reduce time and energy for the operation of

irrigation. They indicate they want a pump for themselves to dictate their own working time and individually plan

their farming strategy. But they are also critical on this type of irrigation with regard to its effect on the crops,

and the costs of operation. They express the will to change to other ‘modern’ types of irrigation in the future.

Another effect of farm expansion and increased workload is the increased labour demand. The farmers do most

work themselves, but in busy times casual labour is often hired. Preferably skilled labour is hired, but this is

difficult to find, therefore farmers prioritise and choose to outsource specific tasks. Furthermore the financial

aspect is also of great importance in hiring labour as the following farmer explains.

[F5] You have to value everything, estimate how much it costs when you let someone else work. You

must know if it brings you profit or that you might loose from it. Sometimes you will have to hire

someone to work, you cannot cultivate the whole land by yourself.

In short these farmers can be seen as the ones who are investing in farming and are taking a pro-active strategy

in experimenting with different crops and seeds in order to achieve profit maximization. They are willing to take

risks which can be recognized in cultivating new crops for which the market demand was not secure. They are

aimed at improving their farming business, although they also invest in jobs outside farming like business and

keeping cattle and poultry. These other jobs are mainly considered as a preparation for the future when they

become ‘too old’ for farming. First of all farming is their economic activity and they are eager to improve their

business strategy and try to increase their levels of production and profit.

5.3 DIVERSIFIERS

Box 4 Case of a diversifier

Martin – classified as ‘diversifier’

Martin is a 40 year old farmer and he has a farming field in Kochilo, where he has been farming for 12 years. Together with his wife and 6 school-going children he lives in Kagwa near the Makasembo school, less than 3 kilometres from his field in Kochilo.

Before going into farming he was employed, but this was not ‘comfortable’ to him he says. With the little he had he decided to start farming. Growing up in a farming family cultivating rice and sugarcane he already has farming experience. He had some relatives in Kochilo, and saw that this area was good for agriculture, because of the type of soil. Furthermore it was easier for him to find land in Kochilo compared to his home area. The locals around are fishermen and Martin says that these people do not like farming, and do not know how to use the land. He indicates that with farming you have to wait, it is not like fishing. When the locals see his harvest they want to copy form him he says. Martin is selling his tomatoes at the local markets, the people here are ready to buy because of the fishing money.

Together with his wife, Martin also owns a shop in Kamariga centre, they sell a wide range of products in a little store. Martin combines his farming activities with the work in the shop, his wife also works in the shop, but many activities are done by himself.

Martin has bought his own pump, a Tiger, not the best brand he acknowledges. However, this type was cheap, and he just wanted something to help him, even if it would not last. Martin is leasing the land and does not want to invest in expensive material, because he does not know when the owner wants his land back. The money made from the field produce now can also be invested in the shop and animals at home. He also owns a motorbike, with this he can go to Kisumu to make purchases for the shop.


38

The main issue of concern for Martin is time, due to his activities both on the field and in the shop, his time is squeezed. Currently he is the only one using his petrol pump, he has no time to rent it to other people, and besides this he does not want others to spoil his machine. During the time of research Martin was often occupied in the shop due to sickness of his wife and he had some difficulties with the land owner on top of this. His latest harvest failed due to these problems and for the next season he will cultivate tomatoes on a different field.

Five farmers are typified as diversifiers and they are characterized by their focus on other types of income

sources. They alternate their farming activities with other jobs such as business and animal keeping. The principle

is that farming money is used to invest in the other job, and investment capacity can be gained. The farmers are

within an age range of 26 to 40 and cultivate a land size of 1 acre or less. The farmers who are classified as

diversifiers can also introduce new crops for cultivation, but their logic often differs from that of the innovators,

as the reasoning of the farmer below shows.

[LB] Why do you cultivate watermelon?

[F16] Kales and tomatoes need much commitment, it is labour intensive. Watermelon is not as labour

intensive, and watermelons do not require much water.

It can be said that the diversifiers have a broader focus than only farming. Besides farming they also focus on

different types of income sources such as fishing, riding for the Boda Boda5 Company, business, poultry and cattle

keeping. Nicholas explains how the farming money has helped him in the purchase of poultry and cattle.

[F14] When I am not at the farm I am looking after cattle. I have sheep, cows and hens at home. That is

also income for me, I like them both. I got money from the farm to buy sheep and hens, it is a

combination.

The profit these farmers make from their farm produce is not only used as investment capacity on the farm.

Investment is spread to different jobs which can enlarge their income. The farmers do indicate they like to work

on the farm and try to enlarge their farming business. While they are aiming to increase their financial capacity

there are some challenges in farming that they have to cope. One is the uncertainty that comes with the hiring

of land, this puts them in a delicate position. Not knowing when the owner wants his land back results in a

strategy which is risk averse in investing in farming material. This can also be seen as a reason for farmers to

decide to invest in other jobs besides farming. In farming it is uncertain for them if their investment will be worth

it on the long term due to insecurity regarding land in this case. Another challenge is market volatility which

results in market insecurity and vulnerability. The diversifiers mainly go to the local markets or they sell at the

farm gate, they indicate that it is difficult for them to sell their produce. Especially the variation in price due to

high supply at the local markets challenges them. Despite a recognition of this problem urban markets are not

accessed.

Petrol pump access is obtained by these farmers, four out of five farmers own a petrol pump, and one farmer is

the caretaker of a petrol pump. For ploughing mainly oxen are rented, although also a tractor can be hired when

a good tilt is needed and money is available. Choices are made between on-farm and off-farm investments by

these farmers. Often petrol pumps are obtained because it can help them to reduce workload and safe time,

which is an important issue when multiple jobs are combined. In other cases investment is done in another job,

and the benefits and drawbacks are outweighed in perspective of income generation.

5 The Boda Boda Company is a means for public transportation. It is mostly done by young people who

transport people on motorbikes.


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Diversifiers strategize their farming business with the objective of profit maximization in combination with

investing in different sources of income. Reasons to diversify in jobs are insecurity around land and markets.

Therefore, they set different priorities and do not merely focus on farming. For them it is key to increase their

farming income in order to invest in another economic activity. Time and work efficiency therefore are two key

aspects, in this way they can reduce the farm workload, and increase production and income. Through this more

time and money is available for another job and they can develop this economic activity. Decisions are therefore

based on what can render most profit in a short time.

5.4 STARTERS

Box 5 Case of a starter

Willis – Classified as ‘starter’

Willis is 49 years old and is doing horticulture since 3 years, from 2011 onwards, before he was doing peasant farming for a long time. The reason why he started farming was his difficult financial situation, the payment of school fees and other livelihood investments became problematic. The land in Obenge is inherited from his father, on ¼ acre he produces tomatoes and kales. And on the ¾ acre uphill he grows maize, beans and millet in the rainy season. He acknowledges that he has a small farm, it is only ¼ acre, so the profit for him is not enough, but it can help. His first year was very difficult and he made a loss, in the second season he got a profit of 5000 Kes. Currently he is in his third season and he is having problems with a small caterpillar that has decreased his production. This has resulted in not being able to pay the school fees for his daughter.

Willis is using local varieties, he knows that the hybrids are better, but this is too expensive. He mainly sells at the farm gate, people can come to the field at harvest time to buy when there is demand. Otherwise he brings it to local markets around. Labour is an important issue for Willis, the price of labour is limiting him in hiring labour. Willis indicates that most of the labour is done by himself, only for the transplanting he needs assistance of one man to do the irrigation with a petrol pump. When you hire workers they need money, if you don’t have the money you have to do it yourself he explains. Willis does not mention that family helps him with the labour on the field. He also did the ploughing himself, he has been digging with a jembe for one week. Willis himself explains what this was like.

[Willis] It was a marathon job, but I did it all myself. I carry the food and drink with me to the field early in the morning, and then stay at the field the whole day and dig. Everything I do it myself. Next time I think I will use the oxen and plough, it really was a marathon job and I think it made me sick. It will be better to not do this by myself no more the next time.

Another thing that comes at a cost is the petrol pump which Willis wants to obtain for himself as he explains below. But his finance restricts him from buying.

[Willis] It is good to have the machine, it can make work easy. When I get the machine I will be happy, I can even dance. I can work too much for it. I had a dream to get a machine and it knocked me down.

Finance is a limiting factor for Willis, he mentions however that you need to buy the right inputs in order to do well in farming. Besides applying irrigation, you can automatically do well if you spray with pesticides, use fertilizers and chemicals. But these inputs come at a price, this is what makes it difficult to him. His ambition for the future is to expand in farming, to do horticulture on the land more uphill. He needs to expand to get more money, so his children can go to school. Therefore he needs a machine to bring the water to his field further uphill. He wants a Honda, a Koshin or Dashin, of 55.000 Kes. These are good machines according to Willis, but the money is the problem for him.

Finally the group of starters is discussed, this farming style consists of 10 farmers. In comparison to other farming

styles they are relatively young, half of them being under 25, and others varying in age the oldest being 49. The

challenges shared by the starters are their financial limitations, land competition and marketing. The starters are

risk-averse and strategize their business in order to cope with their challenges and limitations. They have a

relatively small business with land sizes mostly being ¼ - ½ acre, and their farm production is not enough to


40

sustain. These farmers therefore have other sources of income in addition to farming, mainly fishing is done in

order to supplement their income. In contrast to the diversifiers, the other income source, the money from

fishing, is used to invest in farming as the farmer below explains.

[F21] I also do fishing as substitute sometimes when I need money. The problem is to get enough capital

for farming, you need inputs for farming and then you can sustain. If you do not have enough capital,

you cannot pay for the water, the fertilizers, spraying, seeds etc. Then your plants will not do well.

Besides additional income sources, also working in partnerships and groups are strategies to provide solutions

for limited means. In partnerships the investment costs of farming can be shared, especially regarding land,

instruments and labour. Partnerships are not reserved for this group of farmers, although in this group it appears

a purposeful approach to overcome restrictions and challenges in farming. In this farming styles there are also

two farmers in their early 20’s who work on their fathers’ farm. For the labour demand on the farm a partnership

is a direct solution to handle the workload and less labour has to be hired. Also friends- and family labour is of

importance in their labour organization. In addition to this sometimes hired labour is still necessary. The

individual farmers have to prioritise the work on the field and are often more dependent on family- and friends

labour. Money is a key driver to these farmers in the decision-making on hiring labour, below a farmer explains

his reasoning.

[F22] Sometimes a worker is needed, but we lack money, it is expensive to hire labour. When planting is

done people are hired, this is a lot of work, and it has to be done in one day.

The purchase of instruments and inputs is also challenging for these farmers which impacts their strategies.

Instruments like the oxen-drawn-plough and petrol pumps can often be hired or borrowed. This places them in

a dependent position and farmers experience that this limits them in their activities. Farmers working in

partnerships can share the costs and together buy a pump. A collaborative purchase of a pump also gives them

the possibility to rent it out to other farmers as an additional source of income. Despite the overall good access

to use petrol pumps, they all rather want to have their own pump.

For inputs some can use hybrids and some use local varieties or a combination of both. The farmers try to invest

in higher inputs in order to gain higher output from their land. Some diversify their inputs and choose for local

varieties when the capital is insufficient to buy hybrids. These farmers want to work with high level inputs in

order to render higher outputs. But the problem is that lack of capital limits them in obtaining high level inputs.

This directly impacts production and profit, although he knows what can be done to improve production.

[F21] I still use local varieties, because hybrids are too expensive. Sometimes you need more cash for

your inputs, you are failing with your production and you know why. But seeds cannot be shared in the

group, you have to buy and use them individually.

Finally these farmers do not have the means to transport their produce to urban markets and are therefore

depend on local markets. These local markets are not stable, there is much variation in demand and there are

high price fluctuations over time. Most of the farmers sell at the farm gate or at local markets, which puts them

in a vulnerable position when demand is high and prices are low.

In general individuality and being able to independently practice farming is seen as a great good by these farmers.

But often their limited means forces them to hire e.g. petrol pumps, which makes them dependent on others,

and limited market access also puts them in a vulnerable position. Therefore some farmers choose to work in a

partnership from a pragmatic reasoning. In this way they need less capital investment and can slowly expand

their business. Other farmers need to do other jobs to supplement their income and invest in their farming

business. The experienced limitations are the driving force in their strategies.


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5.5 CONCLUSION

As a conclusion on this chapter the

farming styles are placed in the space of

manoeuvre involving technology supply

and market relations. Figure 7 shows the

place of the four farming styles in this

space. The supply of technology involves

the amount of technology and whether

this is leading in farmers’ choices in use,

and also the ability to craft this. The

relations with markets indicate whether

there is low interconnection with the

market or high. Markets include input,

output and labour and deals with the

dependency of farmers on these markets.

In the figure it can be seen that the starters have weak ties both with technology supply and market relations.

This is because of their limited means and capacity, therefore they cannot acquire high level technology, and

high level of inputs, outputs and labour. Due to a lack of ownership they need to find other ways to access

technology, and therefore apply craft due to those limitations. Especially through hiring they can gain access to

petrol pumps and they incorporate this in their strategies. The diversifiers are in the middle of the figure, they

are interconnected both with technology and markets but are not dependent on them due to their diversification

in occupation. The other sources of income makes that neither new technology or craftsmanship is needed, they

moreover look for a quick and easy way to make money. In the same light also the markets are less important to

them, because they do not fully depend on their sales of farm produce. The innovators are situated on the right

side in the middle of the vertical axis. They actively search for suitable petrol pumps for their strategies and

strongly focus on improvement of production through a high level of instruments. Also market relations are very

important because for profit maximization they focus on a high level of inputs to render high outputs and

maximize profit. They trust new technologies to bring them forward in farming, but they also apply craftsmanship

to fine-tune petrol pump technology for their farm. The established farmers also highly depend on markets,

because their marketing strategies determines their farming profitability. Besides this, they do not experience

the technology as normative, but they rather have the freedom to choose the type of technology they like best

and do not merely follow what is supplied. They can craft petrol pumps to their wish and are not primarily led by

technology.

Different farming styles interact with each other and it suggests a possible transformation from starting farmers

to established farmers. Many farmers indicate that they are, or have been in a transition from small scale and

low input farming, to large scale farming with high inputs, upgrade on instruments, and higher outputs. The

starters are looking for ways to upgrade their farming and therefore need to increase their investment capital.

From necessity they partner up or find other sources of income in order to invest in farming. The diversifiers also

wish to upgrade on farming; this is not their central focus, but rather a combined effort with other jobs. They see

farming as a temporal activity, and therefore do not want to transform to higher levels of farming but rather

switch to a different economic activity. The innovators use their capital to improve their farming business, this is

their main focus. They are pro-actively looking for opportunities to increase production, and in their strategies

technology supply and market relations are leading. The established farmers have a position in which they have

the liberty to do it their way. Their secure position is based on land inheritance, socio-economic position and

long experience. It is questionable whether the innovators can transform to the established farmers, because of

their cultural and socio-economic backlog. Moreover it can be said that upgrade in farming is desired mainly by

Figure 7 Space of manoeuvre with the four farming styles


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the starters and the innovators, but this does not necessarily lead to a transformation to a different farming style.

In addition to this the farming styles that are identified entail more than their characteristics of horticulture

production, also the socio-economic position within a community are part of a farming style.

The different farming styles show a wide variety of strategies taken by farmers, the practice of horticultural

production is very diverse and heterogeneous. The internal logics and notions form the foundation of these

strategies and are derived from a wide socio-economic, cultural and personal background. Also capacity and

challenges of farmers, their experience and financial means, are determinant factors in farming strategies.

Farmers distinguish themselves through their level of inputs and instruments, the organization of labour,

marketing strategies and their degree of dependency. Both dependency on technology supply and market

relations, as well as dependency on other farmers in case of hiring and borrowing instruments and land. In

general farmers adhere a strong value to individuality and independency. This means they like to own their land

and resources, and their own instruments, because individual ownership enables them to dictate their own

planning, budget, timing and work. Petrol pumps offer farmers a possibility to expand their farming and at the

same time do this individually with limited time and effort. This is the point of departure for the next chapter.

Having illuminated a heterogeneity in farming styles, now the FSC will function as a frame to analyse

heterogeneity in the appropriation and utilization of petrol pumps.

Chapter 6 Appropriation and utilization of petrol pumps

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CHAPTER 6 APPROPRIATION AND UTILIZATION OF PETROL PUMPS

The picture shows a farmer who is doing priming in preparation for field application with his petrol pump.

Sub-question 3: How do farmers use petrol pumps, and how do they negotiate over the meaning of

petrol pumps?

In this chapter the objective is to provide understanding in how farmers experience petrol pumps. In former

chapters the spread of petrol pumps has been highlighted in the context of commercialized horticulture. In

addition the FSC has provided insight in the diverse farming strategies of production organization. This chapter

makes the link to the use of irrigation technology interconnected with heterogeneity in farming. Multi-

functionality of petrol pumps are explained in relation to different farming styles. And furthermore sets of

meanings adhered to petrol pumps and farmers negotiating capacity are discussed.

Irrigation technology concerns petrol pumps themselves, and also pipes, petrol and means of application are

taken into account. It is seen as a composition, a set of elements combining social and technical aspects of petrol

pump irrigation. It is about the material of petrol pumps, and also about the practices of use, therefore this is

termed ‘petrol pump use practices’. For not only a petrol pump is part of the co-construction, but also other

irrigation equipment and the application methods construct and pose meaning on a petrol pump. Whereas a

petrol pump can be seen as a ‘black box’ on which farmers have little negotiating capacity, they do differently

use petrol pumps and seek a different balance. The FSC is used to frame the diversity in the appropriation and

utilization of petrol pumps.

First characteristics of petrol pumps and related equipment are explained. Following on this multi-functionality

in on-field application is discussed. Furthermore ownership and renting practices are discussed, which shed light

on the wider farming practice in which petrol pumps play a role. Moreover this chapter works towards a

discussion of how petrol pumps are experienced by farmers from different farming styles. The different sets of

meanings of farmers lead to a multi-functionality in appropriation, utilization and negotiation over petrol pumps.


44

6.1 PETROL PUMP CHARACTE RISTICS

In this section the characteristics of petrol pumps are discussed in order to gain insight in their design and

functioning. These aspects are both pump specific features, and also relate to the use of pipes and petrol. These

aspects include the (1) make and country of origin, (2) capacity, (3) durability, (4) discharge, efficiency and fuel

consumption, and (5) maintenance. In annex 7 a brief overview is provided in which characteristics of petrol

pump use practices are shown. The figure below shows a typical portable petrol pump used in the case-study

area.

Figure 8 Typical portable petrol pump

6.1.1 MAKE AND COUNTRY OF ORIGIN

First the make of a petrol pump is of great importance for farmers in the area, with an overwhelming preference

for products from Japan or Western countries. Negative connotations were prevalent regarding petrol pumps

manufactured in China, and this negativity actually dealt with all products made in China. The farmers expressed

their view that in Japan good products are made. In contrast Chinese companies imitate these famous brands,

or makes products of low quality in their opinion. There seems to be resistance to buy cheaper Chinese products

and Honda is hailed as the best petrol pump, as the following farmers express.

[F11] Everything from China I do not want.

[F21] People believe that the things from Japan are the best, they are reliable and work well. There are

no things from the EU available here in Kenya, so they only know Honda is good so far.

[F8] It is said to be the best quality. I have not used other types so I cannot say. But I have been told,

and I believe that Honda is the best.

The Honda pumps are said to be the best petrol pumps around, they are in the market for a long time, durable

and spare parts are available in the market. Moreover the name and image of Honda is a very important aspect,

this name is well-known and has proved to be reliable for a long time. In the shops where petrol pumps are sold

the salesmen also recognize this preference for Honda. On average the Honda petrol pumps are double in price

compared to the cheaper Chinese makes. The original Honda of 5,5 hp was sold around 40-50.000 Kes, while a

Chinese model would cost around 25.000 Kes. Although Honda petrol pumps are high in price, they are preferred

over other (cheaper) makes.

Besides the Honda, there are many different types of pumps in use. The makes from China are the Tiger, Fujimax,

Shano and Huawei, the Briggs & Stratton is from the USA and the Robin is also from Japan. Within the Honda the

Dashin and Koshin types are distinguished and mentioned as the best types of petrol pumps. Also fake pumps


45

are produced in China, these have a Honda sticker, but do not have the same features as the original Honda.

Farmers indicate that it is difficult to find out whether a pump is original or not.

6.1.2 CAPACITY

Secondly the capacity is an important characteristic of petrol pumps. The pumps used by farmers in the area are

in general centrifugal pumps. The engine of a petrol pump delivers the power to convert kinetic energy, the

impeller pushes out the water by means of centrifugal force. Head can be increased by speeding up of the

impeller and through this the water is being pumped outwards. The capacity of the petrol pumps is measured in

cubic meters per hour (m3/hr.). The pumps with a high capacity need a wide impeller, because the amount of

discharge that is pumped is mainly determined by the impeller width and the shaft speed (McNally, 2015).

Figure 9 shows the characteristics written

on a 5,5 hp Honda petrol pump. A 5,5 hp

Honda is the most prevalent petrol pump in

the case-study area. As explained before

the Honda is a popular pump for several

reasons, and the 5,5 hp is the one which is

widely available in the market and used

most by farmers. Farmers consider the

capacity of 5,5 hp adequate for their field

application and they have seen this pump

functioning well at other farms around.

Other characteristics written on the pump

are discussed in the remainder of this

section.

The capacity of petrol pumps can also be linked to the make of a pump. The effective capacity of petrol pumps

are said to differ per make. With a high capacity pump the discharge will also be higher, this provides an

advantage for the farmer for farming expansion and time management. More farmers are looking for fields that

are further away from the lake shore due to land competition. Besides the need for a higher capacity pump, also

more pipes are needed to reach that far. Farmers indicate that Chinese makes with a 5,5 hp engine, do not have

the same power as the original Honda, this is also expressed by the farmer below.

[F4] They say that a 3,7Hp from Japan is almost equal to a 5,5Hp from China. The seller was saying that

the efficiency is almost the same. If you take the 3,7Hp from japan and the 5,5Hp from India, the rate,

the output, and the discharge are the same. But the ones from Japan are more durable than from China

and India.

6.1.3 DURABILITY

A third aspect of petrol pumps deals with durability, this concerns how long the petrol pump endures, and can

remain its capacity. It is often indicated as the time that a pump can ‘last’, how it can function in the same way

over a long period of time. Durability has a close relation with reliability, when a pump can endure over time it

is often experienced as a reliable pump. Again there is the issue of Japan vs. China, whereas the Honda is

considered a durable product, the China types are considered to break easily and not lasting. The lifespan of the

Honda is longer and this would also explain why its price is higher. A durable pump can maintain its power and

does not easily break down. Below it is expressed why the Honda is considered durable.

Figure 9 Example of characteristics written on the petrol pump


46

[F17]] It is durable, it is made with hard gears. It is durable in power, it maintains the Hp.

[F12] The Honda was good, it lasts up to 12 years, and it is still good. We only changed the pistol rings

and the valves, inside the machine we did not tamper anything. The Honda therefore we say is good,

you only replace those things and it lasts well, it is old, but still very powerful.

[K17] For the Honda, if you maintain it well, it can last for 15-20 years, without special repair, only the

ordinary services. The China types are not durable, they can maybe last up to 10 years if you maintain

them well, but some get problems very quickly.

6.1.4 DISCHARGE, EFFICIENCY AND FUEL CONSUMPTION

The farmers have also indicated that there are differences in drum sizes and the sizes of the inlet and outlet.

Differences in drum size relate to the capacity and discharge of a pump, the bigger the drum, the more water

can flow through and be delivered at the field. The sizes of the drum and those of the inlet and outlet correspond

with each other. And over time the inlet and outlet sizes have changed from 1,5”6 to 3”. Bigger inlet and outlet

sizes make it easier for the machine to push the water, because the water can flow more smoothly. In addition

to this pumps can have a different balance in head and discharge. In case of a flat land a type with high discharge

and low head is more suitable, and otherwise a pump with low discharge and high head can be more appropriate.

Another characteristic is efficiency, this is explained as to what extent the power going into the pump is equal to

the out coming power. Also the smoothness of the pump in the sense of vibration of the pump shaft can define

the efficiency, small vibration7 signifies high efficiency (Petrowiki, 2015). The farmer below explains how he sees

efficiency and how this is of importance for him in irrigation practice.

[F7] Efficiency that is the ability to run smoothly, without any interference, how efficient it is. If the

pump is not efficient, you will not reach your target, then I will get less quantity of water.

When it comes to efficiency farmers often also refer to fuel consumption. They indicate that good makes of

petrol pumps also have lower fuel consumption. Key informants state that the differences in fuel consumption

between petrol pumps is marginal. It can matter about 1-1 ½ L of fuel difference on 4-5 hours of irrigation.

Moreover farmers and key informants indicate that fuel consumption is related to proper pump maintenance

and speed of operation.

6.1.5 MAINTENANCE

Maintenance involves the general maintenance that can be done by farmers themselves, and service done by

mechanics. Normal maintenance consists of changing oil, changing the plugs, cleaning the carburettor and outer

parts of the machine. Maintenance is considered a key aspect in the functioning of petrol pumps. Easy pump

maintenance is experienced as beneficial, and indicates the quality of a pump. In case of service work or a

breakdown the petrol pump can be taken to a mechanic. Problems with the pump are mainly said to arise due

to bad management, sometimes maintenance can be neglected and this can impact the pump in a negative

manner.

6 The designation for the measuring unit of inch is “, which is 2,54 centimetre.

7 A local engineer adds that you can tell if a machine is good by the sound. An original Honda is silent and doesn’t

vibrate much, in contrast to China types. This indicates a good dynamic balance, and smoothness of a machine.


47

Some common problems indicated by a local engineer

are problems with the carburettor settings, the plug

and suction mechanisms. Debris in the water can get

stuck inside the pump which can cause problems,

Figure 10 shows how debris can interfere with the

drum. In general he considers fuel consumption as a

first indicator for petrol pump deficiencies. Farmers

have experience with the use of petrol pumps and

normally know when something is wrong, they hear it

from the sound or notice the increase in fuel

consumption. Mechanics are currently available

around and also spare parts can be obtained in nearby

places. A local engineer emphasises the importance of

maintenance and availability of spare parts for petrol

pumps.

[K7] The spare parts are ready available in store, for machinery the spare is very critical. When things

are settled in the market for some time, the people have confidence in them. The critical thing is

reliability, it is important that something is known in the market, that farmers have used it before and

for the servicing. Because in terms of technology, most mechanics around can do it, they have

experience now with the motorbikes.

Also the portable nature of the pump is an important aspect to take into account. This portability results in two

benefits, the first is that it can improve the security. Because the pump is portable farmers can easily store the

pump in a safe place when it is not in use. Secondly the petrol pump is easy to carry to different fields, it is not

fixed and therefore multiple farmers can share one pump, and one farmer can move the pump to different fields.

This explanation and discussion of petrol pump characteristics shows that there are many features in the design

of the petrol pump that play a role in its functioning as irrigation technology. Mainly durability and reliability are

considered pivotal aspects that determine the quality of a petrol pump. When farmers are familiar, and have

positive experience with a type of pump they have more trust in it functioning. In general farmers give meaning

to petrol pumps based on image, characteristics and maintenance aspects. Whereas a petrol pump itself can be

considered a black box, there is room for adjustment when it comes to the operation of the pump. Therefore in

the next sections methods of application, and renting practices are discussed to gain insight in the use practices

of petrol pumps.

6.2 APPLICATION

This section focusses on a shift from manual to mechanic means of irrigation. The way how water application is

taking place is discussed, based on the knowledge of petrol pump characteristics. First the consequences of the

transformation to mechanized irrigation are discussed in relation to manual methods of irrigation. And

furthermore furrow and overhead application are highlighted being the main application methods in use.

6.2.1 FROM MANUAL TO MECHANIZED IRRIGATION

The farmers who are nowadays involved in horticulture indicate that they started small and used manual bucket

irrigation in their early days of farming. Utilization of bucket irrigation mostly lasted for one to two years, and

only a few farmers have used a treadle pump as an in-between step before moving to the petrol pump. A number

of farmers who have started less than two years ago often started with using petrol pumps. The upgrade in

machinery is seen as a logical consequence to the upgrade in farming. Manual irrigation is often referred to by

Figure 10 Debris in the centrifugal part of the drum


48

farmers as heavy, tiresome and difficult. In contrast mechanized irrigation gives them ‘easy work’. The farmers

needed something to help them with the increased workload on the farm due to expansion. With manual types

of irrigation only a small portion of crops can be sufficiently irrigated, therefore a shift was needed to enable

irrigation on an increased area of cultivation as indicated below.

[F10] At the time of bucket irrigation you could only have a very small portion of land close to the lake.

Maybe you could do 200 plants, not more than 100m from the water source. And you had to water

every day, now you can even have 3 portions of land and be able to cultivate with irrigation.

For the farmers the biggest change in methods of application is the dimension of time and scale. With a petrol

pump they can irrigate a bigger area in less time, and moreover the crops can get sufficient water. The operation

of the pump is also considered to be easy and they learn from experience. A petrol pump is put down at the

waterside, they connect the suction head and the pipes and then the engine can be started. The water is

delivered on the field and the farmer can hold a pipe or a hose and water the crops. Mechanized irrigation saves

farmers time and energy, but it also imposes a change on how water is applied to the crops. With the buckets a

small amount of water is applied frequently, and this is applied directly to the stem of the plant. With a petrol

pump a large amount of water is applied in once and less frequently, and this is applied in furrows or with

overhead. The water is retained in the soil for a longer time, and the crop roots extract the water from the soil.

Many farmers react that the plants do well with the furrows, but some farmers also acknowledge that this change

from manual to mechanized irrigation is not always better for the crops as the following farmer explains.

[F18] With the pump, on the first day you pour water to let it stay for more days, it will now develop

stress with the plant for a few hours, because there is too much water. The stress will last for about 4

hours, during the time of watering. If you use the buckets, than the plant can take up the water easily,

with buckets you balance.

The advantage of petrol pumps in bringing a large amount of water to the plants in a short time, can also result

in negative consequences for the plant. It can cause water stress for the time in which the plant experiences an

excess of water. Besides this, water wastage and leaching of nutrients are seen as challenges. But more

importantly the advantage is that now the crops can get enough water. Water deficiency due to manual irrigation

is reversed with the use of petrol pumps. The plant now can get water in plenty, but less frequent.

The irrigation interval has increased and the frequency and time of irrigation have decreased due to a shift to

petrol pump irrigation. In general irrigation with a petrol pump is done once a week, and with a dry spell once in

every 3-4 days. The weather conditions make it difficult for the farmers, not knowing when the rains to come.

Because water damage could occur when irrigation is taking place just before a rainfall event. The irrigation time

primarily depends on the area of cultivation, the distance to the water source, the size of the crops and on the

evapotranspiration. Furthermore farmers can adjust the speed of the pump. In this case they can ‘slow down’

the discharge of water to make sure that the water is applied in a smaller amount. In general the farmers do not

know the amount of water they apply on the field and are not familiar with the crop water requirements. Water

application therefore is sometimes seen as a challenge, because farmers do not have the necessary information

on parameters like the field capacity and the wilting point. Farmers have gained experience by doing, and adjust

irrigation- frequency and amount for different stages in production. And due to the small portable pumps they

are using, they are flexible in their application methods. Whereas merits can be recognized of increased irrigation

interval, petrol pumps are mainly beneficial to farmers in terms of time management and sufficient water

application for a larger area of cultivation.


49

6.2.2 FURROW & OVERHEAD IRRIGATION

The methods of application with the use of petrol pumps have also changed, currently furrow and overhead

irrigation is used. The farmers indicate that overhead irrigation can cause bacterial effects due to water standing

on tomato leafs. Another reason why farmers think that overhead is not a suitable way of irrigation is because

then the top soil will flow away with the water, this can result in a loss of soil fertility and the soil can become

bare. Some farmers use the method of overhead application for crops other than tomatoes, and for tomatoes it

can be used before the crops reach knee-height.

Furrow irrigation is preferably used by farmers, especially in tomato production. Figure 11 and Figure 12 give an

impression of how furrow irrigation takes place. Farmers dig furrows before, and during irrigation they fill them

with water. The crop roots on the ridges can absorb the water slowly, because the moisture can be retained in

the soil for a longer time. A furrow can be adjusted in depth to account for the different stages of growth and

the crop water requirements. The furrows are also beneficial in a practical point of view, because they provide

pathways, for spraying and applying fertilizer.

The farmers have adjusted their ways of application and experience furrow irrigation as a suitable method,

although they also see the limitations. Especially with regard to time management they prefer fixed systems on

the field. A number of key informants is more critical on furrow application, they moreover indicate that farmers

lack necessary knowledge on crop water requirements. They say that currently the application amounts and

frequency are not optimal, which impacts production due to diseases and water stress8. In their perspective more

knowledge on soil and crop characteristics can improve the methods of application, and also improve production.

Both farmers and key informants recognize the benefits and merits of furrow application. In general furrows are

considered a relatively efficient water application method, because of the water retention capacity of the soil

and type of crops. Besides this, there is a lack of financial capital and knowledge to move to different application

technologies in irrigation. Therefore furrow application is currently regarded as the best method for farmers.

6.3 OWNERSHIP AND RENTING PRACTICES

As is discussed before petrol pumps are currently a widespread irrigation technology. In this section the dynamic

mechanisms around ownership regarding how farmers appropriate and access petrol pumps is discussed.

8 [K3] By the method of flooding most water is retained at the soil surface. With this too large amount of moisture

it can cause several diseases, like blight and yellowing of the lower leafs.

Figure 12 Example of a furrow system Figure 11 Example of furrow irrigation in practice


50

Ownership of a pump is the case for a majority of farmers, 14 out of 27 farmers individually own a petrol pump.

The others either share a pump with a partner, or they hire or borrow from other farmers or from a group. The

small petrol pumps are portable, and therefore more farmers can use the same pump on their own field.

Farmers normally start from a position in which they either hire of borrow a pump before they can obtain full

ownership. Individual ownership is preferred by all members, although there can be financial limitations for a

number of farmers. Borrowing of a petrol pump occurs in rare cases, in which farmers often refer to each other

as ‘friends’, they help each other and the ‘juniors’ can borrow a pump from them. A more common practice is

that of hiring a petrol pump from other farmers. In this case the owner of a pump demands a contribution for

service and maintenance of a petrol pump, fuel is always at the cost of the operator. Hiring is expensive in the

long-term, and farmers want their own pump and not depend on a pump owner. Farmers who are renting out a

pump all indicate that they have the first right of use, when they need it, the renter has to wait for his turn. In

times of drought this can give difficulties to the renters who want to use a petrol pump at the same time. A petrol

pump is mostly rented out to 3-5 farmers, each day somebody else can use it.

The practice of renting out also gives farmers the possibility to gain an extra source of income. A different case

of renting of the petrol pump is that of farmer F16, he is the caretaker of a pump from someone else who is not

a farmer himself. The owner saw the need for a petrol pump, so he purchased one, now he rents out the pump

through him. Farmers can hire this petrol pump and pay him, he pays it back to the owner and also earns a little

himself. Despite that this is an exceptional case in this area, it shows the interest related to the use of petrol

pumps in commercialized horticulture.

With pipes farmers can either own the full amount of pipes that is needed, they can share pipes with another

farmer, or they can hire or borrow pipes. In the latter event farmers can hire or borrow an additional amount of

pipes to what they own, or they hire or borrow the full amount of pipes needed. The petrol that is needed to

operate the machine has to be paid by users themselves, the expenses for this cannot be shared. The litre price

for locally purchased petrol is 130 Kes. The amount of fuel needed for one irrigation turn differs depending on

the land size and the crops, but mostly the range is between 2-4 L with an area of ¼ - ½ acre. The costs for fuel

in this situation ranges between 260-520 Kes, when the average price of hiring of 200 Kes is added, it results that

one irrigation turn can cost 460 – 720 Kes.

Considering ownership of petrol pumps farmers generally move up from borrowing, hiring or sharing a pump at

the first stages of their farming business. And they shift to individual ownership of a petrol pump when

investment capital is sufficient. Furthermore farmers who are in a position of ownership can benefit from renting

out pumps and they can strategize this in their farming business. Moreover this section has shown that farmers

obtain access to water pumps in different ways, and they prefer to use petrol pumps in an individualistic manner.

6.4 FARMING STYLES COMPARED

Former sections have provided insight in possibilities regarding the use of petrol pumps. Based on the FSC as a

frame, now the practices of use for petrol pumps are discussed interrelated with the farming styles. Farmers

express different experiences, preferences and priorities concerning the use of petrol pumps. The different

reasoning of farmers for the utilization of a particular petrol pump, and the set of meanings adhered to it are

highlighted for the different farming styles. The paragraph starts with the established farmers, then continue

with the innovators, diversifiers and starters.

6.4.1 ESTABLISHED FARMERS

The four farmers categorized as established farmers are the ones having most experience with petrol pumps.

They have owned and used a petrol pump for a longer time and sometimes their fathers have also used a petrol


51

pump. Their financial capital is an advantage over other farmers and offers them the possibility to obtain and

utilize petrol pumps to their needs. They own both a pump and sufficient pipes, and petrol can be purchased.

Their long experience with petrol pumps is what distinguishes the established farmers from other farming styles.

They know what pump they want and do not make concessions, and have more freedom in their choice.

Therefore they can strategize their irrigation practices based on their internal logics without severe financial

restrictions. Based on prior knowledge and experience they can determine a petrol pump with the right

characteristics for their type of farm and utilization. These farmers are familiar with a certain type of machine

and are not looking for new types of pumps, but go for reliability. The four farmers in this category either own a

Honda or a Briggs & Stratton of respectively 5,5 and 6,5 hp. The costs of the pump vary from 32.000 Kes for a

Honda bought in 1995, and the others are 40.000 or 45.000 Kes. They also have the possibility to look for a pump

with a bigger drum and make sure that the capacity of the pump is sufficient for their farm. The farmers consider

a petrol pump as affordable and are not dependent on others when it comes to using pump and pipes. Although

the farmer below does indicate that price plays a role, the name of the brand is also key to him in the decision

on what pump to buy.

[F4] The price of the Briggs & Stratton was fair and it is a famous brand. I bought it in Kisumu at Car and

General, it cost 40.000 Kes and I bought this one 3 years ago. I used to own one from 1998 that was a

Honda 5,5Hp. Honda was good, but the price is high, in 1998 it was 30.000Kes, a Honda 6,5Hp now

would cost 60.000. The Briggs & Stratton used to be the best originally, but now the piracy makes that

we don’t know which one is the best.

A side effect and benefit of this ownership and independent position of the established farmers is that they are

in a position in which they can rent out a pump to other farmers. Especially one farmer acknowledges this extra

source of income as a benefit for the owner of a petrol pump. The other three farmers actually did not practice

this renting out of a pump, they were too busy with their own business or did not want others to tamper with

their material. This can be explained from their socio-economic position, which makes that they don’t have an

incentive to rent out the pump to other farmers. Renting out can give them trouble, and they do not need it to

sustain. They are rather individualistic regarding the use of a petrol pump and do not want others to interfere.

Application on the field happens with furrow irrigation which is exemplary in the case-study area. Although

criticism on this way of application is expressed by the farmers. A farmer explains that with mechanized furrow

irrigation, water will always be provided in excess. And also with overhead negative consequences are

recognized, and therefore they state that you have to be careful with irrigation. Irrigation needs to happen slowly

in order to let it infiltrate into the soil properly. Although they are critical on furrow and overhead irrigation, they

do apply these methods as best as possible based on their experience. At this moment they realise that petrol

pumps are the best alternative for them. In some aspects a petrol pump is better than a fixed sprinkler system

due to its mobility, a petrol pump can be stored safely and taken anywhere needed.

The future perspective of the established farmers is shared by many farmers, and aims for modern farming.

Despite the recognition that drip irrigation would be better for the crops, the urge to change to a different system

of irrigation appears not to be on the fore. Being settled in their farming business, they express that moving on

to drip or sprinkler irrigation is not always desirable. The future perspective is aimed to reduce the workload and

therefore they rather switch to other types of farming which takes less physical energy. They don’t necessarily

want to change the irrigation system, but rather prepare to phase out of farming depending on their age. They

have the capacity to decide what type of irrigation technology they want to use, and have selected it to their

preference. Furrow of application is not seen as the best option, but they have learned how to use it in the best

way based on experience and see it as the best alternative available for them.


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6.4.2 INNOVATORS

The farmers who are described as innovators are searching for ways to expand and improve their farming

business. This can be done in multiple ways, e.g. through finding better seeds, high level inputs, and also by

developing methods of irrigation. These farmers almost all have ownership of a petrol pump, only one farmer

uses the group pump which he keeps in his store and so has direct access to it. In the purchase of a petrol pump

these farmers actively search for a petrol pump that can help them in their strategy to increase the area of

cultivation, and in most cases they are aiming for a high quality pump. The price-quality ratio is also for these

farmers a central aspect in the decision-making on irrigation technology, but they deliberately choose a pump of

their preference also despite the costs.

In the process of buying a petrol pump these farmers do a thorough preparation and do not merely copy the

system from other farmers. They actively seek advice from engineers, mechanics and other farmers and choose

a machine to their standards which they find suitable for the farm. In the steps towards buying a petrol pump

farmers can undertake different sets of actions in order to decide on which pump to buy. Below two farmers

explain what they did in this process.

[LB] What things did you do before buying the pump?

[F5] First you have to inquire, you ask the technicians that know about the use of a pump. They can

advise you, they are in Bondo and in Kisumu.

[F9] Before I bought the pump I did research. My colleague had experience and he advised me. My

colleague has started 3 years earlier than I did, so he could teach me.

Furthermore farmers indicate that there is a wide range of factors that you have to take into account before

buying a pump. They consider the location of their field in terms of distance, surface area and slope. This is

important in order to determine the necessary pump capacity. The make of a pump is also important, but the

farmers can also choose for a new type of pump which applies to their farming targets. Also the weight and

portability of the machine is considered, and the inlet and outlet sizes for the pipes. In decision-making on a

petrol pump farmers outweigh desirable pump characteristics and price. The most important advantage of using

a petrol pump lies in the farm expansion that can be achieved with the help of the petrol pump. Besides this the

individuality of the pump is of importance, farmers find it important that a pump is available to them at any time.

[F6] It is better to have your own thing, better than being in a position of hire. Sometimes when you hire

and want to do irrigation, someone else is using it, now I can dictate my own time of working.

The most common petrol pump is the Honda 5,5 hp, in this group a few farmers have chosen for a petrol pump

with more than 5,5 hp. One farmer owns a Huawei petrol pump with 7,0 hp, because his field is further away

from the field. He explains that he looked for a bigger farm and could not find this close to the lake, therefore he

had to move away from the lake shore. With this pump of 7,0 hp he is able to go up to 1km. But the key factor

to buy this petrol pump is time, as he explains below.

[LB] Why did you buy a 7,0 hp petrol pump?

[F7] The thing in farming is time, with this pump I can finish in short time. A 3,0 Hp pump can also pump

that water to the field, but it takes more time. So I use the 7,0 and adjust the speed to get good pressure.


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In this FS it is recognized that farmers adjust

petrol pumps to their needs, this is mainly

done to make it function better for application

at the field without high expenses. For instance

a pipe can be made themselves with a double

outlet to enable irrigation with two people at

the same time as can be seen in Figure 13. With

transplanting only little water should be

applied to the newly planted crops. So the

division of one pipe into two pipes has two

advantages, the first is that two people can

apply irrigation at the same time and therefore

time is saved. The second is that in this case the

discharge can be divided over two hose pipes

and therefore the amount of application for

the crops is more suitable.

Besides petrol pump ownership the pipes are often partially owned, or shared. Another example of a type of

craftsmanship among farmers is reducing the pipes. Farmers in general reduce the size of pipes over distance in

order to make sure that enough pressure is left at the end of the field. By reducing the sizes of the pipes the

water has limited space, so the water can be pushed further. There are two possible ways in which this transition

of pipes can be arranged, the first is to buy reducers. These are little connecting-parts that have a 2” and a 1,5”

inch end, in this way the reduced pipe size can be connected. Another way is to slightly burn the end of a 2” pipe

and make it fit into a 1,5” pipe. One farmer expressed he practiced this for the sake of saving money.

[F6] We use two different pipes, the PVC pipes and the rubber in the form of a roll. To reduce the inches

from 2,5 to 1,5” you can just burn it a bit and then squeeze it in to reduce the size, it’s only small, just

1” that you need to decrease. The reducers are there, but they are expensive, in this way you can save

costs.

The innovators see the pump as a good alternative to them, although they also see its merits and hail ‘modern’

methods of drip and sprinkler irrigation. But they see these modern techniques as a bridge too far without

external support, and they have little trust in a collective system. Therefore also the innovators see a petrol pump

as a good alternative to them. Their objective is to change the way of irrigation in the future, but succession of

this is rather insecure. The farmers therefore try to utilize and fine-tune petrol pumps and its practices of use to

their capacity. They have a more pro-active farming strategy, and are more ferocious in expanding their farming

business. As a result they view petrol pump technology as a means for expansion of cultivation, in combination

with high level inputs and marketing strategies. The farmers in this sense negotiate on the use of petrol pump

technology, and try to influence and create new opportunities to support their farming activities.

6.4.3 DIVERSIFIERS

The diversifiers either own a petrol pump, or they have found a niche in which they have direct access to a pump.

Besides their priorities outside farming, also financial limitations play a role in the appropriation and utilization

of petrol pumps. Their other source of income can get priority above farming, and this can be a reason not to

purchase irrigation material at a high cost. Although they do express the will to have ownership of a petrol pump

as something to assist them in farming. In contrast to the established farmers and the innovators, they do not

always choose a pump of the best quality. The advantages of a pump in saving time and energy on the farm

seems more important than the quality and durability of a pump as the following farmer explains.

Figure 13 Innovator using a hose pipe on a self-manufactured double outlet

pipe


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[LB] Why did you buy this pump, the Tiger 6,5?

[F13] It was cheap, the Honda from Japan at that time was around 20.000 Kes that is double price. I just

wanted something to help me, even if it would not last. I only want it for myself, when others use it they

will spoil the machine. When the machine was still new, I was helping others. I noticed now that the

machine became weaker, so I decided not to rent it out anymore.

He also expresses that he does not want to rent out the pump for two reasons, he has limited time available and

he does not want others to spoil the machine. This farmer also owns a shop in Kamariga and everyday he

combined both jobs, his wife also assisted in the shop. This shop has priority and the added income from renting

out a pump did not outweigh the negative consequences of renting out the pump to others. The financial position

of the diversifiers is regarded less determinant on farming only. Therefore other logics concerning individualistic

use and time management are considered more important. Other farmers in this typology do practice the activity

of renting out a pump and consider this as a means for them to gain some extra money out of pump ownership.

In addition to this the diversified farmers also consider a number of characteristics before they proceed to buying

a petrol pump. They take their farming land into account and what pump would function best according to their

priorities and money available. Adequate capacity and discharge are important and they also prepare for the

future, specifically regarding land uncertainty.

[F13] If you have a pump with a 3” outlet, the volume of water flowing through the pipe is higher, this

one can move to a very long distance, further than the smaller ones. Because I do not own land myself,

I choose for a pump with a 3” outlet. Because I don’t know if later I have to go far to find land. So I need

a machine that can do fine everywhere, near and far from the water source.

In this farming style there is a wide variety in how irrigation technology is experienced and utilized. For some it

is ‘just’ to help them and save time, regardless of the quality of the pump. But when it is possible they choose a

reliable make. Individuality is highly valued among these farmers and they follow their own style of working,

combined with other activities besides farming. The diversifiers set different priorities in their farming strategies,

which is also reflected in their choices on irrigation technology. In general a petrol pump is obtained to assist

them in farming and to save time for other activities, and not directly to expand in farming. The resulting increase

in production and income helps them to invest and diversify in other sources of income. For the future they also

refer to modern farming which can ease the work on the farm and can increase production, also greenhouses

are mentioned as a technology that can assist the farmers.

These farmers value different assets of technology than other farming styles. It is in their capacity to use a petrol

pump in a more efficient manner in order to cultivate a larger area in less time. In this manner their production

can be increased and the profit can also be invested in other income sources. The priority often is not primarily

on improving horticultural activities, but technology is rather used to increase production and decrease time and

effort needed. In this way they create a possibility to diversify and invest in jobs besides farming.

6.4.4 STARTERS

The starters have in common that their financial capital often limits them to gain individual ownership of a petrol

pump and a sufficient amount of pipes. In the group of starters two farmers have ownership of a petrol pump,

which is little compared to the other farming categories. In one case a second-hand pump is bought in

partnership, and in the other case the father who also has a different job is the owner of a petrol pump. In the

situation of farmers who do not own a petrol pump, mostly hiring is practiced in order to gain access to a petrol

pump. The expenses for hiring, including the costs for petrol can sometimes be difficult for them to bring as the

following farmer indicates.


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[F23] The badness with it is that if you do not have money to buy fuel, it cannot help you. It needs money

when you are using it.

The difficulties in finance are the core issue of starters in farming and in particular regarding irrigation technology.

They are restricted to hiring or borrowing petrol pumps from other farmers. In this situation the owner will use

the pump when he needs it, hence the renter cannot always practice irrigation when he wants to. Especially in

times of drought it can be difficult to access a petrol pump in time. Starters express the will to individually own

a petrol pump, in this way they can dictate their own time and not depend on others. In case of buying they

choose to buy a petrol pump with lower quality and price, due to financial limitations. Knowingly that the quality

is not the best, they seem to agree on the price-quality ratio and do buy a pump on a short-term. The actual need

for a petrol pump that can help them more important, than buying a high quality pump that can last for a long

time. The following farmer explains his reasoning to buy a relatively cheap pump together with his friend and his

preferences regarding the type of ownership.

[F20] I use the water pump, I have one which I share with a friend. We bought the pump together, 2

years ago, it is good. The pump is a Shano, it is China made, of 6,5 Hp, for 16.500Kes, bought in Kisumu,

Indian shops. Honda is good, but expensive, a Honda pump with same Hp will be 85.000Kes. The Shano

pump can help me, because I can use it up here. But I want to have my own pump, we are planning to

buy another one.

[LB] Why?

[F20] I have my own field, and my friend also has his own field. Sometimes we want to use the pump at

the same time. It will give us good time, when I use mine and he can use his own.

This indicates that the starters have the wish to upgrade on their technology and try different ways to do so.

Shared ownership is one possibility besides hiring, but most of all they express the wish to own a petrol pump in

order to dictate their own work and planning. Pipes can often be borrowed from each other, and this seems to

be less of a problem. Although it is indicated that this can also be difficult when borrowed pipes are in use by

someone else. The most important disadvantage of a petrol pump for these farmers is the price, they consider it

as expensive and indicate that they are not able to buy. Despite the advantages of a petrol pump, they cannot

fully deploy it in their farming strategy due to uncertainty in accessing a pump. Besides this, they can do under-

irrigation knowing the negative consequences, solely because of limited financial means.

The starters appear to be the group which is most dependent on the irrigation technology, but have the least

capacity to gain access to a petrol pump. Their space for negotiation is rather limited, mainly due to their limited

financial capacity. They appropriate the technology through different types of temporary hiring and shared

ownership. The modality of a petrol pump is mainly that of a helping hand in the workload, and it gives them the

opportunity to expand in farming. Cultivation is now taking place at a small scale, and increase of production is

needed in order to gain enough investment. In this way they can upgrade on inputs and instruments and buy

their own petrol pump. Individual ownership is wanted, but the livelihood conditions do not allow this for most

of the starting farmers. They can access a petrol pump through hiring, and their position in using petrol pumps

appears restricted and dependent on pump-owners.

6.5 CONCLUSION

In this section a short summary is provided on the main advantages and disadvantages of petrol pumps. And

moreover a brief conclusion is provided on the different ways of appropriation and utilization of petrol pumps

interconnected with different FS.

The shift from manual to mechanized irrigation is experienced as a positive development. The main benefits

include an expansion of the farming area, increase of production, decrease in time and labour, easy operation,


56

pump affordability and portability. Farmers all agree on the beneficial increase of production as a consequence

of using petrol pumps. A bigger amount of water can be applied in a smaller amount of time, this makes that the

area of farming can be increased and crops can get sufficient water. Therefore production increases and this can

also result in a higher income for the farmer, although this depends on more factors. Also a reduction in irrigation

time in combination with the reduced labour demand are important benefits. Especially when a pump is owned

farmers now have ‘easy time’ and can dictate their own planning. These two advantages of increasing the scale

of farming in combination with easy work and short irrigation time, are regarded as key benefits.

In general the disadvantages listed are few compared to the advantages. Disadvantages mentioned mainly

concern the costs of operation, this involves costs of petrol, maintenance and service. Besides this, capital

investment is needed for the purchase of a petrol pump and pipes. Farmers who have limited financial capacity

experience the merits of the investment and on-going costs of petrol pumps. Another disadvantage focuses on

the method of application and how this affects the crops. Farmers recognize problems with application, but

based on experience they adjust their application method as good as possible. Farmers in general see the furrow

method as the best alternative and use petrol pumps in different modalities. In addition the farmers express

their wish for modern farming. While improved irrigation means are available, they are not capable to implement

modern irrigation techniques on their fields. They realize that the use of petrol pumps by means of furrow

irrigation is the best alternative they have. In short this farmer summarizes the key advantages and disadvantages

of the petrol pump in relation to manual irrigation as follows.

[F4] Manual irrigation is tiresome and cheap, the petrol pump is easy and expensive.

In short this chapter has provided insight in what ways farmers in different FS have appropriated and used petrol

pumps. Pump specific characteristics are key aspects in these decisions, but also the capacity of farmers regarding

finance and knowledge play a role. Social and material aspects are both determinants in this process of co-

construction of petrol pumps and its practices of use. Many factors influence choices on the use of petrol pumps,

and its underlying logics do not always adhere to the rationale of choosing the best possible pump. In this way

concessions have to be made, and this can lead to a different strategy concerning the utilization of a petrol pump.

Farmers have different capacities in fine-tuning and re-designing a petrol pumps and its practices of use. This

also results in different negotiating capacities of farmers on a petrol pump. Farmers adhere different sets of

meanings to a petrol pump and they incorporate this in their farming activities in multiple ways. In line with

heterogeneity in farming practices, also heterogeneity in appropriation and utilization of petrol pumps is

recognized.

Chapter 7 Conclusion

57

CHAPTER 7 CONCLUSION

On the picture a farmer’s boy is overlooking a farm, will he also be doing horticulture production when he is

older. And, can a petrol pump also assist him in the future or will he prefer an alternative way of farming and/or

irrigation?

The focus in this research is on how farmers experience petrol pumps and its practices of use, framed in multiple

configurations of farming styles. How farmers appropriate and utilize petrol pumps is interrelated with different

strategies in farming. This analysis provides insight in this co-construction, and it investigates how petrol pumps

as a means for irrigation are incorporated in the context of smallholder horticulture production. Furthermore it

sheds light on how farmers adhere meaning to petrol pumps and how they fine-tune and re-design a petrol pump

and its practices of use. Therefore the main research question is answered, which is as follows:

In what ways do farmers appropriate and use petrol pumps for irrigation in a horticulture production

process in West-Uyoma, Kenya?


58

At first it is recognized that the development of commercialized horticulture and irrigation development

happened in the same timeframe. And they triggered each other in a context of diminishing fisheries and

subsistence rain-fed agriculture. Commercialized irrigated horticulture has great socio-economic potential,

mainly by increasing smallholders’ income. In the same time span as the development of commercialized

horticulture, also technology has developed, and small motorized pumps became available and accessible to

farmers. Irrigated horticulture development is therefore recognized as a process of co-construction in this

research. In irrigation development mainly pioneers in farming and businessmen from the area introduced petrol

pumps. Organizations have only marginally contributed to the introduction of petrol pumps due to their fixation

on group support. Moreover farmers are the ones who have initiated this development, which therefore is

characterized as farmer-led irrigation. Farmers have taken their own ‘strategy’ in appropriating and using petrol

pumps based on individualistic ways of working. They have incorporated the use of petrol pumps in their farming

strategies.

Individual small scale horticulture farmers aim to acquire ownership of petrol pumps and deploy a pump in a

multi-functional manner. In this research a petrol pump is seen as a composition, as a set of elements which also

includes pipes, petrol and its practices of use. For petrol pumps are not only material, but a social dimension is

internally linked to technology and therefore the use of petrol pumps is also a co-construction. In this case-study

research it is found that farmers all seek a different balance in appropriation and use of petrol pumps. In other

words heterogeneous engineering is done by farmers in relation to heterogeneous farming practices. Farmers

have different capacities and challenges, and moreover they experience and value characteristics of petrol

pumps differently. Where heterogeneity is identified in farming strategies, this is also the case for the

appropriation and use of petrol pumps. A difference in appropriation and utilization of petrol pumps is

recognized in the four farming styles.

Farmers decide on which pump to buy based on their experience with pumps, knowledge on what type of pump

they need, and on their financial capacity. Farmers can choose for a famous and expensive brand, others for a

cheap ‘China type’ and others do a thorough research to see which pump complies with what is needed. All

farmers express their preference for individual ownership, but especially starting farmers often do not have the

capacity buy a petrol pump. Therefore access can also be obtained through hiring, which brings them in a

dependent position, which can undermine their individualistic farming strategies. In the use of pumps farmers

also make different decisions. Petrol pumps that are used in the case-study area share many characteristics

concerning capacity, discharge, and operation and maintenance. Although the pumps resemble each other in

their features, multi-functionality is recognized in the use of pumps. Farmers have different ways to apply a type

of craftsmanship, in this way they can fine-tune and re-design technology. Because of financial limitations

farmers can adjust the use of petrol pumps to save costs. They can also fine-tune technology to improve methods

of application. For example pipes can be customized, speed of operation can be adjusted, and the application on

the field itself can be fine-tuned.

The thread is that farmers have a wide variety of how they see farming and how they want to practice this. And

this leads to a situation in which they ‘make’ the pumps useful to them in different ways. They want to make

most benefit out of pump characteristics for their farming business and incorporate this in their strategies.

Important benefits derived from using a petrol pump are reducing time and labour, and increasing production

and income. Farmers are less concerned about external support, and not willing to comply with organizational

standards. Petrol pumps have come up due to a genuine demand in a context of commercialized horticulture

development. Moreover farmers are the key drivers in this process of irrigation development. Farmers integrate

irrigation mechanisms in their farming strategy, and both influence each other. In this sense a co-construction

can be recognized between technology and the ways in which farmers practice agriculture. They are strategic

agents who have interest to use petrol pumps and shape this technology in order to achieve improved production

and income. In this case-study research the appropriation and use of petrol pumps moreover appears a matter


59

of supply and demand. Farmers have gained interest and saw the benefits of petrol pumps, this has driven

appropriation and utilization of petrol pumps. They have chosen to use different types of pumps and try to adjust

and fine-tune technology within its network of possibilities.

Finally it is important to acknowledge that ongoing change and process in horticulture and irrigation

development is often not following a rationale, but depends on a wide range of factors. Farmers are the strategic

agents who have different experiences, lifestyles, opinions, logics, traditions and more on which they base their

choice. This research has found that while the technology of petrol pumps is merely uniform in its function to lift

up water, farmers experience, use and adjust it differently. Farming strategies and use of petrol pumps are

interconnected and co- construct each other, the interwoven social and technical nature of these developments

are essential for the findings in this research. Heterogeneity and multi-functionality, both in farming styles and

irrigation technology, are therefore two key principles that proved inevitable in this research.

Chapter 8 Discussion & recommendations

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CHAPTER 8 DISCUSSION & RECOMMENDATIONS

In the picture a group of farmers have gathered for the opening of the Likungu Irrigation project. Also a discussion

took place on the working of this collective system in which different opinions prevailed.

This last chapter provides a discussion that aims to place the findings in perspective of a wider context and future

development. Therefore the theories and concepts used are critically reflected upon, followed by a discussion

on the findings. (A discussion on the methodology can be found in chapter three.) The theories and concepts in

this research have served as a guidance for the analysis in order to establish relevant findings in a structured

manner. The use and suitability of the theories and concepts are discussed regarding the objectives and findings

in this research. Furthermore the findings of this research are discussed, and the findings are placed in the wider

scientific debate on farmer-led irrigation. Moreover the implications of the findings are discussed in their

contribution to improved understanding of farmer-led irrigation and how this can inform future policy in

sustainable irrigation development for smallholder horticulture. In addition to this recommendations are

presented for further research and for development purposes.


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8.1 THEORIES & CONCEPTS

Theories and concepts are used to structure the research, to embed it in an academic context, and moreover

aims to valorise the findings. In this section the value of the theories and concepts with regard to its objectives

in this research are discussed. The socio-technical approach is the umbrella concept taking an agency centred

approach, and moreover focussing on a co-construction of social and technical systems. This principle of co-

construction is the underpinning for both the FSA and the SCOT that are used in this analysis.

FARMING STYLES APPROACH

The farming styles approach (FSA) is used to show heterogeneity in farming strategies which are co-constructed

through social and technical systems. Farmers are considered as strategic agents who set specific strategies in

farming, based on differing logics and notions. This approach proved valuable in identifying and analysing a

heterogeneous reality of farming, and contrasts a linear and homogeneous agricultural development. Especially

the perspective of farmers as strategic agents is valuable in order to gain insight in how different farming styles

are constructed, and interact with each other.

In total 27 farmers are interviewed which are categorized in four farming styles. This is a rather small amount of

cases in order to establish a FSC, and therefore a particular individual way of working was highly decisive for a

farming style. Although a small amount of farmers also enabled the researcher to gain deeper understanding in

the underlying logics and notions of each farmer. In addition also overlap exists between farming styles, and

farmers have characteristics that can fit multiple farming styles. The categorization implies a generalization and

therefore evades complexity in farming strategies to some extent. The heterogeneity and multiple realities are

illuminated, but at the same time framed. It should be acknowledged that there is ongoing change, and it is not

a hierarchical order. Therefore it is important to consider that the FSC is merely a means, and not an end in itself.

It has functioned in showing heterogeneity and multi-functionality in farming strategies, and in providing a frame

for further analysis.

Another aspect is that the terminology used in the FSC suggests a certain meaning to farming styles and a possible

line of development. Despite this suggestion, it is rather uncertain whether this transformation in farming styles

is taking place. A farming style is a complex set of internal logics and notions, and choices are not only based on

a strategic rationale. Many other factors, like socio-economic status, cultural and traditional values and capacity

play a role in this process. Besides this a lack of background information on the livelihood and household situation

made it difficult to grasp the full picture from where a farming strategy stems from. Without a detailed notion

on historic events from farmers, a possible transformation in farming styles was difficult to say. Hence the

farming styles are moreover showing how farming can be practiced, and it moreover deals with farmers’

experiences. Heterogeneity in irrigated horticulture is identified and analysed showing how different farming

styles happen simultaneously in similar conditions.

SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF TECHNOLOGY

The SCOT concept uses the FSC as a frame in which the appropriation and utilization of petrol pumps are

discussed based on farmers experiences. This concept focusses on the social shaping of technology in which both

actors, acting as strategic agents, and technology together construct a technical artefact. The concept gives room

for multiple interpretations and different outcomes, and emphasises on social construction as an open process.

With this concept appropriation and utilization of petrol pumps are both seen as input and output of social

interrelations. This concept has enabled the researcher to identify a co-construction of irrigation technology and

horticulture farming. Although a drawback is encountered in the sense that the SCOT focusses on the

interconnectedness of social and technical systems in the process of construction. This process is considered a

‘seamless web’, in which it is difficult to recognize a structure to understand what constructs what, and


62

furthermore what it is that is constructed. In this seamless web everything relates to each other and complicates

a deconstruction of what is taking place (Klein and Kleinman, 2002). Therefore a more intuitive approach is taken

in this research in order to remain flexible and let the actors ‘speak’. This enabled the researcher to analyse this

co-construction not in a determinant way, but acknowledge the multiple realities.

The aspects of closure and stabilization and the wider context are less explicitly taken into account. Due to the

organic and autonomous spread of petrol pumps, it was difficult to find out whether petrol pump technology has

stabilized and in what institutional context. An important limitation of this analysis is the exclusion of other

relevant actors than farmers. This has been a deliberate choice in order to illuminate farmers’ experiences of

irrigation technology. Although it has also restricted a more complete analysis of the social construction of

technology. Because imposed meaning of designers, manufacturers, retailers and other relevant actors were not

taken into account. A petrol pump therefore is considered in this research as a ‘black box’ on which the farmers

have little influence, and therefore could not be ‘unpacked’.

8.2 RESULTS

In this section the research findings are discussed and placed in a wider scientific debate on farmer-led irrigation.

It is discussed how this case-study research contributes in improved understanding of farmer-led irrigation in a

small scale horticulture production process. And moreover it aims to inform future policy and development as a

response to recognized potential and dynamics of individual small scale irrigation.

Farmers are seen as strategic agents, this forms the foundation of this research and acknowledges how they

‘make’ petrol pumps useful. The results have shown that farmers use a pump in certain ways which gives meaning

to a petrol pump. They do this coming from different backgrounds, with different knowledge and financial

capacity, and with different experience and opinions. Organizations were only marginally involved in the spread

of petrol pumps. In fact its spread can be attributed to farmers who recognized the economic potential of

irrigated commercial horticulture, and therefore appropriated and utilized petrol pumps in their own way.

The results of this research stress the importance of recognizing heterogeneity in agriculture and irrigation

dynamics dealing with change, disorder and process. Farmer-led irrigation has developed on the initiative of

farmers based on their strategies in farming, the drivers of farmers are the basic tenet in this process. In a context

of economic potential, abundant water, scarcity of labour, Luo culture, unstable markets and supply of

technology farmers have set to shape their farming strategies. It is important to consider that irrigation

technology is one element of a wider set of elements that co-constructs this heterogeneous farming

environment. Irrigation development and policy should therefore recognize this dynamic interplay, and not only

focus on promoting an isolated irrigation technology. Moreover technology development is a dynamic process

and the landscapes of smallholder irrigation are continuously changing. Therefore the farmers, those who

benefit, should get the support that is needed in order to develop smallholder irrigation and not just the

promoters. In this case-study area farmers have started irrigation on their initiative, for their benefit, and there

is much potential in irrigated horticulture. This research has contributed in understanding the context and drivers

in which this development is taking place. Now it is important to translate these findings into supportive policies

for irrigation development.

Bottlenecks for farmer-led irrigation are also identified in this research. Challenges and difficulties, involving the

costs of mechanized irrigation, lack of knowledge on technical functioning, and unstable markets are common

among smallholder farmers. Currently there is no institutional and policy support for development of farmer-led

irrigation. Despite the great potential of farmer-led irrigation in contributing to an alleviation of poverty by

increasing smallholder incomes. A challenge now is how to make individual small scale irrigation which is farmer

led, attractive for future irrigation investment. This can for instance happen through involving farmers in this

development and recognize their drivers and strategies. In combination a co-construction of farmers and


63

organizations in investment, design, operation and management can contribute to a joint effort of irrigation

development. This joint effort can combine capacities and challenges of both farmers and organizations in a

positive and cooperative manner. However, further research is needed to develop policy aimed at effecting the

potential of farmer-led irrigation in a sustainable and cost-effective manner.

Moreover one must also take future implications of extended farmer-led irrigation and intensified horticulture

production into account. As the private irrigation sector expands, this can also lead to environmental, and socio-

economic impacts. An expansion of irrigated horticulture related to increased land competition and

commoditisation of labour in the case-study area also impacts the social relations of the Luo people. Irrigated

horticulture is part of, and influencing this wider development. Also environmental impacts such as nutrient

leaching, soil erosion, decrease in soil fertility and the impact of fertilizers and pesticides on the soil and water

quality are important to take into account. Considering a possible expansion of irrigated horticulture along the

banks of Lake Victoria, this can have enormous impact on the environmental and ecological conditions in this

wider area.

In sum the constraining and supporting factors of this individual smallholder farmer-led irrigation development

should be recognized, and these at the same time need further analysis. Development organizations and

institutions should have an open and flexible attitude, in order to account for informal farmer-led irrigation which

is highly flexible and responsive to the needs of farmers. Through this farmers can be assisted in a way that keeps

them the strategic agents and drivers of change.

8.3 RECOMMENDATIONS

In this section a number of recommendations are made focussing on opportunities for future research and

irrigation development. Petrol pumps have emerged quickly and in a rather organic and autonomous manner,

therefore there are still many ambiguities regarding this process of development. This section highlights what

aspects need further investigation, in order to improve understanding of irrigation development for smallholder

horticulture farming. And related to this recommendations are given for irrigation development for smallholder

horticulture farmers.

FUTURE RESEARCH

- More investigation is needed on the design and production process of petrol pumps. Who are the

designers, produces, manufacturers, and retailers and how and why did they construct a particular

technology. Their perspectives and ideas on petrol pumps can increase understanding of the process of

social construction of petrol pumps, and can possibly open up the ‘black box’.

- Further analysis is needed in order to gain understanding in the supporting and constraining factors for

farmers in the appropriation and utilization of petrol pumps in smallholder horticulture. The spread of

petrol pumps happened quickly and in an organic manner, responding to a situation of supply and

demand. The role of farmers, businessmen and other organizations can be investigated upon in order

to gain more understanding in how this development has taken place and is still ongoing. An analysis is

needed on the mechanisms and dynamics of this process in relation to its institutional context.

Moreover irrigation technology should be considered in a wider context considering its potential to

increase smallholders’ income and poverty alleviation. This context also includes access to financial

means, market mechanisms, technical insight in cultivation, and supply of technology. Identifying the

main triggers and drivers can give hands and feet in assisting farmers in the development of irrigated

horticulture production.


64

IRRIGATION DEVELOPME NT

- Establishing a platform can contribute in sharing experience and knowledge. A combined effort of

knowledge provided by local engineers and mechanics, farmers, Agrovet owners and extension officers

can provide farmers with more knowledge and technical insight. By cooperating and sharing ideas

farmers can learn from each other and from other experts in the field. Through this farmers can improve

their farming business and increase production and profit. There is much potential in knowledge and

capacity building, and in such a platform the farmers are the initiators and beneficiaries.

o A local engineer for instance can provide more insight in petrol pump characteristics and

mechanics can give workshops on maintenance and operation. In this way farmers can be

assisted in determining what pump is needed for their specific farm, and how they should

handle a pump in a good way. Moreover information on different types of pipes, alternative

pipe sizes and dimensions can help farmers in choosing pipes that can function well in their

situation.

- Organizations can investigate whether it is possible to support farmers in a different way than through

groups. A search for methods to support individual farmers can contribute to the overall development

of horticulture in the case-study area. Starting farmers e.g. can be helped through loans so they can

purchase their preferred petrol pump which fits their farming style. In this way they don’t have to

involuntarily comply with a group organization which in general causes conflicts, and does not improve

their production standards.

Chapter 9 Bibliography

65

CHAPTER 9 BIBLIOGRAPHY

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BURNEY, J. A. & NAYLOR, R. L. 2012. Smallholder Irrigation as a Poverty Alleviation Tool in Sub-Saharan Africa. World Development, 40, 110-123.

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MANGO, N. A. R. 2002. Husbanding the land: Agricultural Development and Socio-Technical Change in Luoland, Kenya. Doctor Proefschrift, Wageningen University.

MCNALLY. 2015. www.mcnallyinstitute.com [Online]. [Accessed 6 March 2015 2015].

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MOLDEN, D., FRENKEN, K., BARKER, R., DE FRAITURE, C., MATI, B., SVENDSEN, M., SADOFF, C. & FINLAYSON, C. M. 2007. Trends in water and agricultural development. In: MOLDEN, D. (ed.) Water for Food, Water for Life: A Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture. London Earthscan and Colombo International Water Management Institute

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MOLLINGA, P. P. 1998. On the waterfront. Water distribution, technology and agrariran change in a South Indian canal irrigation system. Proefschrift Landbouwuniversiteit Wageningen, 1-312.

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http://www.petrowiki.org/centrifugal_pumps

Annexes

67

ANNEXES

ANNEX 1: FARMING AREAS

The first figure shows the five farming areas in West-Uyoma. And the following figures each give an impression

of the five different farming areas, their situation, scale and amount of farming activity.

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ANNEX 2: INTERVIEW GUIDE

This interview guide serves as a practical instruction for the interviewer and endorses the interviewer with a

guidance in order to get grip on the interview. This guideline also serves as a means to standardize the

interview data and results in order to achieve reliability, comparability and internal validity (Lecture Tamás,

2014).

Introduction:

- Introduce myself

o Student from Netherlands

o I am here to learn from their farming/irrigation

o Learn from their experience with small scale irrigation technologies

- How much time do you have available?

- Possible to have a look at the field and the irrigation technology?

To start with a few opening questions:

Personal information:

- What is your age?

- What is your household situation? (Family, position in homestead, wage earner)

- What education did you attend?

Farming information:

- What is your job? (Main occupancy)

- When did you start farming? (What did you do before?)

- What was the reason for you to start farming? (Passion, heritage, money, subsistence, opportunity)

- Do you like farming? What do you like? (What not)

Bridge: Thank you for sharing this information. Nice to hear about your farm and your experience. Now I would

like to learn more about your agricultural activities and how you use irrigation.

Main and follow-up questions:

Main 1: How do you cultivate your land?

Follow-up:

- How much land do you own/rent?

o Acreage (ha)

o Ownership

o How did you get your piece of land?

o Is it individual or shared? (Household?)

o Do you have land rights? (private)

What is the legislation? (Laws, policies, customary law?)

Institutions involved?

Culture?

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- What type of cultivation do you practice?

o Type of crop?

Cash/food

Price of crop?

Combination of different crops?

subsistence/market

Why this crop?

What is the yield?

Ton/ha

o Cropping schedule?

Seasons

Intercropping

Crop rotation

o What is the cropping intensity?

2 rain periods 2 cropping seasons?

Soil fertility?

- Do you combine other types of farming?

o Animal husbandry

o Vegetable cultivation

o Maize/millet etc.

Main 2: How do you organise your agricultural production?

Follow-up:

- How do you organise labour?

o What are the labour requirements?

How many hours a day?

How many days a week?

Per month/seasonal

o Enough labour available?

o Household labour?

o Man/women?

o Intra-household labour division?

Working together? (Exchange of labour?

o Renting labour/pay for labour?

Price of labour?

Availability of labourers in region?

o What labour activities done by who?

Sowing

Harvesting

Applying fertilizers/pesticides

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- What decisions do you make concerning the organisation of your farm production?

o How would you describe your farm?

Economic business

Family farm

Life destination (successor of father)

o Can you make a living out of farming?

What is your investment capacity?

Credit?

What resources do you have?

Knowledge

Money

Labour

Arable land/soil

Social (position in community)

o Do you have market access?

Do you sell your products? (market, local)

Do you exchange products?

Or is it for own consumption?

Main 3: What strategies do you take in farming?

Follow-up:

- What is your state of farming? (reasons and aim)

o What is your aim of farming?

o What knowledge do you have of farming?

Level of education

Teached by others? (father)

Advice from other farmers?

Advice from consultancy agencies?

Advice from project organisations?

o What choices did/do you make in farming?

What type of labour?

What instruments?

What type of crops? (value)

Where do you buy seeds?

Irrigation yes/no? (come back to this later)

Do you take risks?

How do you handle diseases/pests/droughts?

What did you do in the past, what did you change?

o On what factors do you base your decisions?

More income

Intensify production

Specialise (high value crops)

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up scaling

Well-being?

Vulnerability?

Food security?

Sustainability? (Use of soil/nature conservation)

Bridge: Now you have been telling about how you operate your farm and what are the reasons to do so, I am

most curious to find out whether and how you use irrigation techniques?

Main 4: How and why do you use irrigation technologies?

Follow-up:

- How would you describe the availability of water in the area?

o Climate and rainfall conditions?

Hot/tropical (what type of crops work best?)

Amount of rain?

Frequent rains, or erratic?

Floods, run-off, problems?

o What is the water source?

Where do you take your water from?

o Quantity/quality of water?

Sufficient?

How is the quality? (contaminated/clean/nutrients)

o Access to water?

How?

Management?

Collaboration?

Rules/institutions?

Individual/shared?

- What is the irrigation requirement of your field?

o How much water do you apply?

Type of crop?

Type of land?

Season?

Idea rainfall/evaporation?

- How do you use irrigation on your field?

o Do you have experience with irrigation?

How did you irrigate in the past?

Why?

Did you change from technique? And why?

o What technology do you currently use?

Treadle pump/diesel pump/watering cans/other?

Specifics?

Power?

Pump capacity?

Diesel needed? How much?

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What material?

Main 5: How and why is current irrigation technology used? (Development)

Follow-up:

- Why do you use this type of irrigation?

o Technical aspects?

Labour reduction

Costs

Increased production/yields

o Social aspects?

Traditional

Community

o Management?

Easy operation?

Efficiency?

o Economical?

Low cost?

Increase yield?

Intensify/up scaling?

o What are the costs?

Purchase investment

Ongoing costs (diesel)

Repair

Gain expertise (taking courses)

o How did you purchase this irrigation technology?

Producer?

Supplier?

Project? Organisation?

Introduced by?

- What is needed for the operation of the irrigation technology?

o Labour

Hours? (per day/week)

Heavy?

Done by who?

o Expertise

Knowledge needed?

How to use?

Easy to manage?

- Who is responsible for development and uptake of irrigation technology?

o By who is it developed?

Company?

Project involvement?

Government?

- What is your opinion of irrigation technology?

o Positive development

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Why? Or why not?

What did it change?

How do farmers often use it?

Do you adapt the technology to your own situation? Or vice versa?

Do you know the ideas behind Low cost irrigation technologies?

- Did irrigation technology change agriculture?

o How?

Role of irrigation?

Community?

Social relations?

Economic situation?

o What is your opinion on this change?

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ANNEX 3: INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTION FORMAT

Farmer characteristics

Name:

Location in area

Land

Type of crop

Irrigation

Other jobs?

Age

Farming since

Pump? Ownership?

Collaboration/group?

Observation

Interpretation

Relevance

Interview transcript:

Date

Duration

Time

Location

Interviewer Luwieke

Interviewee

Translator

Other attendants

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ANNEX 4: OVERVIEW OF INTERVIEWS CONDUCTED AND CODING FOR FARMER REFERENCING

Farmer code Area Amount of

interviews

Other details

Established farmers (4)

F1 Obenge 1

F2 Obenge 1 Chair KaCoHo group Obenge

F3 Likungu 1

F4 Osindo 2

Innovators (8)

F5 Kochilo 2 Chair Kochilo group

F6 Kamariga 3 Function in KaCoHo group Kamariga

F7 Kamariga 2

F8 Obenge 2 Secretary in KaCoHo Group Obenge

F9 Obenge 1

F10 Likungu 2

F11 Likungu 2

F12 Osindo 2

Diversifiers (5)

F13 Kochilo 2

F14 Kochilo 2

F15 Kamariga 1

F16 Kamariga 1

F17 Likungu 1

Starters (10)

F18 Kochilo 2 Secretary Kochilo group

F19 Kochilo 1

F20 Kochilo 2

F21 Kamariga 2

F22 Obenge 1

F23 Obenge 2

F24 Obenge 1

F25 Obenge 2

F26 Likungu 1

F27 Osindo 1

Total 43

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F28 Kamariga 1 Chair of KaCoHo group Kagwa, not in FSC

F29 Obenge 1 Caretaker of petrol pump KaCoHo group

Obenge, not in FSC

F30 Likungu 1 Showed the Likungu irrigation system, not in

FSC

F31-34 Other 4 Excluded from analysis

Total interviews 50

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ANNEX 5: OVERVIEW OF KEY INFORMANTS, INCLUDING CODING, AND SOME CHARACTERISTICS

Coding Function Since Experience Place

K1 Agricultural officer 2010 Before he was based as agricultural

officer in Kisumu

Madiany (Uyoma)

K2 Agricultural officer 2013 Education in agriculture Bondo

K3 Agrovet owner 2009 Education in agriculture Manyuanda (Uyoma)

K4 Agrovet employee 2011 Bondo

K5 Irrigation Officer 2011 Before based near Kisumu as

irrigation officer

Bondo

K6 Professor in soil, land

and water management

1996 Teaching in soil, water and plant

relations

Maseno University

K7 Professor agricultural

engineering

2012 Irrigation engineer from 1997-2012,

now professor in agricultural

engineering

JOOUST, Bondo

University

K8 Professor in horticulture 2013 Before teaching in flower-culture

for 25 years at Kenyatta university

Nairobi.

JOOUST, Bondo

University

K9 PLAN-employee

livelihood

2006 Bachelor in agribusiness, student in

project planning at Egerton

University.

Bondo

K10 Project manager

Western Kenya

2008 Involved as health manager in 8

year program

Bondo

K11 Kickstart 2000 Salesman for Kickstart organization Kisumu

K12 Employee Rift Valley

Machineries

2010 Selling petrol pumps and other

mechanical devices in the shop

Kisumu

K13 Owner of business in

mechanical devices

1975 Father started business, also selling

petrol pumps

Kisumu

K14 Employee Mitha

Electricals

Technician and salesman in petrol

pumps and other mechanical

devices in the shop

Kisumu

K15 Employee Powerlite Technician and salesman in petrol

pumps and other mechanical

devices in the shop

Kisumu

K16 Agricultural teacher and

student

Teacher in agriculture and master

student

Bondo

K17 Engineer, owner

workshop

1998 Education in agricultural

engineering at Egerton University

Rageng’ni (Uyoma)

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ANNEX 6: LOCAL AND URBAN MARKETS

In the following figures the geographical spread of respectively local and urban markets can be seen.

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ANNEX 7: CHARACTERISTICS OF PETROL PUMPS AND PIPES IN USE BY FARMERS IN THE CASE-STUDY AREA

Name Ownership petrol pump

Renting Make Capacity (hp)

Cost (Kes) Bought when?

Bought where? Pipes (own, share, borrow, hire)

Further details

Established Farmers (4)

F1 Own Rent out Honda 5,5 40.000 2002 30 owned

F2 Own - Honda 5,5 32.000 1995 Kisumu 30 owned, borrowed

F3 Own Borrow out Honda 5,5 45.000 2004 Kisumu Owned

F4 Own Rent out Brigs & Stratton

6,5 40.000 2011 Kisumu Owned 3rd pump in ownership

Innovators (8)

F5 Own Rent out Briggs & Stratton

2,5 18.000 2010 Kisumu, Ukwala supermarket

10 owned, borrowed

F6 Own - Honda 5,5 37.000 2012 Kisumu, Meta and Sons Electronics

Borrowed group?

F7 Own - Huawei 7,0 18.000 2014 Nairobi Owned, borrowed

F8 Group pump (2)

Borrow/hire Honda 5,5 45.000 2011

F9 Shared (partner)

- Honda, Koshin

5,5 35.000 2011 Kisumu Owned, shared?

F10 Own Borrow out Robin (Japan)

5,5 36.000 2013 Bondo 26 owned, borrowed

F11 Own Borrow out Honda 5,5 30.000 2011 Nairobi 42 owned

F12 Own - Tiger 5,5 26.000 2014 Kisumu 20 owned, borrowed Newest pump, older Honda from father also at home

Shared - Fujimax 6,5 57.000 2012 Shared pump with friend

Diversifiers (5)

F13 Own - Tiger 6,5 12.000 2007 Kisumu 17 owned, borrowed

F14 Own - Honda 35.000 2012 Kisumu, Tuskys supermarket

7 owned pump bought by father

F15 Group? Group Honda 3,5 45.000 2014 Kisumu, Meta and Sons Electronics

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F16 Caretaker Rent out 3,5 Kisumu Owned, shared Petrol pump is not owned by him, but he rents out

F17 Shared - Honda Dashin

5,5 35.000 2012 Kisumu Shared with neighbour farmer

Starters (10)

F18 Shared - Shano 6,5 20.000 2010 Kisumu 20 owned, borrowed Pump shared with other farmer

F19 Shared - Honda, Koshin

5,5 45.000 2008 Kisumu, Indian shops Owned, shared Pump shared with partner farmers

F20 Shared - Shano 6,5 20.000 2010 Kisumu 15 owned, borrowed Pump shared with other farmer

F21 - Hire 3,5 10 owned, borrowed Pump is hired from F16, not the group pump

F22 Own Rent out Honda, Koshin

4,0 28.000 2013 Aram Pipes owned by partner

Second-hand petrol pump

F23 - Hire Honda, Koshin

4,0 (W. thinks 5,5)

28.000 (W. thinks it is 35.000)

2013 Aram Hired from F22

F24 - Hire Honda (China?)

5,5 35.000 Kisumu Hire Hired from father F25

F25 Own Rent out Honda (China)

5,5 35.000 Kisumu 40 owned Owned by father

F26 - Borrow Honda 5 35-40.000 Borrowed Borrowed from farmers in Likungu group

F27 - Hire Honda ? 35.000 Hire

“you’ve got to pump it up” - wur

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