Soil conservation has long been a fundamental component of sustainable livelihood systems. Yet recent economic changes brought on by trade liberalization, decentralization, elimination of public subsidies and reduction of services to agriculture have rendered off-farm employment a critical rural livelihood strategy that often discourages soil conservation practice. In Kenya, where most farms are less than 3 hectares, the majority of households must supplement farm production with off-farm work in order to subsist. Off-farm work, however, reduces the availability of household labor for on-farm activities, such as soil conservation. Unless farmers have abundant household labor or can afford to hire additional labor, they neglect their land as they increasingly pursue off-farm work. Throughout Western Kenya, where only men tend to work off-farm and women have taken on additional farming responsibilities, soil conservation practice is further affected by household composition. Yet if the added income generated off the farm is sufficient and applied towards on-farm improvements, off-farm work can lead to increased soil conservation practice. This dissertation research project, conducted throughout the highlands of western Kenya by a cultural anthropologist from the University of Florida, examines the effects of household composition, resource access, and off-farm work on the practice of on-farm soil conservation. The research tests the hypothesis that farming households comprised of members employed in higher paying, industrial or service sector off-farm jobs practice more soil conservation than those comprised of members employed in lower paying, agricultural off-farm jobs. Participant observation in two rural villages, ethnographic interviews of 120 farming households, decision-modeling, and statistical analysis are used to understand the opportunities, constraints, and rationale motivating West Kenyan farmers to practice or not practice soil conservation. The broader impacts of the project, in addition to the contribution to the education of a young social scientist, rest on its contribution to local agricultural development programs. The results of the project are also significant to Kenyan policymakers interested in directing scarce funds and services towards the sectors and activities that hold the most promise for both poverty alleviation and resource conservation.
