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- ItemThe Participatory Integration of the Rural Youth in Sustainable Agriculture for Sustainable Development of Kamara Division, Nakuru, Kenya(Tangaza University College, 2001-04) Muchunguzi, WilbertThe right and obligation to authentic development is one of the principles enshrined in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human rights. And the issue of social integration of every individual, especially the disadvantaged people, in development was loudly expressed at the 1995 Copenhagen World summit for social Development' and later adopted as a guide by the Kenyan National Poverty Eradication Plan. These are just but harbingers that things, somewhere, were not moving the way they were expected to be. Looking back we see that, throughout history people have evolved natural units of settlement to meet their social, cultural and economic needs. This was the origin of rural communities where people strive for self-sufficiency and sustainability through available material, non-material and, most importantly, human resources inclusively. Today's rural communities seek to develop into more viable economic units within modernizing nations. How authentically this has to be brought about in the rural Kenya like Kamara division, remains the main concern. Contemporary popular development is mistakenly trapped in the local and global confusion characterized by economic, political and cultural dominance and influence that lead to social alienation. Those with no means of survival suffer deprivation the most. Unfortunately, the rural youth lie in this category. According to the Welfare Monitoring Survey of 1994, it was estimated that 12.6 million Kenyans lived below the poverty line. In rural areas, the incidences of poverty were 49%2. The effects of this is multidimensional destitution, which manifests itself in form of deficiency of material, social, economic and cultural needs and rights which an individual, household or community hold as vitally important for their survival. Deprived people experience food insecurity, insufficient income, deprivation of knowledge, low quality of life, lack of shelter, social inequality, lack of essential social services and reduced life expectancy. Since the youth constitute the biggest section of the rural population, they are the most suffering. Agriculture is the mainstay of livelihood for many of Kenyans. Since alternative sources of subsistence such as employment, industry, business and informal sectors outside agriculture are scarce, it employs more than 80% of the rural population. Small-scale farming, whose nature is subsistence (food security and reasonable income), dominates the Kenyan agricultural sector. Among the multipronged problems that face subsistence fanning are ecological, economic, political financial, sociocultural, technical, demographic, organizational and environmental. Inequalities in international trade policies also add fuel to the problems. Individually or combined, these problems destabilize the smallscale farmers and their ever scarce resources. This leads to unscrupulous exploitation of resources and unsustainable livelihood and future. We should not be shocked then to see poor fanning practices, forests and catchments inversion and destruction, environmental depletion, unpredictable weather fluctuation and recurring famines. The crown of all is rural massive unemployment, abject poverty and social alienation, which pave a way to rural-urban drift. Here begins people's vulnerability. Where does the future lie then? Which kind of legacy will the future generation receive; will they be able to meet their needs from the same resources uncompromisingly and live a decent life worth of their dignity if we fail to prepare now? What does all these call for? In fact this imposes a very serious social question for us all. It is a prophetic call requiring a critical listening in order to come up with effective interventions. The possible effective answer is participatory integration. Investing in people in collaboration and partnership should be the way forward. Proper mobilization and indiscriminate integration of the whole local population in harnessing the locally available resources) is essentially important to the sustainable agriculture and rural development process. Thus the youth will be able to act as carriers of the sustainable future.
- ItemSustainable Agriculture and Integral Rural Development through Participation(Tangaza University College, 2001-03) Kayago Kinara, RaphaelAgricultural farming has been in practice since the discovery of the iron- age period. Prior to this period, people were hunters, gatherers and fishermen. With the discovery of iron, implements were shaped in such a way that to clear, dig and till the land was made possible. This is the scientific explanation of how agriculture started. In the Bible, it is shown that God instituted agriculture when He placed the first couple in the Garden of Eden. After Adam and Eve had sinned, they were summoned to work, toil and sweat in the garden before they would get what to eat. In Africa, the traditions show that in some cultures pure arable farming was practised. Others were pastoralists and nomads. Still others practised both animal rearing and the growing of crops. Traditionally, some agricultural systems that were popular have disappeared over time because they would not be sustained for a variety of reasons. Some have been sustained for a number of years and are still flourishing. The question we ask here is, are the flourishing systems viable for sustainable agriculture? Is sustainable agriculture a system that may allow rural development that is both economically profitable and environmentally compatible? In the Old Testament (0T), in the book of Genesis, agriculture is not singled out whether it is an occupation of the poor or the rich people. The whole family, the society is involved in it. In the latter part of the OT, that is, during the prophetic time, agriculture is associated miith the poor people. In the New Testament (NT), it is not apparent N‘hether farming was an activity of the poor or the rich people. What is shown is that those who were poor served as slaves in the farms of the rich people. In the context of the OT, we may not deny the aspect of agricultural sustainability since all factors of production were constant and available. The same case applies to the traditional African agriculture. Sustainability was assured since factors( soil erosion, deforestation, overgrazing) that caused unsustainability had not cropped in. In agriculture, sustainability is a system in which a farmer is equipped continuously with the capacities for managing the factors of production namely, land, labour and capital. This continuity is there with increasing efficiency to satisfy the ever-changing needs and circumstances while maintaining the natural resource base. Agriculture is currently not sustainable because it generates environmental degradation, threatening crop production, animal rearing as well as human existence while causing imbalance in natural forest resources traditionally regarded as renewable. The problems of agricultural sustainability are linked in a critical framework such that to draw a distinction is not very clear. These problems include poverty, deforestation, fuelwood exhaustion, overgrazing, use of crop residues, soil erosion, flooding and accumulation of chemicals in the soil. Therefore, the topic of sustainable agriculture and rural development in participation is of high priority in all countries of the world, whether they are developed or developing in their recent economies. Any changes that alter the favourable conditions for agriculture upsets the whole system of its sustainability. The methodology used in this essay is the integration of secondary data through reading and primary data through interviewing of people already teaching and practising sustainability in agricultural activities and rural development. According to the methodology of see judge and act, this essay is the judge' part of the fact finding report as experienced at Lare division- Nakuru Diocese during field attachment. The choice of this topic is to address the issues of sustainability in agriculture and rural development. It seems that sustainability has been looked at from two sides. There are those who talk of sustainable agriculture and leave a side sustainable development. For us in this essay we deal with both. This is because sustainability to be achieved, the lives of people must be improved for the better and in a continuous process. In essence this is the same time the resources of agricultural development must be carried out without depleting them, but assuring their renewability for the present and future generations. Other reason for choosing this topic is because agricultural activities that are carried out in rural Kenya contribute to unsustainability. The natural resources (water, forests, soils and animals) are diminishing their potentiality at a higher rate with no signs of renewability. Chapter One is a brief background of Lare Integrated Extension Project and causes of agricultural impoverishment in Kenya. Chapter Two highlights the concept of sustainability in agriculture and in development. Discussed are the issues of rural agricultural development through participation and the contribution of agriculture to the economy of Kenya. Therein mentioned is the concept of gender and agricultural development. In the third chapter, theological reflections on agriculture in the OT, in the NT, on the social teaching of the church and pastoral approaches to agriculture are discussed. Chapter Four has recommendations, challenges and conclusion remarks. Lastly, is the bibliography and the appendixes.