Volume XXXII – Number 1
Esther Wangari
Abstract:
This article seeks to expand the analysis of urban problems beyond rural-urban migration and overpopulation to incorporate the causal post-colonial factors that trandsformed the condition of women in Kenya. Colonialism and post-colonial land policies have resulted in devastating effects on the welfare of the Kenyan people, calling for a reexamination of how the West defines economic development. The forceful privatization of self-sustaining farming systems led to environmental degradation and left millions landless and impoverished, pushing women to become both the main food producers and the heads of relatively protectionist their households. The land privatization that occurred as Kenya became “independent” benefitted multinational corporations at the expense of the poor and created policies that oppressed women and worsened their condition, with one example being the exclusion of women from owning land. Western influence on policies has resulted in a decrease in living standards and economic opportunities in both rural and urban areas. This is illustrated by multinational corporations’ access to cheap, non-unionized labor and the dumping of toxic waste in slums, where the majority of families are headed by single women. Poverty, hunger, and environmental degradation should not be blamed on the people of Kenya but should instead prompt the West to reconsider its role and policies in the Third World.
