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Fahamu Pan- African Fellowship

Community Transect Walk and Study

Dialogue, Mwea Irrigation Scheme

26th -29th August 2014

Thiba Catholic Church

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Abbreviations

ALDEV: African Land Development ABN: Africa Biodiversity Network AGOA: FPAP-Fahamu Pan-African Fellowship Programme FIDA: Federation of Women Lawyers-Kenya Chapter ICJ: International Commission of Jurists KHRC: Kenya Human Rights Commission LAC: Labour Awareness Centre NIB- National Irrigation Board MRM: Mwea Rice Mills MNCs: Multi National Corporations MOH: Ministry Of Health SACCOS: Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies PAR: Participatory Action Research TI: Transparency International WTO: World Trade Organization

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Acknowledgement

The successful completion of the Mwea Study Dialogue and community transect walk process is owed to the joint effort of Fahamu’s partners, fellows, faculty members and Fahamu staff. We acknowledge the support of Ford Foundation , without whose financial contribution the Fellowship Programme would not have taken off. Of special mention are the Fellows for their selfless dedication to the process, their shared experiences on the struggles in their different communities made the dialogue more interesting and enriching. We acknowledge the various organizations that provided us with resource materials for reading during the immersion process. We acknowledge Transparency International, Federation of Women Lawyers-Kenya Chapter, Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) and The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)-Kenya Chapter. We appreciate the efforts of Fahamu staff that in one way or another contributed towards making the Mwea study Dialogue and community transect walk a reality.

Introduction The Mwea Community study dialogue and transect walk took place in the Mwea Irrigation Scheme was the 2nd in a series of Monthly dialogues conducted under Fahamu's Pan African Fellowship Programme (FPAP) .The objectives of the

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Fellowship Programme were: to inspire grassroots organizers in deriving theories that explain their struggles and enable generation of locally liberating knowledge and practice resulting into further analysis of struggles and issues from a local to continental perspectives. The study sessions took place from 26th -29th August 2014, hosted by Mwea Foundation. The study and dialogue process brought together a minimum of 30 participants,(16 women:14 men)which comprised of Mwea Foundation members and their allies, rice farmers in Mwea and Faculty members. Mwea Foundation was the host movement during the learning period. The Fellowship process is expected to result into generation of diverse narratives by fellows on local knowledge, experiences and theories that stir public dialogues on social justice, expanded frames of reference amongst fellows enabling a deepened understanding of the oppressions and tactics to apply, improved community organizing beyond the state-centric systems and processes, increased cadre of politically conscious activists at the regional level and an enhanced Pan-African outlook on community organizing by grassroots organizers. The long term transformation expected from the Fellowship process entails renewed and stronger networks of solidarity by activists and scholars, transformative leadership among activists and growth in grassroots leadership within communities inspired to mobilize power to change the social, economic and political context in their sites of struggle. During the study dialogue and transect walk, participatory learning methodologies were adopted, which included reflections, games and songs, case studies, lecturettes and experience sharing. Mwea Irrigation Scheme is one of the seven public schemes under the management of the National Irrigation Board (NIB). Mwea is located in Kirinyaga County and is 100 km North East of Nairobi. The scheme constitutes of 30, 350 acreage in area, with 16,000 acres developed for paddy production. Two main rivers Nyamidi and Thiba serve the scheme. 1n 1952, the colonial government declared a State of Emergency in Kenya, African people took to the jungles of Mt Kenya to wage a full fledged war in the clamour for independence. The British colonialists responded by mass arrests and detentions. From 1956-57, the colonialists started a phased release of detainees and Mwea became a holding ground for these detainees prior to their release. Initially the detainees were taken to Mwea to provide labour during mapping of the area to ascertain its viability for rice production. The detainees were responsible for digging canals. Upon being freed, many ex-detainees went back to their places of birth only to discover that they had been excluded from land allocation hence decided to go back to Mwea. Come 1958, each farmer was given 4 acres of land of rice for cultivation within the scheme, the farmers were tenants in this land.

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The scheme upon completion was under the management of the African Land Development (ALDEV) – a parastatal body of the colonial administration which was handed over to the Ministry of Agriculture when Kenya got its independence IN 1963.The Ministry of Agriculture further handed over the ownership and management of the Irrigation Scheme to the National Irrigation Board in 1966.Under the National Irrigation Board (NIB), farmer’s rice was bought and marketed with the farmers lacking the autonomy of choice on preferred buyers or markets and the irrigation board would deduct from the farmers rice equivalent to the cost of fertilizers, irrigation costs and canal maintenance with the farmer being allocated a mere 12 bags after a year-long production. The Board was also responsible for all the activities in the production chain, which included land preparation, credit provision, crop husbandry activities, harvesting and post harvest handling including marketing. Initially milling and marketing of rice was being undertaken through Mwea Rice Mills (MRM), however, the system collapsed in 1998 when farmers had a revolution popularly known as“ Gatemanuo “ and demanded to be allowed to market the crop on their own. Mwea Irrigation Scheme is in Kirinyaga County. The Scheme was started in 1956 and is predominantly rice growing area. Mwea Irrigation Scheme occupies an area covering 30,350 acres. A section of the scheme has been developed for paddy production while other areas are used for settlement and public utility. Two rivers, Nyamidi and Thiba are the sources of water for irrigation. Each farmer holds 4 acres of land. Since its inception until 1998, the scheme was run by the National Irrigation Board (NIB) which derives its mandate from the Irrigation Act Cap 1947.The responsibilities of the board include land preparation, credit provision, crop husbandry, harvesting, post harvesting handling as well as marketing. National Irrigation Board (NIB) also undertakes milling through the Mwea Rice Mills (MRM) however there are independent mills owners by Savings And Credit Cooperative Societies (SACCOs) and private individuals.

Day 1: Tuesday, 26th August 2014

Session 1: Reconvening Again

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The session entailed fellows being introduced to new faculty members and allies. The fellows and faculty members were excited about the learning process. The fellows were then taken through an introduction to Participatory Research and Action (PAR). Rationale for research was discussed as:

To gain more knowledge on a problem To dig deeper into a problem in-order to understand it better Learning together to address a common problem

Core elements in Participatory Action Research (PAR) were discussed as: Democratic- spaces are provided for the target group to make decisions in the process. The decisions were discussed as what to do with the research findings, what tools to use, what subject /issue to research on Participatory - it incorporates the views of every community member and the community is core in all the research processes Empowering-The process involved working with the target community .The community members are responsible for identification of what their problem is and ranking /prioritizing their problems The fellows were asked to share their experiences on research work they had done in the past, some had researched on workers rights, and others on reproductive health issues while for some research work had research on property rights among widowed women. The faculty recognized that the fellows had interacted with research at some point and explained that Participatory Action Research (PAR) aimed at deepening their understanding of their struggles in terms of knowledge generation and translating the knowledge into action towards realization of social change in their different spheres of struggle. It was noted that research has gone through a revolution, from when research was a preserve of males to incorporating feminist perspective on research and not carrying out research for the sake of research but with the aim of the study resulting into actions.

Day 2: Wednesday, 27th August 2014

Session 1: Getting to Know the Mwea Community

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Victor Munene, Vice-Chair Mwea Foundation who appreciated the opportunity for the movement to host the study, led the session.

The fellows and faculty were taken through a brief of Mwea Foundation whose membership comprises of farmers in Mwea and a brief background to the Mwea community. Getting to know each other: faculty members, fellows and host community

Preparations for the Community Transect Walk In this session, the participants were taken through a walk in the community

entailing visits to farms to observe, learn and ask. The session provided the participants with an opportunity to reflect on the various struggles by the farmers. Cross section of Fellows during the community transect walk

During the transect walk, the fellows were able to observe rice farmers at work including land preparation, weeding and gapping. The fellows observed that the lengthy with the farmers staying on the farm from dawn to. In addition it was shared that Quelea birds attack rice farms and when farmers kill them they are taken to court. A paddy field in Mwea To scare away the quelea, the only options available for the farmers were to make noise to scare them away and this had to be done from morning to evening. An interactive session ensued with the farmers sharing their stories and responding to questions posed by the mentor, fellows and faculty members. Interactions and dialogue with the farmers provided space for the fellows to learn on the challenges faced by the peasant farmers in Mwea which included:

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inability to control the prices of rice, the arduous nature of the work on the rice fields, lack of sanitation in the rice field, high levels of waterborne diseases e.g. bilharzia and lack of autonomy as everything in the farm is controlled by National Irrigation Board (NIB).

Voices of farmers on

struggles for agrarian

reforms –the case of Mwea

Irrigation scheme

Session 2: Analysis of the Struggle In this session, the farmers narrated significant events in the Mwea Irrigation Scheme on their quest agrarian reforms. The objective of the analysis was to draw connections between the Mwea Struggle and struggles in other parts of

Kenya as well as provide space for the fellows to listen and learn from Mwea Foundation members and their allies. The session further provided an opportunity for deepened understanding of the plight of farmers in irrigation scheme, the various strategies they have applied in their struggles

including successes achieved and challenges faced. To provide a gendered perspective on the struggle, two farmers shared their experiences of the struggles from the 1950s to mid 1990s, which was captured as follows: Gendered Perspectives on the Struggles for Agrarian Reforms –the Case of Mwea Irrigation Scheme Female Perspectives on the Struggles in Mwea Irrigation

Male Perspectives on the Struggles in Mwea Irrigation Scheme – Jonah

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Scheme-Margaret Jeri Gitimu According to Njeri, many children

did not go to school because of difficulties in getting school fees among parents. They felt as slaves and growing rice was a difficult task. The farmers were not allowed to grow any other crops apart from rice on their farms, and if they grew, officers from the National Irrigation Board (NIB) uprooted this.

Njeri narrating the plight of peasant farmers Women worked on the rice fields

together with their children, prolonged work resulted into backaches. There were no toilets in the irrigation schemes leading to open defeacation in the canals.

When pregnant, women got very

little time off the land, circumstances forced many women to go back to the rice fields only 3 weeks after delivery

Before 1950s pastoralism was being practiced in the current day Mwea Irrigation Scheme, farmers used to graze their animals on the land freely

Life was difficult for the farmers

from the 1950s; the farmers were brought to Mwea to dig canals. They were Mau Mau detainees who had been dispossessed of their land in their ancestral homes upon release

When the farmer harvested their

crop, all the rice had to be take to the National Irrigation Board (NIB) for storage

The farmers were being physically

beaten; bells were erected at different points in the village, which were rung to signal the farmers to go to work

In Jonah’s view, the farmers were

unable to control the prices of rice at the mills .The farmers could not keep any domestic animals e.g. cows, goats or even cats within the scheme. The types of shelter availed were mud houses and farmers were not allowed to build permanent houses. According to Jonah, the farmers were brought to Mwea as detainees not to survive but to die

“ We lived like slaves we were thoroughly beaten

.Rearing chicken , goats or even a cat was a crime”-Jonah (87 year old rice

farmer)

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Upon death of their spouses, widows were dispossessed of control and access rights to the rice farms with the manager at National Irrigation Board (NIB) only allowing for inheritance along male lineage.

When children reach the age of 18

years, they had to be expelled from home; this was as a result of a clause in the contained in Irrigation Act. It was painful for parents to send their children away.

Jonah during the narratives on farmers in Mwea

During planting, there was a 4-inch space from one crop to the next, this was very difficult to make the estimates, and if a farmer did not plant properly they were denied rice the whole year.

Mwea Irrigation Scheme Historical Timelines 1950s 1956 state of emergency declared and detention camps

constructed Released detainees brought to Mwea Tebere irrigation scheme started

1960s Started planting maize and beans In 1957 Tebere Irrigation scheme started and two

farming units constructed ( Units 5 and 13)

“Our children had marasmus because of

eating rice and ugali. If you grew vegetables it was uprooted”- Njeri,

rice farmer Mwea irrigation Scheme

If your harvest was bad, you got 4 bags, some people even had 4 wives, I had a wife and 13 children, the few bags of rice made life difficult in many households-Jonah Gitimu (87 year of rice farmer)

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Karima village started Graphical representation of Mwea through the historical timelines

1970s Maendeleo and Kiratini villages formed Miherega (clans) brought more people from Gichugu and

Ndia to Mwea to settle on the land There were land conflict as land was being disbursed to

people from other regions 1990s to date

Increased number of machines milling rice There is market liberalization, farmers can market and

sell their rice, however they are unable to control the prices of rice

Farmers allowed to keep rice in their homes

Session 3: Re-Energizing Community Dialogue This session entailed an analysis by Mwea Foundation members, fellows, allies and faculty members. Further, the fellows were taken through a discussion on what they had learnt and connectivity between the struggles of farmers in Mwea with struggles in the fellow’s respective social movements. A comparative analysis also ensued with the farmers comparing life during the 60s and contemporary life of a rice farmer. Comparative analysis of the struggles 1960s and 2000s According to the farmers and Mwea Foundation members, some change in the lives of the farmer had been realized. This included the following:

Being allowed to grow vegetables hence their children having access to balanced diets

Ability to make decisions about where to sell their rice (either to SACCOs, NIB or private individuals )

Being allowed to take their

rice home upon harvest Rice gapping- female farmers immersed in water devoid of protective gear

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However, the farmers pointed out that despite the gains achieved, the cost of production had escalated whereas their sales were not as high. The farmers also cited the inability to control the prices of their commodity despite market liberalization as the National Irrigation Board (NIB) was controlling the sales of rice in the market.

Gatemanuo1-The Farmers’ Revolution This was an interactive session where the farmers shared about their revolution, which took place in 1998. Rice farmers in Mwea boycotted the sale of rice to the National Irrigation Board(NIB) demanding price increment. Property belonging to NIB was destroyed and lives were lost, many farmers were injured. The success of the revolution is that farmers were able to sell their rice to their preferred buyers and could carry the rice home as opposed to previously when all the farmer’s harvest had to be delivered to the National Irrigation Board (NIB)for storage. Intersecting fellows struggles with Mwea Rice Farmers Struggles Social movement Intersectionality of struggles Bunge la Wamama Mashinani

-The lack of sanitation in the irrigation scheme is similar to absence of toilets in many part of Mathare -Women having to go to work immediately they give birth, has detrimental effects on their reproductive and physical health

Labour Resource Centre (LRC)

-The low proceeds from rice production compared to the work done by the farmers is similar to what workers in tea plantations go through -Lack of protective gear when working on the paddy fields -Length of time the rice farmers take in the rice fields is similar to the long hours tea workers work in the tea plantations

Shibuye Community Health Workers

-The lack of inheritance rights among widowed women whose right to control the rice farms is taken away by the National Irrigation Board (NIB) manager -The ardoous work done by females while its men who control the proceeds

Ndunduni Self Help Group

-Having sell-outs when members agree on a way forward is similar to Ndunduni especially during decisions on planned demonstrations

1 A revolution organized by farmers in Mwea to contest pricing by the National Irrigation Board and other oppressions against peasant rice growers

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Emerging Questions i) You have been here for a long time, in bending when working on the farms, is there a health problem that affects women and not men? Women do hard work in Mwea, the hardest being planting, harvesting and weeding, elderly women over 60 years cannot do these activities. Many work in water and many suffer from bone diseases i.e. working in marshy places from 35 years and below and the ones who are able to do the work. Working in the rice fields depends on age; young people are the ones that can carry rice bags because they are very heavy. ii) Were you affected by cultures and traditions in while working on land? This is because in some communities when women and girl are on their menses they are not allowed to till land or visit farms. There has never been a case of women not working on land during periods, even when in labor 3 weeks after labour you can still go and till the land, one is forced by circumstances iii) What happened if a farmer was/ is unable to till his land? The land was taken away and given to someone else iv) Are there many cases of conflicts related to land in Mwea? There are many land related conflicts in Mwea, most of the cases are children versus parents or siblings versus siblings, there have also been cases of disinheritance by siblings and in extreme cases murder of either parents or siblings v) What happens to land when children of the farmers mature and either marry or get married? The land is subdivided into smaller plots to enable access v) Have toilets never been built in the irrigation scheme? Initially there were toilets build by Eco San but the toilets were vandalized by the farmers hence the present challenge of open defeacation vi) What is the solution to the sanitation problem in Mwea? Building more toilets in the area, initially only 2 toilets were built which were not enough hence farmers vandalized them as a way of venting their anger on the inadequacy of the toilets vis-à-vis the population

Narratives on historiography of Mwea

Irrigation Scheme

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Session 4: Conversations with Mentor Ruth

Nyambura & Documentary Screening“ The Mining

Curse”

The fellows watched the documentary “ The Mining Curse” which highlighted work done by Africa Biodiversity Network(ABN) and custodians of sacred sites in protecting sacred sites in Tharaka and Masii from the negative impact of environmental degradation in the wake of development. Through the documentary , fellows observed the interaction of effects of mining on nature, colonization of sacred natural sites in the quest for precious stones , imbalanced eco-systems Plenary deliberations Discussions ensured which entailed the following:

All of us have a responsibility of conserving the eco-system If the environment is not taken care of food security becomes a threat Human activity leads to environmental destruction e.g. pressure on land Policies and laws should be put in place to protect sacred sites There is power in coming together and speaking with one voice on

environmental protection Intergenerational transfer of knowledge is very important in protection

of sacred sites In deliberating on the intersectionality of the struggles the following were the emerging issues : Mwea Foundation Perspective The construction of Lukenya Dam at the tune of Kshs 8 billion, the purpose of the dam was to serve the Mwea irrigation scheme , funding was from the Japanese government but the project has stalled since 1998 over a battle of supremacy amongst the political class Resource person’s perspective The greatest challenge in Mwea is monoculture through over- reliance on rice production

There is need for further analysis on what can salvage the ecosystem while at the same time allowing people to live in dignity

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Environmental factors can result into or determine other challenges e.g. peace, conflict in the community

On a continental perspective , environmental degradation to pave way for development was cited as a feature common in Uganda , Karamoja region where families were being compensated after eviction , some people refuse citing their emotional attachment to their ancestral land Faculty members’ perspective It was pointed out that with regards to climate climate change, Africa’s contribution to global warming is only 4% of emission of fossil fuels , but will be made to suffer most as a result of the negative effects of global warming. Another example is Norway, which is responsible for the deaths of indigenous people in Peru, Brazil and Venezuela where indigenous communities are being evicted from their ancestral land to pave way for agri-business. It was noted that there is need to properly frame the oppression in terms of the oppressor and the oppressed. Cartels existing in Europe and China have been responsible for large scale fishing in West Africa through the usage of trawling system which sucks fish in large numbers .It was remarked that 1 billion USD has been lost as a result of oil drilling, furthermore, seismic blasts during oil drilling are responsible for destruction of large numbers of fish and some migrate to other places. The deliberations resulted into the view that ,there is need to go back to our roots , for farmers to grow indigenous seeds and put in place seed banks thus they do not have to and shop for seeds ,furthermore, there is need to interrogate development and question whose development?

Day 3: Wednesday, 28th August 2014

Session 1: Recap of the previous day The fellows and faculty were asked to share their highlight moment of the previous day. The highlight moments were shared as:

It takes time to get the full narrative, the full picture of a story Knowledge that people can work to Recognition that there is power in farmers in Mwea and that they can use

their power collectively to create change

The way Victor (Vice chair, Mwea Foundation) was coming with information piece by piece and this helped inform the way forward on the struggle

That the workshop is proceeding on well since its inception

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Perspectives on Gatemanuo: An analysis of Successes, Challenges and Opportunities

To learn the relationship between an organization and a movement It is easy to create a movement from an organization Gained better understanding of the concept of social movements i.e. re-

analysis of mea foundation That the farmers can work together with NIB and not be antagonistic

towards each other

Day 4: Wednesday, 27th August 2014

Session 1: Recap of the Community Transect Walk

and

Dialogue Based on the transect walk, what are the priority issues that the Mwea community needs to tackle and how are they manifesting itself? Issue Manifestation Sanitation -Lack of toilets in the scheme, open defecation Health -Vulnerability to water borne diseases, lack of

provision for domestic water Rising levels of poverty among the farmers

-Experience sharing by the farmers on the pricing of rice and the exploitation they go through everything controlled by NIB, physical features – torn clothes, children dropping out of school due to lack of school fees

Antagonism between community and NIB

-Pain in the reflection during sharing of historical timelines by the farmers (lack of provision for domestic water) -If you kill a bird destroying your rice, one is taken to court

Lack of collective voice -Farmers sharing that they do not have a registered organization and to achieve anything they have to have a registered organization -Comparing the past pressure group with the current situation and sharing of the changes they have been able to achieve “ Gatemanuo” in the past they had leaders

Gender imbalance -Women treated as inferior beings e.g. in land allocation by NIB i.e. the 4 acres, its the name of a man that is on the title deed and women have to contest through NIB to get a share of land -Women undertaking arduous work but its men who go for the rice money not women

Risk -Children fishing from the canals, at risk of drowning,

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some die in the process when the canals are opened to release water into the irrigation schemes -Inhalation of chemicals – fertilizers without protective gear

Child labour -Children working alongside their parents to access livelihoods,

Conflict within the household

-Sharing that the largest number of cases either in courts or at the chief camp is land related cases

Stigma -Children sent away from the homes when they get 18 years

Security of tenure -Quest for title deeds Transport -Lack of adequate transport when people become

sick at night –insecurity in the area Lack of Social cohesion and collective vision

-People sell land aimlessly -Children dropping out of school -The community present not certain about their history

Crime Boda bod2a have to go home by midnight Poor governance in state affairs

-People looking at policy of NIB, targeting of management whereas poor governance is the issue

Poor access to basic services

-Water and sanitation seen as a major problem

Organizing and mobilization of the community is weak

-Lack of proper understanding of key issues in the community (difficulties in getting priorities)

Land struggles -Skewed inheritance (females not allowed to inherit, ordained by culture

Ignorance -Farmers used to being oppressed and not wanting to change the status quo

Lack of information -The National Irrigation Board (NIB) not open with information, resistance to share information with farmers

Lack of forums for learning

-Lack of knowledge on their history

Any other issues that you observed that were not surface

The shared vision of where they want to go as a community was different amongst various community members

Impact of politics was not mentioned, in choice of leaders they do not care the kinds of leaders they choose

Lack of collectives – formation of one union of farmers Resistant to uptake of technology- resistant to new methods of farming People had different ideals on how they want their future to be Lack of collective voice in challenging their oppressions Recognition of the power they have as a collective The absence of perspectives of children and how these oppressions are

affecting them 2 Boda boda is a motorcycle

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Environmental degradation – garbage dropped anywhere Erosion – canals outside the farms Clogged drains-water not moving in the canals Degeneration of social fabrics –substantive consumption of alcohol How they drive –unnecessary noise – culture of social fabric

Key emerging issues Based on the deliberations, key emerging issues were identified as:

Fear of security of where they are living and what they are working on The reclaiming of power is a major issue, farmers have the power but the

power is out there e.g. NIB and the government Cohesion is the strength part of power i.e. collective organizing that build

on strength Historization of the struggle i.e. building a story about the struggle and

incorporating their successes If gatemanuo was a success, how can they celebrate gatemanuo day in

Mwea as a revolutionary day Visioning is critical but the farmers lack a collective vision of their

community Gender imbalance has been brought to the fore Market forces i.e. consumerism is driving the rice market in Mwea, this

has taken away the rights to decision making by the farmers

Session 2:Introduction to Theories of Change-

Dr. Steve Ouma(Pamoja Trust) The fellows were assigned readings on Strategic Plans and Annual Reports of Human Rights organizations namely: Transparency International (TI), Federation of Women Lawyers –Kenya (FIDA), Kenya National Human Rights Commission (KHRC), Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) and International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)-Kenya Chapter. The fellows were further asked to read about the history of Korogocho entitled: Coming to birth by Dan Juma.On the strategic plan and annual reports, the fellows were asked to identify 30 key concepts they came across from the readings and define them according to each fellow’s understanding.

Session 3: Introduction to movement Building-

By Esther Mwaura (GROOTS Kenya) In introducing the session, the Fellows were taken through theories that explain the genesis of social movement. These included Abraham Maslow’s theory of Hierarchy of Needs and an explanation on how lack of needs results onto contestation. The participants were reminded that after a need is satisfied, another higher need emerges which must be satisfied. Power Analysis in Movement Building

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In analyzing power, the Fellows and farmers were taken through power to, power under and power over as follows:

Power to /power within us – what is our power, the majority of the power to translate change is the power within us. This is also the power to mobilize and organize

Power under- groups that are oppressed are not passive, they have a power and have not analyzed their powers and how they can tackle their oppressors

Power over-This was described as dominating power. The faculty cautioned that people who are oppressed when they get into power are likely to become the worst oppressors

Building Social Movements without money

In Mwea Foundation it was observed that those who can speak clearly about issues are men and not women, the feminist theory says we must topple this.

The way National Irrigation Board(NIB) oppresses farmers is the same way the farmers oppress their wives and children

The government is just watching what the farmers are doing, the same government is making arrangement for NIB to get grants to continue funding NIB are we getting anywhere NIB has got a grant of 5 billion from World Bank through African Development Bank, it’s a cycle

The whole thing is bigger than it is thought Fundamentals of sustaining movements The faculty pointed out that the fundamentals of sustaining movements were also applicable to building social movements without money.

Ability to frame issues on a continuous basis Ability to organize Role of communication of the issues at hand and everybody is in touch Need to emphasize on people centered research e.g. farmers tracking

productivity and changes in pricing and talking about it Willing to network and build alliances is core to the movement Capacity to manage large scale organizing (bottom up approach) e.g.

Muungano wa Wanavijiji 3organized within their reach Comments in plenary Faculty member’s perspectives

The social movement theory enables people to interpret their grievances, it’s a channel /tool to enable individuals make sense of their experiences

3 Collective of slum dwelling communities

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There is need for clarity in social movements e.g. the usage of words as movement building is about the spirit and if words are used haphazardly it can be detrimental

The history of a people need not be common as is the case of the farmers in Mwea, some came from Ndia, Gichugu , Murang’a and other parts of Central Kenya but they can still share their history and identify areas of commonality

Social movements help frame issues Need for all fellows working on land related issues to understand land

tenure system in Kenya to understand whether the government can relinquish a given land tenure system

The community to learn about what fragmentation of land has done to communities in Kisii and central province

The Fellows need to familiarize themselves with the Crops Schedule 2012 as some may be handling scheduled crops e.g. rice in their respective counties

Fellows Perspectives

Identification of injustices may not be the real problem e.g. forceful eviction of children when they get to 18 years as was the case as stipulated by the National Irrigation Board (NIB) by-laws but another way would be to carry out a resource assessment to push the struggle forward

Men in Mwea must start treating women differently so that when they get power to overcome the National Irrigation Board( NIB) this transformation may be visible

There is a lot of flow of cash in Mwea that is not being tapped it becomes detrimental

Moving forward for the host organization Asked to cite what they felt was movement building in their day-to-day activities , Mwea Foundation members shared the following:

Working with women farmers in Mwea to discuss the struggle Sharing information on movement building in chiefs barazas4 What farmers get is not commensurate with what they earn There has been attempts towards enabling people to understand their

situation On missed opportunities in movement building, the Mwea Foundation members and farmers shared as missing some of the important targets e.g. other stakeholders operating in the area and instead over concentrating on the National Irrigation Board and legal tussles. Opportunities for Movement Building in Mwea On opportunities in favour of movement building within Mwea, the following were cited: 4 Baraza is an open forum meeting

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The target group is core in the struggle i.e. farmers Collaborating with new groups in the locality for instance Thursday

every week 2000 women converge in Thiba ward to discuss economic issues

Instead of fighting with the National Irrigation Board (NIB) which to date has been fruitless, to seek opportunities where they can collaborate together for the benefit of the farmers e.g. accessibility to clean domestic water

Experience sharing on retreat in movement building Mwea Foundation members shared an experience on retreat in movements building as follows: “In February 2013, NIB had closed the canals for 2 weeks and people in Mwea did not have water. Residents mostly farmers wanted a demonstration, one of the leaders of Mwea foundation was called to NIB and promised goodies” Based on the scenario above, the following comments emerged:

There is need to have as a movement minimum non-negotiables a point where activists cannot go beneath

There is need to do adequate research about a given action Need to get a radical element in the movement for this is a better

methods when others have flopped Organizing is a good input to movement building, there are things you

ought to know as an organizer when to retreat and why not to retreat The process of retreating has to be consultative People of Mwea need to rethink who is their target for sanitation and

water. A good gain in the current Constitution is the issue of access to basic services for all Kenyans

Ministry of Health (MOH), the area Member of Parliament and county government officials have an obligation has a responsibility of ensuring availability of toilets in irrigation scheme. From a political perspective, Mwea farmers are voters and hence have a stake

The Mwea farmers are making the National Irrigation Board (NIB) to appear to be too powerful and this perception ought to be dismantled

The consultative process of retreating is very important to retreat is also building power

Litigation is not the only way to achieve change but is a necessity Movements cannot happen without support of an organization attached

to it and working with it Real movements continue even when the leaders have been killed or have

become compromised in one way or another

Strengthening Movement Building within Mwea Discussions were held on how Mwea Foundation can strengthen movement building, the proposed suggestions were as follows:

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Strengthen the Mwea foundation as a strong Trust Re-thinking and mapping their targets Avail more forums for farmers to talk about, understand their struggle

and how to tackle issues in the struggle Mobilization of more farmers to forms a strong union Involvement of both male and female farmers in the management

committees Putting more effort in

educating the farmers on important issues regarding their rights Deliberations on what Mwea Foundation should do differently from a Movement Building perspective

The community to play a more participatory role in

the movement The element of research when they map allies need to know land tenure

system, familiarize with strategic plan on irrigation under Vision 2030 Deepen their understanding of their opponents to enable formulation of

relevant and effective tactics to address the various forms of oppressions Its dangerous to go to war without understanding your opponent ones’

opponent Kenya talks about investing in in China and people do not have sanitation

in a country that people pay taxes There is need to invest in research to enable enables an in-depth

understanding of issues The need to identify who key stakeholders are so that as they create

awareness and advocacy they use these as key hence can speak out The need for recognition of the innate power in the people eg “

gatemanuo” It was interesting to hear that liberalization has positive impacts on

communities now farmers can sell their rice to anyone they want. But because they do not have set prices, it affects the farmers

It better for the rice farmers groups to go together during negotiations with NIB, this helps reduce possibilities of being sellouts

It is dangerous to go to war without understanding you your opponent-Nyambura,

Mentor

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Plenary Deliberations Thematic Perspectives on what Mwea Foundation Should do differently Sociological theory perspective

The farmers do not have a shared common

understanding of their history to enable cross-generational sharing of knowledge

Mwea Foundation members to familiarize themselves with ideologies of oppression as this will further inform the direction their struggle takes

The greatest problem with the land tenure in Mwea is that after independence, no reforms on land were carried out , the struggles of farmers in Mwea is similar to the struggles over land among South Africa

Participatory Action Research (PAR)

Need to have intergenerational barazas for young people to gain knowledge many times young people are not involved in processes

Need to incorporate youth in barazas on activism Need to look at struggles from abroad perspective

and find the root causes of the problem Movement building perspective

Conduct frequent forums for re-awakening Celebrate their victories Equip people with knowledge and enlighten them

on diversification and not wholly depend on rice fields

Seeking for better services e.g. clean water for human consumption

Farmers to collaborate with partners and other stakeholders in advancing the struggle

Community Organizing (C0) perspective

The farmers have to identify what their problem really is and the need for visits to other areas to learn how land issues in irrigations schemes have been handled

There is need to know what to do with the information gathered about Mwea i.e. what do they do with their history

Fellows’ Perspective The farmers to collaborate with other stakeholders and identify new partners to work with

On inheritance, female spouses to inherit the 4 acres of land upon death instead of relatives

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More advocacy to be done

Resource person’s perspective A mentor to the Mwea Fellow reinforced that leasing of land by the state deprives farmers of land, the rice in Kenya is grown and eaten locally while in countries such as Brazil the land is taken away by the state, leased to Multinational Corporations (MNCs) for purposes of agri-business and the farmers grow rice on behalf of the Multinationals and are further exploited as the profits are repatriated to parent countries while the peasants wallow in poverty. The mentor further pointed out that land titling is not the solution to the social justice struggles in Mwea and that a title deed did not equate to food security for the farmer and referred the fellows to the case of Tana River -the 1 million acre irrigation scheme developed to boost food security which was not the reality. In her concluding observations, the resource person posed a question on whether Kenya needed so much rice and whether there were no alternative crops that could be grown in Mwea to boost local nutrition.

Day 4: Friday, 29th August 2014

Session 1: Community Organizing Part I –

Salome Nduta(Human Rights Defenders Coalition) The objectives of the session were for the Fellows , farmers and Mwea Foundation members to understand the process of Community Organizing (CO) within the fellows’ struggles , deepen understanding on the importance of analyzing key connections ( allies and opposers) in their struggles and understand the role of a community organizer as a change agent in the community. Community organizing was defined as a process and a methodology in empowering communities address social injustice. The session engaged the farmers more on their revolution to enhance analysis of the tactics used and the future they envisioned for Mwea as a community borrowing heavily from the revolution. The guiding questions what : “How will life in Mwea be in 2014?”

Experience sharing on the plight of farmers in Mwea by Mzee Jonah To the envisioned future, the responses were:

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Farmers free to grow other crops apart from rice Farmers able to control water in the canals Have title deeds Can access loans from banks and using title deeds as collateral

The Mwea community members further added that the title deeds to be given with conditional ties i.e. to be allowed to grow what they want but not allowed to sell the land without consulting other members of the family. The farmers / community members also cited their preference for an oversight body to manage the water on their behalf.

Plenary Engagement

Fellow’s perspective

There is need for the farmers to interrogate both the pros and cons of hacking title deeds .There is a possibility that titling may affect production of rice hence the need of further analysis on impact of titling on an individual farmers’ rice production.

There is need to look at both the pros and cons of title deeds. Land has been subdivided although they do not have titles. Titling may also affect production, need for an analysis of the effects of titles to families.

Mwea Foundation’s perspective Given that Mwea Foundation is the only movement in the region advancing the rights of farmers , the Movement members and their allies agreed on the need to open up and mobilize more farmers to be part of the movement. Faculty member’s perspective

Based on analysis of the envisioned future, it was observed that each farmer /community member had their own vision, thus lack of commonality in visioning the future. The freedom to grow crops of one’s choice was also questioned as different crops require different levels of water, this was deemed to bring conflict especially among farmers neighboring each other.

There must be an oversight body with a responsibility of controlling what is being done

From a social theory perspective, the faculty proposed to look at children as solutions to the problems in the community , as these children would be a commendable source of power given the oppressions they had seen their parents go through.

The need to draw linkages between the oppressions and market liberalization such as through AGOA on a continental perspective .

The invisible power amongst the farmers exhibited by the bond between them can act as a guide towards realization of their vision

There is need to also speak good things about their struggle and not concentrate only on negativity, the positives manifested in their struggle would act as building blocks towards success

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On a global perspective, market liberalization has always been deemed as negative including in World Trade Organization (WTO debates) however the rice farmers in Mwea have confirmed that there are actually positives that can be derived from market liberalization.

A good option for the Mwea community was to have a community land ownership title and all farmers to register themselves as a corporate body hence have a corporate title. There is also need for the farmers to familiarize with the Land Act and interrogate the various forms of land ownership. The draft community Land Bill was to be availed to Mwea Foundation.

In-depth Analysis of Gatemanuo –From a Community Organizing (CO) Perspective

The farmers were asked to share an analysis of lived realities before and After Gatemanuo to deepen understanding on community organizing .The responses were: Before Gatemanuo After Gatemanuo Farmers were not allowed to keep their rice produce at home and had to take all the produce to National Irrigation Board

Farmers were free to ferry their produce home for storage

Types of houses constructed were mud and farmers could not construct permanent houses

Farmers can now construct permanent houses within the schemes

No domestic animals could be reared by the farmers including keeping pets

Farmers are free to keep cows and goats and rear chicken in the scheme

Farmers not allowed to sell their rice, rice related activities carried out by National Irrigation Board(NIB) including marketing

There is market liberalization, farmers sell their produce to willing buyers

Gatemanuo is a revolution that took place in Mwea in 1998.Gatemanuo comes from meant to cut /sever a previously existing relation. During the process, the farmers revolted destroying property

of the National Irrigation Board and pelted stones at police officers. They also carried an effigy of the then National Irrigation Board

manager – Baragoiya in a coffin and burnt the coffin at the NIB gate. The farmers demands were increase in price of rice by 50cts,

casualization of labour among people from Mwea region and non employment of the local community at National Irrigation Board.3 people were shot dead in the process and scores injured leading to

lifelong disabilities

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Based on the analysis , the Mwea Fellow and Mwea Foundation members and farmers were asked to cite differences , similarities, common area and new knowledge which was shared as: Differences -The farmers and Mwea Foundation had differing perspectives

i.e. Mwea Foundation –the core issues was -Farmers perspectives different want to continue working with NIB but prices to be increased Mwea Foundation, the activist and wanted not to continue working with NIB

Similarities Common knowledge on the period the even occurred Common area -Clarity on the year-1998

The quest for market liberalization (” soko huru”) -Youth and adults participated in the process -Identification of a common oppressor i.e. the National Irrigation Board (NIB)

New knowledge

Farmers who were supporting NIB had their homes burnt Those supporting NIB

Reflections on Gatemanuo The participants agreed that gateman although started as a noble cause to fight oppression of the farmers, was hijacked by politicians to advance their self-interest. From a regional perspective, a comparative analysis was done with the Arab Spring in Egypt, it was noted that although the Egyptians managed to get rid of Hosni Mubarak, their demands including authoritarian rule access to basic services egg health and discrimination of women among other demands had not been achieved and they were currently under a military rule .The fellows and farmers were reminded that freedom has different meaning to different people for the Mwea farmers they assumed they got freedom to sell their produce but to date they go through more forms of oppressions under the National Irrigation Board(NIB). Emerging Questions i)Who owns the land in Mwea? The land initially was owned by the colonial government and was used as holding grounds for detainees, this is because the detainees were labeled radicals by the colonial chiefs and had no place to go. Upon independence the Mwea land was given to the farmers by the Kenyan government , the land belongs to the clan i.e. mihiriga which gave land to the farmers. The main controller of the land is however is the state. ii) During guatemanuo rice farmers came together and revolted, why is gatemanuo not being celebrated and why did the farmers go silent in their agitation for reforms?

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During the revolutions , the farmers had good leadership and had a strong pressure group, once they realized their immediate demand the momentum waned off. The farmers further cited lack of leadership as a major hindrance towards their struggle for change , in addition, sustaining the momentum for change lacked collectivism, the farmers did not come together wholesome . iii)What happened to the Gatemanuo leadership? Many of the initial leaders are now dead, during the revolution many areas in Mwea were not represented hence their participation was lacking iv) Have the farmers ever analyzed the reasons behind the by-laws in the National Irrigation Board such as the non-construction of permanent housing and lack of rearing of domestic animals or pets? v) When is the next Gatemanuo? The farmers have not organized another revolution since the 1998 one because their idea was hijacked by politicians who had their own self interest i.e. to start a rice mill where the political class would be the sole beneficiaries at the expense of the farmers vi) Have the farmers’ lives improved after Gatemanuo? Not much has improved they are still unable to control the market forces and are unable to set prices for their produce vi) Why did Mwea Foundation not share the court ruling with farmers? It has been an uphill task for the Foundation to operate, there is interference by politics, interests of the National Irrigation Board (NIB), furthermore, and the Foundation members were expecting Kituo Cha Sheria to assist in dissemination of the court ruling. However, the faculty pointed out that the responsibility of disseminating the court ruling was not with Kituo cha Sheria but with Mwea Foundation and that they could hold sessions with farmers for awareness creation as it was observed during the immersion that majority of the farmers were unaware of the contents of the court ruling. Deepening analysis of revolutions You have to understand the systems and structures that make people behave the way they behave. Don’t be obsessed by individuals, individual’s come and go. You can remove an individual but the oppressive systems and structures still remain. Its imp to get urn narratives right

Individuals

Systems

Structures Key Lessons Learnt in the Mwea Community Dialogue and Immersion

As part of wrap up, the fellows, faculty and farmers were asked to share key lessons they had learnt .This entailed:

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Gender discrimination where women do now own land in the scheme when a husband dies it’s a male relative either a n uncle or her husband’s brother who will have control over this land

Food security has not been analyzed fully The interplay of power relations including power analysis in the existing

structures, within households and in the community at large has not been analyzed fully

The approach was good by inculcating the target community in the learning process

An analysis of the struggles in Mwea was a plus as it enabled the fellows, faculty and farmers to distinguish the varied experiences of women and men in the face of oppression

Annex 1: Fellowship and Study Dialogue Programme

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Fahamu Pan African Fellowship Program

August Study Dialogue

Mwea Irrigation Scheme, Kirinyaga County

August 27-29, 2014

August 26 – 6:00 – 7:30 - Re-converging Again !

- Introducing new faculty members and allies

August 27, 2014 – Wednesday

Session 1: 8:30 -10:30am – Transect Walk

Session 2: 11- 1pm - Analysis of the struggle

- Historical Time lining

- Actors Influence Mapping

Session 3: 2- 5pm - Re-Energizing Community Dialogue

- Analysis by Mwea organizers, fellows, allies and faculty members

8:00 pm – 9am – Conversations with Mentor Ruth Nyambura and Documentary –

‘The Mining Curse’

August 28, 2014 – Thursday

Session 1: 8:45 – 10:45 am - Participatory Action Research –Theories and Basic

Tenets

Session 2: 11am- 1pm – Introduction to Theories of Change

Session 3: 2- 4:00pm – Introducing Movement Building

Evening Session : 5-7pm - Fellows assignments / Reading

August 29, 2014 – Friday

Session 1: 9 – 11 am - Community organising part 1

Session 2: 11:30am-1pm – Community organising part 2

Session 3: 2- 3:00pm – Making connections

Wrap up and evaluation

Departure

Annex 2: List of Participants

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No. Name Movement/Institution

Cellphone Email

1. Gladys Gichobi Mwea Foundation (Fellow)

0713944912 Gwanjiru140

2. James Kiarago Farmer 0724898 - 3. Wangui Kimari Faculty member 0728174329 wkimari@yorkuc

a.ck 4. Dominic Thindi Rice farmer-

Tebere 0715367052 Box 15 Wanguru

5. Jonah Gitimo Rice farmer 0726990168 - 6. Reginah Wambui Rice farmer 0728780562 - 7. Joy Wangui Mwea

Foundation 0742027566 Joywangui1@gm

ail.com 8. Agnes Wairimu Mwea

Foundation 0729669331 -

9. Joseph Kamuru Mwea Foundation

0723592637 -

10. Stanley G. Warui Mwea Foundation

0711542597 Box 130 Wanguru, Mwea

11. Joseph K. Mugoh Mwea Foundation

0729325126 -

12. Danson Mute Mugo

Farmer 0720898424 -

13. Paul Muchira Nguo

Mwea Foundation

0725754158 -

14. Margaret Njeri Miano

Mwea Foundation

0723706385 -

15. Cicily Wambui Community member

0710712077 0710712077

16. Pamela Wanjiru Community member

0713308522 0713330822

17. Judy Wamuyu Community member-Mwea

0713216836 0713216836

18. Stephen Mururia Mwea Foundation

0723930677 -

19. Leonida Odongo Fahamu 0722933591 leonida@fahamu.org

93370820.

Victoria Atieno Bunge la Wamama Mashinani

0714933708 victoria.atieno@yahoo.com

21. George Mwai Fahamu 0722989723 george@fahamu.org

22. Ruth Nyambura Africa Biodiversity Network (ABN)

0723795065 ruth@africabiodiversity.org

23. Jonah Gitimo Farmer 0726990168 - 24. Dr. Steve Ouma Pamoja Trust 0710352016 souma@pamojat

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(Faculty Member)

rust.org

25. Salome Nduta Kenya Human Rights Defenders Coalition (KHRDC)-Faculty member

0722761743 salome@hrdcoalition.org

26. James Okoth Labour Resource Centre (LRC)

0710622957 jimlo2006@yahoo.com

27. Esther Mwaura Muiru

GROOTS-Kenya 0724438082 waiyai_esther@yahoo.com

28. Matti Elosy Ndunduni Self Help Group

0718739764 elosymatti@gmail.com

29. Doreen Magotsi Shibuye Community Health Workers

0725158390 doreenmagotsi@yahoo.com

30. Victor Munene Mwea Foundation

- munenevic@ gmail.com

Annex 3:Fellows Readings and Assignments

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Theories of social change

Movement building

Green belt movement Key steps in organizing movements Introduction to Karl Marx theory of capitalism Feminist theory of power

Community organizing

Familiarize with all documents pertaining to their movement eg court rulings

Participatory action research