the social organization of water control in the Taita Hills, Kenya

Abstract

This is a case study of indigenous irrigation in a small, traditionally acephalous society where resource management institutions must operate through highly autonomous local and descent groupings. The physical layout of irrigation canals, access to the fields they serve, and management of irrigation water all hinge on structural and ideational aspects of Taita social organization and the reproduction of that social organization through the generations. By showing how the irrigation system responds to the distribution of status in Taita society, to population growth, to land reform, and to modern agricultural and administrative changes it is possible to shed light on a broad range of policy and theoretical issues. The result is a comprehensive view of traditional and changing interrelations among the technology of irrigation, the ideology of kinship, and the organization of Taita society. [irrigation, Kenya, resource management, social organization, Taita]