Based on a survey conducted in 1984, the authors discuss the nutritional conditions prevailing among farming households engaged in irrigated rice cultivation in the Kano plain, Nyanza Province,... Show moreBased on a survey conducted in 1984, the authors discuss the nutritional conditions prevailing among farming households engaged in irrigated rice cultivation in the Kano plain, Nyanza Province, Kenya. The survey covered four groups reflecting different degrees of participation in and/or dependence on irrigated rice cultivation: non-rice growers, individual rice growers participating in small schemes, non-resident tenants at large schemes, and resident tenants at large schemes. The observed differences in nutritional status between the four groups were above all related to differences in their resource base. The group with the smallest resource base, the resident tenants at the large irrigation schemes (Ahero and West Kano) showed the poorest results in all respects. The survey results do not substantiate the assumption made at the start of the irrigation schemes, that the livelihood of rural families can be fully covered by means of cash farming. Show less
