The Impact of the Kenya 2008 Post-Election Violence on Rural Farm Households
Nairobi, Kenya: Messages of peace by artist Solomon Muyundo (also known as Solo 7) mark
the walls throughout Kibera, Kenya’s largest slum.
(Michelle Shephard / Toronto Star via Getty Images)
the walls throughout Kibera, Kenya’s largest slum (Michelle Shephard/Toronto Star via Getty Images)
Study Context
On December 30th, 2007, Kenya experienced its worst post-election violence (PEV) since the inception of multiparty politics in 1992. The violence persisted until the end of February 2008, and more than 1,100 people died and 650,000 people suffered internal displacement (Adeagbo & Iyi, 2011). Rivalry between dominant ethnic groups such as the Kikuyu and the Kalenjin, and disputes over the control of scarce arable land have generally led to PEV, which has complex ramifications on socio-economic outcomes of agricultural households (Oucho, 2010). While existing literature mainly focuses on the causes of PEV in Kenya (Dercon & Gutiérrez-Romero, 2012; Klopp & Kamungi, 2007; Oucho, 2010), there is limited empirical evidence on the effects of PEV on agricultural production and welfare outcomes of farming households. This study will fill this gap by investigating whether and how PEV affects agricultural production and household welfare.
Study Design
The study will utilize a three-period panel of 1300 rural households from data collected by Egerton University’s Tegemeo Institute of Agricultural Policy and Development and Michigan State University. By conducting Difference-in-Differences estimation on baseline data from 2007 and endline data from 2010, the study will assess how PEV impacts agricultural production and consumption expenditure on rural farm households in Kenya.
Results and Policy Lessons
Results forthcoming.
