DOI: 10.36347/sjahss.2015.v03i06.016

Pages: 1188-1194

Increasing agricultural productivity and expanding the agribusiness industry in sub-Saharan Africa is critical for poverty reduction, food security and economic growth. Kenya comprises of some populations that relies heavily on small-scale agriculture for its livelihood. Ethno political conflicts have been taking place in some parts of the country climaxing in 1993, 1997 and 2008. In spite of the periodic spates of ethno political conflicts, how they influences agricultural production is a subject that has not been wholly explored. While there have been in-depth studies on other factors that impact on agricultural production such as rainfall patterns, inputs and credit facilities among others, there has been little interest on the impact of the periodic ethno political conflicts on agricultural production. Though the government of Kenya (GoK) has attempted to address other factors that affect agricultural production in the country, the input of ethno political conflicts on agricultural production at the local level is yet to be fully unveiled. As such the various efforts that the GoK has put in place to address agricultural production might not be a success without afore knowledge of how ethno political conflicts affects agricultural production. The questions leading to this review are: does ethno political conflict have any link with agricultural food production? If yes, what causes ethno political conflict; what evidence there is in terms of literature; what link does the existing literature establish; what are the theoretical link and the possible solutions for ethno political conflict? This paper is a review paper focusing on the situation in Kenya, drawing from other cases in Africa and the theories of relative deprivation and realistic group conflict.