Water and Africa 
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| Title: | Indigenous Taita Responses to Drought |
| Author: | Fleuret, A. |
| Book title: | African Food Systems in Crisis. Part 1: Microperspectives |
| Year: | 1989 |
| Pages: | 221-237 |
| Language: | English |
| Geographic term: | Kenya |
| Discipline: | Sociology |
| Subjects: | Taita labour famine hunter-gatherers droughts Nutrition Famine |
| Abstract: | Responses to drought and famine in sub-Saharan Africa do not remain static and unchanged, but affect and are affected by other events and changes occurring in society. These points are illustrated by examining drought historically with reference to the Taita of southeastern Kenya. The author describes how, where and why the Taita have experienced drought and shows how they have dealt with food shortages that have occurred as a consequence of drought. This is done by comparing food acquisition strategies employed in the same group of households during a season of adequate rainfall (1981) and one of widespread rainfall deficiency and crop failure (1984). The analysis demonstrates that while strategies classified as 'traditional' (e.g. consumption of wild foods and other changes in dietary patterns) are an important category of response, the roles of modern-sector employment and cash-based market exchange are much more significant. The author concludes by outlining some policy implications, stressing the importance of an integrated approach to African development. Food production systems are not isolated from other social and economic events and institutions in the society, but must be considered in their total context. Bibliogr. |