Researchers in 21st Century Africa

application/pdf図書の１

Study Trends of Lecturers at the Institute of Anthropology, Gender and African Studies, University of Nairobi, Kenya

application/pdf図書の１

Tourism and the Maasai of Kenya

application/pdf図書の１

Tourism, power and politics : the challenges of Maasai involvement in tourism development : a dissertation presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Social Anthropology at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

This study explored the broad issues of power and politics associated with Maasai involvement in conservation-oriented tourism development in Amboseli, Kenya. Central to the study was the analysis of the intricate power interrelationships arising from the dynamic economic and political interactions between local actors and external tourism stakeholders. The study specifically looked at how and on what terms the Maasai were involved in tourism development, the nature of their engagement with outsiders, the initiatives they have undertaken to gain closer control over the organisation and economics of tourism, and the opportunities and constraints associated with this development process. Two case studies were used to analyse the experiences of Maasai communities living around Amboseli National Park (from 2005 Game Reserve): community-based wildlife and cultural tourism. A political ecology framework was used as a lens to understand community conflicts and struggles for political control over tourism-related resources (natural and financial). A multi-sited ethnographic approach featuring participant observation, focus group discussions, textual analysis of documents, and in-depth interviews, was used to collect data over twelve months, with intermittent breaks, between November 2003 and August 2005. The findings reveal that Maasai involvement in tourism development is a comparatively recent occurrence and is being promoted by the Kenyan government as a management tool to reconcile the interests of conservation and local communities. Despite the potential for tourism to bring benefits for local communities, stimulate local support for conservation efforts, and local development, the study found that due to competition and political rifts between clans, age-sets and on the basis of political allegiance, Maasai had not benefited as much as they should from the immense tourism potential in their area. Rather than empowering the Maasai to take control over tourism and their own development, tourism had facilitated the exploitation of the area’s tourism potential by foreign tourism investors and tour operators, the government, and a few local elites. Insights from this study shed light on the wider issues of community power and politics in tourism development, in particular the difficulty of ensuring that indigenous communities are not undermined in the face of tourism’s global reach. The study suggests that for the Maasai to realise tourism benefits and support conservation there is an urgent need for social and political justice issues such as equitable distribution of benefits, rights to land resources and livelihoods, and democratic decision-making processes, to be addressed

Indigenous Ecotourism as a Poverty Eradication Strategy: A Case Study of the Maasai People in the Amboseli Region of Kenya

Ecotourism is presently promoted as a lethal weapon to fight poverty in many developing countries including Kenya. While much of the empirical and theoretical literature on tourism has largely dwelt on the negative socio-economic impacts, there is comparatively limited research that examines tourism’s contribution to poverty reduction especially within the Kenyan context. A case study of the Maasai people living on the fringes of Amboseli national park in Kenya was undertaken to find out the role of indigenous ecotourism on poverty alleviation. A mixed method qualitative study was carried out in the months of November and December 2015. The findings show that the Maasai people participate in indigenous ecotourism through their community-based cultural boma tourism enterprises and that many people have a positive attitude towards this form of tourism because it utilizes locally available resources (culture), vests ownership and control firmly in local hands, provides opportunities for people without education and business skills especially women to participate, and the benefits are kept local. The study suggests that while at the moment the benefits are small and erratic, indigenous ecotourism makes useful contributions, albeit in a small way, to poverty alleviation through income generation, job creation, creation of market for locally produced goods, voluntary charitable donations, provision of infrastructure and social services, improvement of local livelihoods and spinoff activities. The study concludes that the Amboseli region has enormous potential for indigenous ecotourism which, if well planned and managed, can make useful contributions to rural development and poverty alleviation

Health-seeking pathway and factors leading to delays in tuberculosis diagnosis in West Pokot County, Kenya: A grounded theory study.

BackgroundPatients' health-seeking behaviour can lead to delays in tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis, however little is known about the experiences and treatment pathways of patients diagnosed with TB in Kenya. The aim of this study is to explore the health seeking practices and factors contributing to delay in TB diagnosis.MethodsThis study was based on explorative qualitative research using a constructivist grounded theory approach. A total of 61 TB patients in the intensive phase of treatment were recruited as informants in the study. Six focus group discussions and 15 in-depth interviews were used to collect data. Data were analysed through three step coding using the grounded theory approach.ResultsParticipants adopted different treatment pathways as they sought care from a pluralistic health care system involving traditional healers, herbalists, private clinic, drug shops and the public health sector. The study revealed an explanatory model of factors leading to delay illustrated by the participant's expression "I suffered for a long time." The model is comprised of three categories that lead to delays, namely individual, social-cultural and structural factors.ConclusionThere is a need to improve timely diagnosis of TB through innovative approaches such as intensive case finding. Similarly, the health-care system should decentralize TB services as much as possible and offer free diagnostic services to increase accessibility