Livelihood and Food Security Situation among In-migrant and Non-Migrant Communities in Kajiado County, Kenya

Non-existent micro-level estimates on the impact of migration on livelihood in rural areas in Kenya, compounded with minimal literature on the same, called for this study. This study used secondary data from the 2005 to 2015 African Wildlife Foundation Livelihoods dataset from Kilimanjaro landscape, with the purpose was of undertaking a comparative livelihood analysis between the in-migrant and non-migrant communities in Kimana Community of Kajiado County in Kenya. The study shows that in-migrants engage in a variety of livelihood strategies unlike non-migrants who undertake mainly livestock rearing. Livelihood endowment is associated with diversification of strategies, and was established to be responsive to: nutritional status of children from either of the communities; amount of land under cultivation; level of education, and; stability of market based on household economic status. Lower food security due elderly headed households and spouses with low level of education was observed among the non-migrant communities. Equally, children of in-migrants had a higher stunting rate (6.06 percent) compared to those of non-migrants (5.12 percent), just as the anthropometric assessment showed that children of the non-migrant communities than those of the in-migrants had higher nutritional levels. Household livelihood assets like natural resources, education of household spouses, tradition and culture of the people, was established to be significant factors affecting food and nutrition security.

It implies that food security (i.e. availability, stability and dietary diversity) is better among the in-migrant households than the non-migrant households, while anthropometry assessments show that non-migrants have higher nutritional capacity than their in-migrant counterparts; implying that food availability does not necessarily ensure food security. Education of female spouse rather than male household head positively influences the food availability and stability in the household. Hence, the need for policies that are responsive to female education, natural resource exploitation and micro-level population policies.