DIMENSIONS, ORIENTATION AND WEIGHTING OF SUPPORT SYSTEMS ON SMALL-SCALE FARMS IN THE KENYAN HIGHLANDS

On the Laikipia Plateau in the northwestern foot-zone of Mount Kenya, unreliable rainfall does not allow the Kikuyu settlers to subsist from the preferred maize cultivation. Therefore, most households keep smal lstock as ''living money'' and get remittances from off farm activitie s. However, almost 20 % live in marginality, and less than one third o f the farmers with low agricultural yields are able to improve their l ot with returns from these complementary economic activities. With reg ard to scarcity, most households eagerly expect support from the exten ded family as well as from their neighbours. However, due to the gener alized precarious economic situation, relatives and settlers are rarel y able to provide more security. The most important assistance within the new community consists of the exchange of labour. In contrast to t he few wealthy, the large number of underpriveleged are linked to netw orks of farmers who mostly have low performance and who are oriented t oward the weak settler community. Instead of mutually enhancing each o ther's prosperity, most households remain on a low level of subsistenc e.