Urban Households Ruralizing their Livelihoods: The Changing Nature of Urban-Rural Linkages in an East African Town

Samuel Owuor is a lecturer in the Department of Geography at the University of Nairobi, Kenya. He is currently writing his PhD thesis on “Rural Livelihood Sources for Urban Households: A Case Study of Nakuru Town, Kenya”. His other on-going research activities concern urban farming; security, urban dynamics and the privatization of public space; and the social urban history of Nairobi.

As far as rural-urban linkages in Sub-Saharan Africa are concerned, the focus has so far predominantly been on urban dwellers contributing to the livelihood of those in rural areas, usually through remittances from family members living in the city. Hardly anything is known about the reverse flow, i.e. the extent to which urban households realize part of their livelihood from rural sources. Based on recent research in Nakuru town, Kenya, this seminar demonstrates that urban-rural linkages are not only important for rural households but that they are increasingly becoming an important element in the livelihood (or survival) strategies of (poor) urban households.

Discussant: Wijnand Klaver