Human factors in agricultural management in East Africa

Many attempts to introduce change into farming systems have resulted in dependence, alienation, resource immobility and the suppression of indigenous adaptation techniques. Dr Mbithi evaluates the social and management environment of farm decision making and shows how this has lead to other serious social and psychological problems. His suggestions for a possible reorientation in rural development strategies include a re-examination of farm management and production models formerly dominated by agricultural economists, a revision of the concept of technology and a total rejection of the ‘trickle-down effect theory’.