16.What were the problems faced by the settler farmers in Kenya?

16.What were the problems faced by the settler farmers in Kenya?

The economic depression that hit the world after the world wat l  greatly affected the white settlers as their crops had lost market because of the low prices

Settler farmers also faced strong opposition from africans for example settler farms were constantly raided by the Masai and the nandi

Disease also frustrated the settlers for example lord delameres cattle were attacked by tick borne and coastal fever .this forced him to abandon the project

The settlers lacked funds to carry out large  scale farming some were too poor to buy land or even pay their workers

Some crops like tea and rubber required large estates which settlers could not get and government was not ready to provide

The mineral deficiency in the soil affected stock farming which resulted into the death of animals especially sheep in Njoro

Lord Delameres wheat project was failed by a wheat disease called rust.this greatly affected him as he had to Carry out experiments on rust resistant variety

The government was mainly interested in reducing the cost of administration and regaining the monies spent on the railway it therefore paid less attention to the problems of the settlers

Coming up with the right choice of crops to be grown also took the settlers some good time for example a lot money and time were spent on experimental growing of some crops

There was also competition from imported products for example it was not until a tax of 20 % was put on imported wheat that its production increased

Land was not easy to get .Africans highly valued their land and were not willing to sell it to the whites

Force had to be used and in other cases agreements signed with chiefs to get land.

Poor transport roads were not developed and many parts were not connected to the railway line attempts to reach all areas were doomed by lack of funds

Apart from the Kenyan highlands most of the Kenyan land was barren and unproductive, there were thefts of settlers food by the pastoral tribes like the turkana Masai nandi