Farm Crime Victimisation in Kenya: A Routine Activity Approach

Abstract

Farmers globally and Kenyan farmers in particular are facing a number of challenges stemming from continuous change in the social-cultural, economic, and ecological context of farming and a concomitant rise in crimes against farms. While research has been carried out on the theft of cattle and crops, much of it has concentrated on the nature, cause and extent of farm crime, crime prevention, and reporting behaviours, and comparatively little has focussed on applying criminological theory to the situation in Kenya or any other region of the world. Thus, this paper uses Routine Activity Theory to explain what makes certain farms, farmers, and farm property more likely to be victimised. In general, we find support for the basic tenets of the theory as a way to contextualise our understanding of farm crime in the various agricultural regions of Kenya, and suggest that it can be employed for framing farm crime within the diverse geographies and societies of the world today. Indeed, the rapidly changing social-economic environment of agriculture has generated an increase in opportunistic offenders, and the shattering of traditional natural and informal controls that prevented most farm crimes in the past. Both changes create increased visibility and accessibility to valuable and high demand farm properties.