The Aberdare Range, which lies north of Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, is composed of Tertiary (Neogene) volcanic rocks, such as basalt, phonolite, trachyte. Its westward slopes are steep, belonging to the main fault scarps of Eastern (Gregory) Rift Valley; while its eastward slopes are very gentle and dessected by many consequent valleys. On the interfluve ridges of a part of these eastward slopes, many native Kikuyu villages or hamlets are densely distributed. As shown in Fig. 1, villages are crowded on its eastern part at an altitude between 1, 300 and 2, 300 meters, and on its southeastern part between 1, 700 and 2, 200 meters, extraordinarily in contrast with surrounding areas. Villagers' lives chiefly depend on cultivation of subsistence crops, such as maize, pulses, potato and banana, and also on breeding of livestock such as cattle, sheep, goats and poultry (Fig. 2). The vegetation and landuse of treated area are represented by profiles in Fig. 3.
The concentration of native population mentioned above is partly or chiefly the result of former colonial policy being kept by Britain, for instance, setting up of so-called ‘White Highlands’. On one hand, it is also important to consider the natural conditions which permit such a concentration. The subject of this article is just on this point. As easily noticed, climatic factors are concerned, of which precipitation must be the most effective one in such a tropical semi-arid region. Fig. 4 shows the monthly rainfall of selected stations: Karamaini in the southern part, Fort Hall in the middle part, and Nyeri in the northern part. Mean values show two maxima and two minima in a year round, though the absolute values tell irregularity or unreliability, which is also the case of annual value as shown in Fig. 5.
Isohyets of mean annual rainfall are drawn in Fig. 6, using 110 stations which have data of over 20 years and supplementarily 63 stations which have data of under 10 years. The pattern of isohyets well indicates orographical precipitation on the eastward slopes facing the prevailing easterlies, and also tells that its northeastern part is the rain-shadow of Mount Kenya. The lower limit of location of native villages on the eastern and southeastern slopes coincides 1, 000 milimeters isohyet fairly well. Fig. 6 also contains isoplethes of annual rainfall reliability over 800 milimeters during 8 years, 1955 to 62, using the available 77 stations. And, the lower limit mentioned above seems to situate between 8/8 and 6/8.
In the next place, the upper limit must be considered. It is generally set up politically, for example to reserve forests, but it may not be the case without considering natural environments. Here, temperature is to be regarded. There are few data available in the treated area. So, to see the relation between altitude and average annual temperature, Fig. 7 was made, which implies linear relation between them. The solid line in the figure tells the lapse-rate of about 0.62°C per 100 meters. The upper limit of native villages, that is about 2, 300 meters in altitude, is to have average annual temperature of 15°C, which seems to be near the critical point or boundary for Kikuyu's traditional way of life. Moreover, the author actually saw in 1964 and 1965 that clouds often covered the summit part of Aberdare Range even in so-called long dry season. So the deficiency of sunshine also seems to relate with the upper limit here.
Now, the scarcity of native villages on the northeastern slopes can be explained by discrepancy between rainfall factor and altitudinal or temperature factor there, And, this is also the case of the Kinangop Plateau which situates below the steep west-facing scarps of Aberdare Range, and where pyroclastic porous soil and scarcity of water flow emphasize unfavorable conditions for traditional cultivation.
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