Crime prevention on farms: the opinion of farmers

Abstract

Crime rates in rural Kenya continue to increase, with a majority of farms experiencing more and more crime. These experiences have prompted rural farmers to opt for tactics that have the potential to minimize their own risk to victimisation, but which do not address the economic and social structural causes of crime in Kenya. This article reports on the findings of a study conducted on the adoption of farm crime prevention measures and their relationship to past victimisation experiences. Data for this study came from a survey of 200 farmers who were randomly selected in Uasin Gishu County of Kenya. The study was guided by routine activities theory, dividing crime prevention actions possibly adopted by farmers into two types: guardianship and target-hardening. The general finding is that the guardianship actions were utilized more often to reduce risk of victimisation than target-hardening measures.