Institute for Development Studies, University of Nairobi

In this paper I look, first, in general at the tenure reform programme and its social and economic effects in Mbeere, and then pay particular attention to the increasing shift in emphasis from the agro-pastoral production system to crop cultivation and the changes in household organization. Thus the central theme of the paper is to discuss the dynamic process of Mbeere social/economic change in terms of shift of equilibrium in production system following the change of the tenure system. The paper also raises some questions relating to the implications of these changes on the development process in Mbeere.