Nalulingo and Chesitia are two farming communities living on the plateau from which Mount Elgon rises. The former is of the Bukusu tribe while the latter are Sabaot. They settled in this area in 1971 and 1986 respectively. The total population is about 2,500 people constituting 463 farm families. Average family size is 6. Total acreage is 1,850. Land holdings range from 1 to 5 acres and have been surveyed but no title deeds have been issued. Land tenure is a sensitive issue mainly because of the past ethnic clashes and also because most people have not finished paying for their parcels.
This area was selected for the PRA as a pilot community living within an area of 5 to 10 kilometer range from the protected areas in order to compare their use of the mountain resources with those communities who border the park and forest. The principal difference is evident by little human-animal conflict in these communities.
