Development interventions undermine pastoral livelihoods in Turkana, Kenya

Turkana County has a long history of development interventions yet remains one of the poorest counties in Kenya. In Turkana, livelihoods are increasingly under threat because of climate change, conflict and changing land use. The question addressed in the article “Effects of development interventions on pastoral livelihoods in Turkana County, Kenya” by Gregory Akall, published in Pastoralism 11:23 (2021), is: How have external development interventions contributed to the changing pastoralist livelihoods in Turkana?

The study focused on the lower part of the Turkwel River basin, particularly the Nanyee irrigated area in Turkwel, Loima Subcounty of Turkana County. It examined the external development interventions during the colonial, post-independence and contemporary periods to reveal how land-use practices and livelihoods have changed over time because of the growing human population, drought, urbanisation, and dispossession of grazing areas through state and donor-supported interventions. The change from a system of customary, unrestricted grazing to one of enclosed pastures has threatened pastoral territories, cultures and livelihoods over the past six decades. The development interventions introduced by international and national actors failed to support local livelihoods; instead, they joined the list of problems that undermine pastoralism, including drought, livestock diseases and cattle rustling.

See also the presentation at the International Grasslands & Rangelands Congress 2021: “Whose knowledge counts: irrigation development in Turkana, Kenya, 1963–2019”.

Posted on 15 May 2022 in Pastoralism & Natural Resources, Pastoralism, Mobility & Land Tenure, Pastoralism, Policy & Power