Nomadic Pastoralism and Sustainable Livelihoods in the 21st Century: An Assessment of Current Practices, Challenges and Prospects for Pastoralists in Samburu County, Kenya

Nason Vundi; Peter Koome

doi:10.37284/eajass.6.2.1601

Nason Vundi, PhD St. Paul’s University
Peter Koome, PhD St. Paul’s University

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37284/eajass.6.2.1601

Keywords: Livelihood, Nomadic Pastoralism, Pastureland, Livestock, Water, Dairy

Share Article:

Abstract

This study aimed to assess the current practices, challenges and prospects of nomadic pastoralism and sustainable livelihoods in the 21st Century in Samburu Pastoralists in Samburu County, Kenya. Nomadic pastoralism describes a season-based lifestyle that entails a random, irregular, and intentional movement of livestock and people to new places in search of a better supply of pastures and water. The sustainability of nomadic pastoralism in the 21st century is doubtful due to the factors militating against the system. For example, there are threatening factors like global warming, prolonged implications of climate change, unstable utilisation of natural resources like land and water, and the environmental degradation arising from uncontrolled extractive industries and urbanisation. This study utilised a mixed method approach with quantitative data collected from a random sample of 140 households and supplemented by two focus group discussions. Analyses found that households that exhibit the least livelihood diversification, as reflected by reliance on pastoralism as the main source of livelihood, are more likely than others to experience negative outcomes. This study recommends concerted efforts in support of livelihood diversification that the County Government of Isiolo should necessarily spearhead

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Akall, G. (2023). Effects of development interventions on pastoral livelihoods in Turkana County, Kenya. Pastoralism 11, 23 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13570-021-00197-2

Amenu, Kebede & Szonyi, Barbara & Grace, Delia & Wieland, Barbara. (2017). Important knowledge gaps among pastoralists on causes and treatment of udder health problems in livestock in southern Ethiopia: Results of qualitative investigation. BMC Veterinary Research. 13. 10.1186/s12917-017-1222-1.

Ashley, C. and Carney, D. (1999). Sustainable livelihoods: Lessons from early experience (Vol. 7). Department for International Development London. Retrieved from http://www.the-eis.com/data/literature/Sustainablelivelihoods_lessons%20from%20early%20experience.pdf

Berman, C. (2023). What is a resource? representing Eurasia’s pastoral/nomadic development history in the IPBES Framework for re-conceptualised resource meanings Journal of Eurasian Studies 2023, Vol. 0(0) 1–13 © The Author(s) 2023 Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions DOI: 10.1177/18793665231177719

Boles, O.J.C., Shoemaker, A., Courtney Mustaphi, C.J. (2019). Historical Ecologies of Pastoralist Overgrazing in Kenya: Long-Term Perspectives on Cause and Effect. Hum Ecol 47, 419–434 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-019-0072-9

Borrini, G., & Jaireth, H. (2007). Sharing power: Learning-by-doing in co-management of natural resources throughout the world. Earthscan.

Brockington, D. (2001). Women’s income and the livelihood strategies of dispossessed pastoralists near the Mkomazi Game Reserve, Tanzania. Human Ecology, 29(3), 307–338.

Butt, B. (2010). Seasonal space-time dynamics of cattle behaviour and mobility among Maasai pastoralists in semi-arid Kenya. Journal of Arid Environments, 74(3), 403–413.

Chibanda, Craig & Gil, Gregorio & Maru, Natasha & Mundy, Oliver. (2017). Closing the knowledge gap to promote evidence based policy making for sustainable pastoralism in Africa.

Conroy, A. (2013). Maasai agriculture and land use change. Livestock, Environment and Development Initiative (LEAD) of the FAO Electronic Newsletter, 5(2), 1.

De Haan, A., Brock, K., & Coulibaly, N. (2002). Migration, livelihoods, and institutions: contrasting patterns of migration in Mali. Journal of Development Studies, 38(5), 37–58.

Dong, S., Wen, L., Liu, S., Zhang, X., Lassoie, J., Yi, S., … Li, Y. (2011). Vulnerability of Worldwide Pastoralism to Global Changes and Interdisciplinary Strategies for Sustainable Pastoralism. Ecology and Society, 16(2). https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-04093-160210

Elmi, M., & Birch, I. (2013). Creating policy space for pastoralism in Kenya. Future Agricultures Working Paper 068.

Enderle, P. J., Southerland, S. A., & Grooms, J. A. (2013). Exploring the context of change: Understanding the kinetics of a studio physics implementation effort. Physical Review Special Topics-Physics Education Research, 9(1), 010114.

Fratkin, E. (2001). East African pastoralism in transition: Maasai, Boran, and Rendille cases. African Studies Review, 1–25.

Fratkin, E., & Mearns, R. (2003). Sustainability and pastoral livelihoods: lessons from East African Maasai and Mongolia. Human Organization, 62(2), 112–122.

Ghate, D. (2018). Developing theories of change for social programmes: Co-producing evidence-supported quality improvement. Palgrave Communications, 4, 90.

Gomulia, C. R. S. (2006). State-Society networks and social capital: a case of political participation in the Western Cape Province (South Africa). University of the Western Cape.

Homewood, K., Kristjanson, P., & Trench, P. (2009). Staying Maasai? Livelihoods, Conservation and Development in East African Rangelands. New York: Springer Science & Business Media.

Huho, J. M., Ngaira, J, K. and Ogindo, H. O. (2011). Living with drought: the case of the Maasai pastoralists of northern Kenya. Educational Research; Vol. 2(1): 779-789

Kenya National Bureau of Statistics and ORC Macro. (2015). Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2014. ORC Macro: Maryland

Krantz, L. (2001). The sustainable livelihood approach to poverty reduction. SIDA. Division for Policy and Socio-Economic Analysis. Retrieved from http://www.sida.se/globalassets/publications/import/pdf/en/the-sustainable-livelihood-approach-to-poverty-reduction.pdf

Little, P. D., Smith, K., Cellarius, B. A., Coppock, D. L., & Barrett, C. (2001). Avoiding disaster: diversification and risk management among East African herders. Development and Change, 32(3), 401–433.

Lukas Drees, Stefan Liehr, Batjav Batbuyan, Oskar Marg & Marion Mehring (2022) In search of a nomadic pastoralism for the 21st century. A transdisciplinary development of future scenarios to foster a social-ecological transformation in Mongolia, Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research, 35:3, 481-505, DOI: 10.1080/13511610.2022.2100744

McCabe, J. T., Smith, N. M., Leslie, P. W., & Telligman, A. L. (2014). Livelihood Diversification through Migration among a Pastoral People: Contrasting Case Studies of Maasai in Northern Tanzania. Human Organization, 73(4), 389–400.

Nkedianye, D., de Leeuw, J., Ogutu, J. O., Said, M. Y., Saidimu, T. L., Kifugo, S. C., Reid, R. S. (2011). Mobility and livestock mortality in communally used pastoral areas: the impact of the 2005-2006 drought on livestock mortality in Maasailand. Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice, 1(1), 17.

Petersen, E. K., & Pedersen, M. L. (2010). The Sustainable Livelihoods Approach from a Psychological Perspective. Institute of Biology, University of Aarhus.

Oxfam (2020), Mainstreaming gender-responsive and participatory approaches. Published by Oxfam GB for Oxfam International, December 2020

Republic of Kenya. (2014). Agricultural Sector Development Support Programme (ASDSP) Volume 1: Household Baseline Survey Report for Isiolo County, Ministry Of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries. Nairobi

Republic of Kenya. (2013). County Integrated Development Plan for Isiolo County 2 0132017: Nairobi

Republic of Kenya. (2011). Kenya Fact Sheet. Commission for Revenue Allocation: Nairobi

Schrepfer, N., & Caterina, M. (2014). On the Margin: Kenya’s Pastoralists–From displacement to solutions, a conceptual study on the internal displacement of pastoralists. Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre: Geneva Switzerland. Ht Tp://Www. Internal-Displacement. Org/Assets/Publications/2014/201403-Af-Kenya-on-the-Margin-en2. Pdf.

Sen, A. K. (1999). Development as Freedom. New York: Anchor Books.

Tugjamba, N., Walkerden, G. & Miller, F. (2023). Adapting nomadic pastoralism to climate change. Climatic Change 176, 28 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-023-03509-

Yaqub, S. (2002). Poor children grow into poor adults: Harmful mechanisms or over-deterministic theory? Journal of International Development, 14: 1081–1093

Zanello, Giacomo & Fu, Xiaolan & Mohnen, Pierre & Ventresca, Marc. (2015). The creation and diffusion of innovation in developing countries: A systematic literature review. Journal of Economic Surveys. 10.1111/joes.12126.