Adaptation to Climate Variability Among the Dryland Population in Kenya: a Case Study of the Turkana Pastoralists PDF Download

Author: E.R.J. Moru
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 83

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Book Description
The challenges posed by global climate variability are now widely recognised in both the scientific and the policy domains. In many parts of the globe climate variability is resulting in major impacts on humans and the natural systems although there are uncertainties still about its link to climate change. Pastoralism as a production system is under scrutiny on its‟ appropriateness and sustainability under the changing environmental conditions. This study attempts to understand how the Turkana pastoralists have adjusted their livelihood strategies to cope with this variability. Primary survey and analysis of secondary data from institutions working among the Turkana pastoralist was undertaken. Based on rainfall data for the years 1969-2000, rainfall in Turkana is considered highly variable and unpredictable, with the short rains contributing much of the variability. Drought is a common feature with multiyear droughts increasing since 1990 and this has added more challenge to resource management among the pastoralists. Declining household livestock holding is evident, it falls below 5 TLU the minimum threshold for subsistence in the pastoral sector. Besides environmental variability, Conflict in form of livestock raiding limits access to key resources. The pastoralists‟ adaptation strategies have taken into consideration the insecurity brought by conflict alongside the livelihood adjustments. The choice of herd composition, resource access and diversification of income sources are some of the strategies that are configured by conflict in the Turkana case. This study proposes that conflict is embedded in adaptation as it restricts and shapes the coping strategies employed by the pastoralists. Therefore understanding of the Turkana situation from the livelihood security perspective is more realistic than as a resource scarcity discourse. Integration of both conflict and environmental indicators in the local Early Warning systems is an option that seems viable considering that already the pastoralist‟s adaptation strategies are shaped along the same direction. The local adaptation strategies require augmentation rather than imposition of new ones, utilization of the inherent local capacity would be cost effective. Marginalisation of pastoralists requires a political solution that addresses redistribution of power and resources. Development inputs should support the pastoralists‟ mobility or their desire to remain in Pastoralism. The conflicting interests of players in livestock raiding and factors excluding or enhancing the specific players in adopting certain coping strategies must be given due consideration in the drawing of adaptation programmes. Promotion of formal education among the pastoralists can provide an opportunity to lend support to the moral economy which is threatened by loss of livestock. In the analysis of coping strategies in this study, remittances from kins and friends is considered an all time strategy and thus it emphasizes its‟ importance to livelihood security. The increased number of dropouts from Pastoralism and emergence of sedentary life in the urban areas related to loss of livestock and inability to recover requires attention be paid to development of sectoral adaptation measures that would reduce vulnerability of the urban and periurban poor.