Adaptive pastoralists – Insights into local and regional patterns in livelihood adaptation choices among pastoralists in Kenya.

Pastoralist adaptation strategies have to address multiple, overlapping, and often inter-related processes of socioecological change. The present study addresses the need for inter-regional comparative studies that account for diferent geographic, climate, and socio-economic contexts in order to understand how pastoralists adapt to changes in livelihood conditions. The paper uses data from a unique survey study of pastoralist households in four neighbouring counties in dryland Kenya. Taking our point of departure from an empirically based classifcation of the livelihood strategies available to pastoralists in the Horn of Africa, the survey ofers novel insights into adaptation and fodder management strategies of pastoralist individuals and households. The results show that the use of migration as a strategy is more dependent on the ability to migrate than climate conditions. This is the case in localities where a substantial part of the land is subdivided, the population density is high, and where opportunities for migration are subsequently restricted. Diversifcation of livelihoods as a strategy is largely defned by opportunity. Intensifcation through active fodder management is mainly common in areas where there has been a proliferation of managed enclosures. Climate change will test the adaptive capacity of pastoralists in the studied region, and diversifcation and intensifcation strategies of both herd composition and livelihoods can be seen as strategies for increased climate resilience

Saving and borrowing behaviour among agropastoralists in West Pokot County, Kenya

Financial inclusion is an important development impetus, where knowledge of saving and borrowing behaviour provides valuable insights. This study focuses on access to and use of financial services among agropastoralists in rural Kenya, using survey-based household data from 2007 and 2017. Surveys show that households with savings increased from about 57% to 71%—coinciding with increased access to financial training and growing use of informal group-based savings organizations. Share of households that had access to credit also increased during this period, from about 26% to 54%. Support to group-based savings organizations can stimulate financial inclusion among agropastoralists

Enclosures as a land management tool for food security in African drylands

Increasing sedentary agro-pastoralist livelihoods may be explained by land degradation, population pressure, agricultural commodification, and economic development. We reviewed scientific and grey literature for the effects of enclosures on food security. Only 8% of the 114 reviewed scientific articles addressed food production, while 69% approached environmental parameters that indirectly affect food security, most of which had positive results. Thirty-one percent focused on social and economic impacts, land tenure conflicts and elite capture with negative connotations. The grey literature showed an opposite balance between positive environmental views and negative socio-economic impacts. Enclosures are not a panacea for dryland development, but their use need to be recognized and understood. Multidisciplinary research and cooperation on the applied management of enclosures in the context of food security is highly needed. Furthermore, agro-pastoralist land-use practices need more policy space and practical management support, such as clear tenure legislation, agroforestry methodologies, and support in fodder production systems.Funding Agencies|Vetenskapsradet [SRL 348-2014-4288]</p

Building pastoralists’ resilience to shocks for sustainable disaster risk mitigation: Lessons from West Pokot County, Kenya

Most pastoralists’ in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) are adversely affected by climate-change related shocks such as droughts and livestock diseases. These shocks lead to deterioration of livestock quality and even mass death of herds. This leaves pastoralists vulnerable as they derive most of their food and income needs from livestock, necessitating emergency disaster response and the need to build their long-term adaptive capacity. In most cases however, investments only focus on reducing risks and not on building long-term adaptation strategies. In this study, we analyzed factors affecting household resilience among the pastoralists of West Pokot County in Kenya. A focus group discussion and key informant consultations were held to understand community perspectives on the historical nature of climate-change related shocks. In additional, individual household surveys were done with 191 randomly selected households to obtain information on the shocks experienced by pastoralists, coping strategies, long term adaptation strategies and external support, their uptake of these and the effect on their resilience. The household resilience index was constructed using Principal Component Analysis (PCA). An ordered probit regression was used to analyze the effect of socio-demographic, institutional factors and adaptive practices on households’ resilience. It was noted that years of formal schooling, household income, access to credit and extension and adaptive practices such as post harvest use of field crops for grazing, enclosures, stocking improved breeds, bee keeping, ethno-veterinary practices and afforestation have a positive and significant effect in building household resilience to shocks. There is therefore a need to direct investment to bolster pastoralists’ own efforts towards building their resilience

Adaptive pastoralists—Insights into local and regional patterns in livelihood adaptation choices among pastoralists in Kenya

Pastoralist adaptation strategies have to address multiple, overlapping, and often inter-related processes of socio-ecological change. The present study addresses the need for inter-regional comparative studies that account for different geographic, climate, and socio-economic contexts in order to understand how pastoralists adapt to changes in livelihood conditions. The paper uses data from a unique survey study of pastoralist households in four neighbouring counties in dryland Kenya. Taking our point of departure from an empirically based classification of the livelihood strategies available to pastoralists in the Horn of Africa, the survey offers novel insights into adaptation and fodder management strategies of pastoralist individuals and households. The results show that the use of migration as a strategy is more dependent on the ability to migrate than climate conditions. This is the case in localities where a substantial part of the land is subdivided, the population density is high, and where opportunities for migration are subsequently restricted. Diversification of livelihoods as a strategy is largely defined by opportunity. Intensification through active fodder management is mainly common in areas where there has been a proliferation of managed enclosures. Climate change will test the adaptive capacity of pastoralists in the studied region, and diversification and intensification strategies of both herd composition and livelihoods can be seen as strategies for increased climate resilience.Validerad;2023;Nivå 2;2023-11-14 (sofila);Full text license: CC BY“Escaping the pastoralist paradox in the face of climate change

Unravelling the pastoralist paradox – preferences for land tenure security and flexibility in Kenya

In this paper, we use a discrete choice experiment conducted among pastoralists in four different semi-arid counties in Kenya characterized by different land tenure regimes to analyze how pastoralists make tradeoffs between tenure security and grazing flexibility – the so-called pastoralist paradox. Results show that there is one group of respondents who are desperate for change and seem to prefer either group or private title deeds to their current situation. A second, smaller group has strong preferences for the status quo, which could be driven by their relatively short migration distances. Concerning index-based livestock insurance, the basis risk suffered by insured pastoralists due to underprediction is high, but willingness to pay (WTP) for livestock insurance should still be high enough to ensure maximum uptake, leaving current low uptakes hard to explain. The worry about climate change is high but does not translate into increased WTP for more secure tenure or formal livestock insurance