Preserving Pastoralism: Exploring the Role of Ecotourism in Kenya's Pastoral Rangelands

Abstract

Pastoralism is one of the oldest sociocultural and economic practices of humankind. It has endured for hundreds of years against all odds, but is now diminishing as a livelihood possibility given the current social, political, economic, and literal climate.  This paper seeks to analyze the potential role of ecotourism in addressing the challenges facing pastoral livelihoods and wildlife in Sub-Saharan Africa, with a focus on northern Kenya. This question is addressed primarily through an examination of existing literature, supplemented with empirical examinations of existing models and their insights through my own on site interviews with pastoralists, different level employees in conservancies, tourism operators, as well as government officials across three counties in northern Kenya: Laikipia, Isiolo, and Samburu. The paper begins by laying out the framework of pastoralism, its synergies with wildlife, and the current challenges threatening the traditional livelihood in Sub-Saharan Africa. The following chapter explores this similar framework, with the focus being on the pastoralists and wildlife in Kenya. This chapter introduces two of the largest styles of conservation: national parks and game reserves, and explains their limitations in integrating pastoralists. Chapter 3 introduces the more community-centric conservation option that has gained traction in northern Kenya: the conservancy model, colloquially known as ‘ecotourism'. The different types of conservancy models are laid out, followed by examples of existing models and their respective evaluations on criteria examining commercial viability, conservation efficacy, community integration, as well as additional lessons. Finally, Chapter 4 discusses the potential role for ecotourism for preserving the pastoral livelihood in addition to wildlife populations, and the best practices of potential conservancy models moving forward.