Akall Gregory
Africa Office, United Nations Environment Programme, UN Avenue, New Office Block 2, Level 1, P.O. Box 30552-00100, Nairobi, Kenya.
Pastoralism. 2021;11(1):23. doi: 10.1186/s13570-021-00197-2. Epub 2021 Nov 24.
Turkana County has a long history of drought and development interventions and remains one of the poorest counties in Kenya. In Turkana, livelihoods are increasingly under threat because of climate change, conflict, and the changing land use and management. There are complex interactions between the multiple drivers of change in landscapes and livelihoods in the region. The question addressed here is: How have external development interventions contributed to the changing pastoralist livelihoods in Turkana? This study is specific to the lower part of the Turkwel River basin, particularly the Nanyee irrigated area in Turkwel, Loima sub-County of Turkana County. This article examines the external development interventions during the colonial, post-independence, and contemporary periods to reveal the ways that land use practices and livelihoods have changed across these periods. Land use practices are changing due to the growing human population, droughts, urbanization, and dispossession of grazing areas through state and donor-supported interventions. It is suggested in this article that the change from a system of customary, unrestricted grazing to one of enclosed pastures has threatened pastoral territories, as well as cultures and livelihoods over the past six decades. The new set of development interventions introduced by international and national actors have failed to support local livelihoods, instead joining the list of existing problems that undermine pastoralism, including drought, livestock diseases, and cattle rustling.
图尔卡纳县长期遭受干旱，且经历了诸多发展干预措施，如今仍是肯尼亚最贫困的县之一。在图尔卡纳，由于气候变化、冲突以及土地利用和管理方式的转变，人们的生计正日益受到威胁。该地区景观和生计变化的多种驱动因素之间存在复杂的相互作用。这里要探讨的问题是：外部发展干预措施如何影响了图尔卡纳游牧民不断变化的生计？本研究聚焦于图尔韦尔河流域下游地区，特别是图尔卡纳县洛伊马分区图尔韦尔的纳耶灌溉区。本文审视了殖民时期、独立后时期和当代的外部发展干预措施，以揭示这些时期土地利用方式和生计的变化情况。由于人口增长、干旱、城市化以及通过国家和捐助方支持的干预措施导致牧区被剥夺，土地利用方式正在发生变化。本文认为，在过去六十年里，从传统的无限制放牧系统转变为围栏牧场系统，这对游牧领地以及文化和生计构成了威胁。国际和国家行为体引入的一系列新的发展干预措施未能支持当地生计，反而成为破坏游牧业的现有问题之一，这些问题还包括干旱、牲畜疾病和偷牛。
