Assessment Of The Post Drought Recovery Strategies Among Pastoralists In Turkana Central District

ABSTRACT

This thesis is an assessment of the post drought recovery strategies among pastoralists in

Turkana Central district. The main objective of this study was to assess how the pastoralists’

community in drought prone areas of Turkana Central district recovers their livelihoods in the

post drought period. The study used structured questionnaires, participant observation and key

informant interviews and focused groups discussions to collect both quantitative and

qualitative primary data. Secondary data sources included review of published reports,

journals, internet and books to identify the existing information on the effect of drought in the

pastoral areas as well as the post drought recovery period. The quantitative data collected were

processed, tabulated, and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS)

version 11 (Students version) to generate descriptive statistics. Socio-economic characteristics

of the population show that marriage is highly regarded in the community with 65% of the

population being married. Divorce was however low at only 4%. Most households were male

headed with 75% of the total population. Livestock rearing in the form of pastoralism was the

main livelihood accounting for 57%. Literacy was found to be very low with 77% of the

people having no formal education and only 2% of the remaining 23%, having college

education. The results showed that drought had a huge negative effect on the pastoralists. Loss

of pasture accounted for 31% of the effects of drought on pastoral households while loss of

water accounted for 25%. Other effect of drought included loss of livestock, loss of income

and loss of family members with 18%, 5% and 3% respectively. Post drought recovery

strategies included livelihood diversification with 47% of the population practicing it. Female

dominated herd (15%) was an important post drought recovery strategy as during this time, the

stocking rates are low but the need for breeding stocks are high. Female herds are expected to

give birth and replenish the herd. Herd diversification was another important strategy with

10% of the population keeping difference species of livestock as a coping and recovery

strategy. Pastoralists that are left completely destitute due to drought rely on restocking

accounting for 5% of the population. According to the pastoralists external agents provide

important services that influence their recovery in the post drought periods. Such services

include provision of water with 43%, provision of relief food accounting for 30% while

provision of employment and early warning services which accounted for 20% and 7%

respectively. Key policy issues that need to be addressed by the government in the area are

those that focus on autonomous adaptation, land tenure, and access to pastoral markets. The

study concluded that drought had a huge impact on the poor households because they were

particularly vulnerable as they were mostly dependent on small stock animals, which are

highly vulnerable to drought. The study also concluded that there is need for the recognition

and maintenance of pastoral cultures, traditions and laws in mainstream policy making process

as these mechanisms are important for successful implementation of government programmes

to address drought in pastoral areas. The study recommends that there is need for government

to substantially strengthen pastoralist advocacy and invest in human capital in the area;

provide credit facilities to pastoralists and improve pastoralists’ access to markets. For further

research, the study recommends more studies to understand the herd dynamics at the

household levels. More specifically, further research is needed to understand the loss suffered

by the pastoralists at the household level and whether individual households are able to

mitigate such losses through livestock marketing.