Enclosures in West Pokot, Kenya: Transforming land, livestock and livelihoods in drylands
Journal article, 2015
Dryland livestock production systems are changing in many parts of the world, as a result of growing human populations and associated pressure on water and land. Based on a combination of social and natural science methods, we studied a 30-year transformation process from pastoralism to a livestock-based agro-pastoral system in northwestern Kenya, with the overall aim to increase the understanding of the ongoing transition towards intensified agro-pastoralist production systems in dryland East Africa.
Key to this transformation was the use of enclosures for land rehabilitation, fodder production, and land and livestock management. Enclosures have more soil carbon and a higher vegetation cover than adjacent areas with open grazing. The level of adoption of enclosures as a management tool has been very high, and their use has enabled agricultural diversification, e.g. increased crop agriculture, poultry production and the inclusion of improved livestock. Following the use of enclosures, livelihoods have become less dependent on livestock migration, are increasingly directed towards agribusinesses and present new opportunities and constraints for women. These livelihood changes are closely associated with, and depend on, an ongoing privatization of land under different tenure regimes.
The results indicate that the observed transformation provides opportunities for a pathway towards a sustainable livestock-based agro-pastoral system that could be valid in many dryland areas in East Africa. However, we also show that emergent risks of conflicts and inequalities in relation to land, triggered by the weakening of collective property rights, pose a threat to the sustainability of this pathway.
Transformation
Livestock
Intensification
Land use
Kenya
Agro-pastoralism
Livelihood
Enclosure
Author
Gert Nyberg
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU)
Per Knutsson
University of Gothenburg
Madelene Ostwald
Chalmers, Energy and Environment, Physical Resource Theory
Ingrid Öborn
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU)
World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF)
Ewa Wredle
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU)
David Jakinda Otieno
University of Nairobi
Stephen Mureithi
University of Nairobi
Peter Mwangi
Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology
Muhammed Said
International Livestock Research Institute Nairobi
Magnus Jirström
Lund University
Antonia Grönwall
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU)
Julia Wernersson
University of Gothenburg
University of Copenhagen
Sara Svanlund
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU)
Laura Saxer
University of Gothenburg
Lotje Geutjes
University of Gothenburg
Vera Karmebäck
Lund University
University of Nairobi
John Wairore
University of Nairobi
Regina Wambui
Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology
Jan De Leeuw
World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF)
Anders Malmer
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU)
Pastoralism
2041-7136 (eISSN)
Vol. 5 1 25Subject Categories
Social Sciences Interdisciplinary
Environmental Sciences related to Agriculture and Land-use
DOI
10.1186/s13570-015-0044-7