Livelihood diversification options for pastoralists in mountain and oasis areas of northern Kenya

摘要

ThemountainandoasisareasofnorthernKenyaattractrelativelylargehumanpopulationthantheothermorearidareas.TheseuniquezonesaremoreagriculturallyproductivethanothersurroundingareasofnorthernKenya.Thecommunitieslivinginthesezoneshavebeentraditionallymainlylivestockkeepers.However,inrecenttimes,changesoflifestyleandvariableclimatehaveledtoaneedtodiversifytheirlivelihoodsources.Littleisknownofthelivelihoodoptionsofthecommunitieslivingintheseareas.Hence,thecommunitiesintheseregionsareregardedaspurepastoralists.Thisnotionhascontributedtomainlylivestock-relateddevelopmentinterventionsfromthegovernmentandnon-governmentalbodies.TheobjectiveofthestudywastoassessthelivelihoodoptionswithinmountainandoasisareasofnorthernKenya.Thestudywasdoneusingasociologicalsurveymethodologywhererandomsamplingwasdonetogetherwithkeyinformantinterviews,structuredandunstructuredquestionnaires.Thefindingsofthestudyshowedthatthecommunitieshaveshiftedfrommobilepastoralsystemsandengagedinthefollowinglivelihoodoptions;settledlivestockkeepers(32%),cropfarming(24%),apiculture(8%),casualwork(10%),formalemployment(2%),weaving(13%),crafting(2%)andsandharvesting(2%).Themainsourcesoflivelihoodpractisedbymajorityofinterviewedhouseholdswerecropfarmingandlivestockkeepingandthesetwoalsohadrelativelyhighhouseholdincome.Infact,over80%oftherespondentsintegratelivestockkeepingandcropfarming.nbsp;ItisconcludedthatcommunitieslivinginthemountainandoasisareasofnorthernKenyahavediversifiedtheirsourceoflivelihoodstothosethatarenon-livestockbased.Itisthereforerecommendedthatotheralternativesourcesshouldbeexplored,aseffortstodevelopthelivestocksectorcontinuesintheseregions.