Gufu Oba

Traditional Ecological Knowledge of a Riverine Forest in Turkana, Kenya: Implications for Research and Management

The present study explores traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) of Turkana pastoralists and cultivators in the context of a riverine forest in northern Kenya. The Turkwel River and its floodplain sustain a thick forest, which is used for grazing and extraction of non-timber forest products. However, sedentarisation and agricultural expansion have resulted in localised clear-felling of trees, while river damming has altered the natural flow regime. A series of structured, semi-structured, and group interviews were combined with a botanical inventory in order to assess the relevance of TEK to ecological research and forest conservation. Turkana informants gave 102 vernacular names for the 113 woody species. Of these, 85% had a domestic or pastoral use among the 105 specific uses that were described. Ethnobotanical knowledge was relatively homogenous and not related to age, gender, or source of livelihood. The informants had in-depth knowledge of some key ecological processes. The conceived threats to forest survival were primarily cultivation and permanent settlements, while the effects of river damming and livestock grazing were disputed. A claimed decline in rainfall was confirmed by official data. There is strong evidence that TEK could be used to generate hypotheses for research and to design sustainable conservation strategies. A revised version of the indigenous system of tree management should be incorporated into the official forestry policy in order to resolve future conflicts between pastoralists and cultivators.

Policy-driven Inter-ethnic Conflicts in Southern Ethiopia

Persistent inter-ethnic conflicts in southern Ethiopia have created a crisis in security of customary land tenure in the grazing lands. This article explores the links between government administrative policies and inter-ethnic conflicts on grazing resource borders by discussing the historical relationships between contesting pastoral groups, their perceptions of resource borders and how the groups used government policies of ethnic-based decentralisation and referendum to claim ownership rights to grazing lands. The article contextualises the discussions within the politics of land use. Inter-ethnic conflicts have interfered with customary resource allocations by undermining customary institutions for resource sharing. There is a need for urgent dialogue between the government and different pastoral communities for negotiating access to key resources supported by conflict resolution in the southern rangelands of Ethiopia.

Livestock-based knowledge of rangeland quality assessment and monitoring at landscape level among borana herders of northern Kenya

It has not been easy to capture landscape level grazing parameters through participatory assessment and monitoring of rangeland quality. Disagreements exist on what indicators to use and how the generated data can be linked to management-related information and whether the methods can be replicated across different grazing areas. Rangeland quality assessment and monitoring has hence focused on conventional scientific methods while the role of indigenous ecological knowledge of local herders has been given less emphasis. This study explored Borana herders’ knowledge of assessing and monitoring rangeland quality at landscape level in Marsabit Central District in northern Kenya. A number of participatory methods have been used, including focused group discussion, key informant interviews and a joint field survey. We established that Borana herders have a considerable ecological knowledge which focuses on livestock-based indicators at the level of classified landscapes. The herders’ personal experiences and social memory further provided an environmental history of grazing landscapes and their perceptions of rangeland quality change. The herders’ knowledge can be integrated with conventional ecological methods to assess and monitor rangeland quality.

Ciinna – the Borana Oromo narration of the 1890s Great Rinderpest epizootic in North Eastern Africa

Abstract During the last quarter of the nineteenth century, consecutive natural calamities occurred in North Eastern Africa that collapsed pastoral economies and forced human adaptations. A rinderpest epizootic and devastating famine characterized the period. Using oral narrations of the Borana Oromo of Southern Ethiopia, this paper discusses the impact of the Great Rinderpest of the 1890s on cattle, as well as the subsequent famine, and the beginning of predation by carnivores on humans. Societal memory is utilized to reconstruct that particular historical period, referred to by the Borana as ciinna tiittee guracha – the “extermination of cattle whose corpses were covered by swarms of black flies”. The pastoral economy and human population collapse that occurred left imprints on historical traditions. The impact of the pandemic was explored in this study by discussing family traditions of the unusual danger of man-eating carnivores, the practice of pawning children, the dispersal of populations, the wiping-out of entire families and, most critically, the crisis of social identity. We examine societal responses and the revival of those social institutions that coordinated recovery and the redistribution of resources. We attempt to understand the process of recovery: the importance of head counting the survivors, the social and ritual re-organization of the gada, and the revival of social institutions that re-created social harmony and promoted pastoral economic recovery.

Community-based Knowledge of Indigenous Vegetation in Arid African Landscapes

This article is based on comparative research conducted in three African countries—Mali, Botswana and Kenya—between 2006 and 2007. The research focuses on local perceptions of biodiversity loss and land degradation in grazing pastures as a result of anthropogenic activities. We show that land degradation can be motivated by climate change, while local overuse of indigenous vegetation can lead to resource conflict. We then examine how changes in indigenous vegetation might influence the livelihood and security of local communities. In drawing key findings common to all three countries, we suggest that the sustainability of indigenous vegetation in dryland ecosystems can be maintained through seasonal mobility of herds, preservation of dry season grazing and improved livestock marketing, and that failure to do so can result in far-reaching consequences for rural communities.

Cattle herd vulnerability to rainfall variability: responses to two management scenarios in southern Ethiopia

We examine how the system of grazing management of cattle in savanna rangelands affects the herd response to drought. We have used long-term time series data to evaluate the effects of management on drought-induced cattle mortality using traditional livestock management practices. There was no control of stocking densities, as compared to a government ranch where stocking densities would be adjusted in accordance with available pasture. We tested the responses under two scenarios. Scenario 1: Response of cattle herds to inter-annual rainfall variability (IRV) under a regulated grazing management system; this provides more reliable predictions of cattle population and performance in terms of herd mortality and calving rates than does the communal land use system. Scenario 2: Regardless of the management system, similar trends in cattle populations will be observed in response to IRV. The results of the study showed that fluctuations in cattle numbers, herd mortality and calving rates were highly correlated with IRV, with stronger linear impacts in accordance with scenario 2. In both management systems, cattle herd sizes and calving rates declined during periods of drought, followed by slow recovery. Cattle populations in Borana rangelands in southern Ethiopia did not recover for a period of two decades. We conclude that a management system based on control of stocking densities did not improve herd survival, as compared with traditional drought management strategies. This contradicts common expectations. Increased drought frequencies aggravated cattle mortality and lowered calving rates. The implication of the findings is that regardless of adjusted stocking density, livestock populations in the arid savanna ecosystems of southern Ethiopia remain at risk from climate change.

Understanding the Role of Local Management in Vegetation Recovery Around Pastoral Settlements in Northern Kenya

The recent greening of the Sahel region and increase in vegetation cover around pastoral settlements previously described as “man-made deserts”, have raised important questions on the permanency of land degradation associated with the over-exploitation of woody plants. Evidence presented is mostly on increased wetness, while management by local communities has received limited attention. This study evaluated changes in woody vegetation cover around the settlements of Kargi and Korr in northern Kenya, using satellite imagery (1986/2000), ecological ground surveys and interviews with local elders, in order to understand long-term changes in vegetation cover and the role of local community in vegetation dynamics. At both settlements, there were increments in vegetation cover and reduction in the extent of bare ground between 1986 and 2000. At Kargi settlement, there were more tree seedlings in the centre of settlement than further away. Mature tree class was more abundant in the centre of Korr than outside the settlement. The success of the regeneration and recovery of tree cover was attributed to the actions of vegetation management initiative including stringent measures by the local Environmental Management Committees. This study provides good evidence that local partnership is important for sustainable management of resources especially in rural areas where the effectiveness of government initiative is lacking.

‘Gaafa dhaabaa - the period of stop’: Narrating impacts of shifta insurgency on pastoral economy in northern Kenya, c. 1963 to 2007

In northern Kenya, there have been limited discussions on the impacts of the 1960 to 1968 insurgency wars and subsequent banditry on the long-term impacts of the pastoral economy. This is despite the societies’ vivid memories of the effects of these wars, from which research would gain a long-term outlook about consequences on rural economies. We present an understanding of the long-term impact of the shifta (term used at that period by the Kenyan Government) for the secessionist war fought by the Somali insurgents with the armed forces of Kenya between 1963 and 1968. We evaluate the impact of the shifta insurgency, the armys counter-insurgency and the subsequent insecurity on the recovery of the pastoral economy between 1984 and 2007. We interviewed members of three communities in Isiolo District in Kenya affected by the shifta war. The research shows that the livestock herds of the communities have not achieved the levels of recovery of the pre-shifta war forty-four years after that conflict ended. Persistent banditry and recurrent droughts are blamed by the pastoralists for the lack of recovery of the pastoral herds of the three communities. The article concludes that armed conflicts, coupled with risks of droughts, have a long-term impact on the pastoral economy.

Colonial resource capture: triggers of ethnic conflicts in the Northern Frontier District of Kenya, 1903–1930s

Abstract This article uses the resource scarcity-violence model of Homer-Dixon (1999) to analyse the drivers of conflicts between ethnic groups that shared the pre-colonial ethnic frontiers of trans-Jubaland–Wajir and competed over water sources during the colonial period in the Northern Frontier District (NFD) of Kenya from 1903 to 1939. The article shows that pre-colonial ethnic conflicts were not induced by resource scarcity. Rather, extended periods of peace punctuated by conflicts were associated more with social and political relations. By contrast, the colonial period, with far more restrictive resource access to wells and the grazing lands, resulted in structural changes in resource scarcity. Colonial resource governance was incapable of stopping the pressures from migrants threatening resident populations. Residents were finally displaced and former alliances broken up. The competition resulted in violent conflicts due to structural changes that altered rights to resources.

Effects of herbivory on above- and below-ground biomass partitioning in two arid-zone dwarf shrubs

Biomass partitioning by arid-zone dwarf shrubs between above- and below-ground fractions could be influenced by plant adaptations to herbivory. The response of potted Indigofera spinosa and I. cliffordiana to heavy and moderate top defoliations, compared to non-defoliated controls, was investigated. Relative growth rates of plants (Weeks 1–8), number of lateral shoots (Weeks 5–13), total number of leaves and leaf area (at Week 13), clipped biomass (CB) at Weeks 8 and 11 as well as residual biomass (RB), total above-ground biomass (TAGB) (i.e. the sums of CB and RB) and total root biomass (TRB) by treatments at Week 13 were greater in I. cliffordiana than in I. spinosa. Clipping reduced the shoot-root ratio (S:R) in I. cliffordiana but not in I. spinosa. For I. spinosa, plants defoliated at moderate intensities produced more root biomass (22.9%) than at heavy regimes (17.6%) or the controls (12.9%). In I. cliffordiana, below-ground biomass as a fraction of the combined biomass was less in control plants (16.5%), compared to moderate (18.2%) and heavy defoliation treatments (26.5%). The two dwarf shrub species compensated at different intensities for above- and below-ground biomass: I. spinosa at moderate defoliations and I. cliffordiana at heavy defoliations.