Development plans should encourage Nomadism

A constructive mind-set by those responsible for development planning than what we are seeing today is what Northern Kenya needs.

By Adan W. Kabelo

06. September 2006

Every time calamities occur in the Northern part of Kenya, so much discussion is generated on how the region has been neglected and an impromptu generosity is elicited for a while.

The plane crush in Marsabit early this year, the recurring droughts, famine and frequent diseases outbreaks captures media and international community attention to respond. This is habitually a momentary philanthropic response that is soon forgotten until another tragedy.

But what this region requires is an appreciation instead of sympathy.  A constructive mind-set by those responsible for development planning than what we are seeing today.  The development of this region is beneficial for the whole Country and the region at large. Many foreigners to nomadic pastoralism ignorantly believe that it is a wasteful way of life that should be discarded because it has no virtues today.

In this arid region covering more than 50% of the Kenya’s land mass live hundreds of thousands of pastoralist men, women and children herding over millions of herds of cattle, goats, camel and donkeys for eons.  

They move from place to place searching for pasture and water to salvage their livestock every year.  Mobility is their significant coping mechanism to continue to exist.  Pastoralism is the oldest lifestyle that can only be modified but cannot just be wished away.  Undermining pastoralism and presenting it as an archaic, wasteful system is clearly a profound misrepresentation.  Unfortunately, policy makers and implementers in this country need re-schooling on this rich way of life.

Contrary to sedentarisation for development view, pastoralists need more mobility to make use of the scarce resources.  Providing services in fixed locations as incentives to settle the nomads will only worsen their livelihoods in the long run.  Mobility is not an obstacle to development.  Concentration in one locality causes overgrazing and land degradation. One can simply notice this near all the shopping or relief centres in the region.

But from a critical point of view, the effort put into making people settle in a place so that services can be offered to them has not been successful either. Education standards are indeed very low, diseases of all sorts are still rampant and above all people are still starving. Sample this: In a survey carried out in Mandera district on the border with Somalia, 90% of the children are illiterate in English and Swahili which are taught expensively in the formal schools but an equal percentage were found to be literate in Arabic which is taught in informal schools using very little resources which are locally available. 

I am referring to the ‘Duksi’ system for those familiar with this area. This inverse outcome relationship has partially to do with the attitude towards the style of providing formal education to a roving community.  De-formalising provision of education to suit the lifestyles of the people and making the curriculum relevant to them should be given preference for any genuine development to take root. Service provision should not therefore be a tool to force people into clusters. As opposed to people struggling to be relevant to services, such services should be tailored to people’s life.

Most land in the region is governed as a trust land where the government has the authority to distribute centrally to national priorities. When pastoralists priority for land use competes with those of neighbouring cultivators, conservationists, tourists and military installations, they lose out to those other powerful uses/groups often.

Recently there was a stand-off in Isiolo where a conservationist claimed substantial dry season grazing land arguing that the land was unused not knowing that the nomads were purposefully away for a season.  No amount of persuasion could convince the policy makers that these nomads have nowhere to go in the next dry season. 

For effective development of the area, the government should invest in appropriate service delivery mechanisms. By this I mean mobile social services. Service delivery has never been cheap therefore arguing that mobile services will be more expensive is hogwash. No expense is worthier than human life.

Introduce pastoral education curricula in schools to influence the attitude against the system. No one values something unless that something touches their life. A system that demeans their livelihood will not be attractive to the pastoralists.

Avail water points at considered locations in consultation with the traditional leaders. This will reduce overgrazing and conflicts common in the area. Recognise the important role of traditional conflict resolution and strengthen it and where possible let the modern appointments to leadership positions like chiefs be through the traditional structures.

 Then the basic foundation for development of this region would have been set.