PhD thesis Title Page Final _Richard Juma - Victoria University ...

een invested in new marriages. When a divorce occurs, the children
belong to the father and his family. This is also the case when a man dies.
The process of returning the cattle and giving up children hinders widows
from getting remarried. Therefore, the clansmen are very keen on the
continuation of marriage.
4.1.4: Chapter summary.
This chapter began with a brief discussion of the origin of the Turkana
people to show that they were pastoralists even before moving to their
present location. A detailed background description of the Turkana District
as the general study area was then provided. It includes indepth
information on the ecology of the Turkana region, and emphasis was put
on social-economic resources. It is noted that the environment plays a
significant role in the lives of the Turkana people as it impacts either
negatively or positively on their survival strategies.
As explored in this chapter, the Turkana District is a region particularly
suitable for the study of how pastoralists survive in harsh environments.
Turkana people live in an ecological zone that is arid. Much of the district
is also characterised by low-lying plains with scattered elevated features.
This provides a range of vegetation types, which are exploited between wet
and dry seasons by Turkana pastoralists. Tree vegetation mostly appears
as riverine vegetation and acacia tortillis is the most valuable tree found
along the banks of the Turkwel and Kerio rivers (the two main rivers in the
Turkana District). Rainfall is unpredictable, the soils are poor, and water is
scarce.
The Turkana people also tend to be both geographically and politically
marginalized. The people live in remote places and are often
disadvantageously excluded from political processes and associated
development efforts. I argue here that, even though the Kenya government
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