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

It is hoped that the historical vignette in this chapter provides a baseline
against which contemporary adaptive behaviour can be assessed. A
number of lessons were learnt which could be used in undertaking future
projects in Turkana. Firstly, successful technologies for use in the pastoral
areas in Kenya, and Turkana in particular, must be those that
demonstrate the capacity to yield tangible results, while remaining simple
enough to be grasped and adopted by the local communities. Secondly,
projects should be designed in a way which takes into account such
physical factors as unreliable and erratic rainfall, scarcity of basic
resources like water, fragile ecosystems, and poor or unsuitable
infrastructure. Thirdly, there is need for research to adapt to specific areas
and needs, and recognition and utilisation of local knowledge and
technologies in application of technological solutions to the development of
sustainable livelihood in the Turkana District. From the discussion above,
it is clear that there have been few attempts to base modern livelihood
policies on customary ways of doing things. There could be many
difficulties in doing this, but the failure of alternative policies suggests at
least that this option should be tried. This thesis suggests the need to
descend to the local level and analyse the famine situation in Turkana
from the point of view of the local people; men, women and children, who
have first hand experience. This will be explored in Chapters 6 and 7 with
a focus on the 2005-2006 drought and famine.
180