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

environment. But, this study focuses only on types of special relations 115
that provided livelihood security that was necessary to persist with during
the 2005-2006 drought and famine. It is argued here that social networks
may promote a form of resilient social security that allows Turkana people
to implement their livelihood strategies to good affect in the moderately
productive arid environment they inhabit. In cases of emergency or crises,
Turkana households with good social relations can get both financial and
moral support. 116
6.2: Effects of the 2005-2006 droughts.
Following the discussion in Chapters 1, 4, and 5, the Turkana District has
experienced a long history of drought conditions leading to famine and, to
a large extent, poverty (Swift 1985; Turkana Drought Contingency Unit
1992). Generally, poverty research has also revealed characteristics which
are widely shared among poor people and their families. There is a
consensus that, poverty is caused by a variety of socio-economic, political
and environmental factors, and poverty has fundamentally to do with
deprivation (Chambers 1995; Hettne 2002). Ellis (2000) argue that, the
most fundamental of these characteristics may be lack of assets, meaning
lack of ownership or access to land, other productive assets, skills,
education, and wealth. It is on the basis of this argument that it is
necessary to analyze the impact of the 2005-2006 droughts on the
Turkana people’s livelihood, and the extent to which this impact has
increased their vulnerability.
Although the available climatic data held in Kenyan government offices
suggests that the period 2005-2006 did not represent a particularly severe
115 This study will not endeavour to look at the structure of various categories, formation
or genealogy of relationships, but specifically analyse and discuss more general types of
social networks activated during 2005-2006 drought and famine, which enabled the local
people to survive the crisis.
116 As stated in chapter 3 (methodology), this analysis considers social relations as a
mediator.
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