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

CHAPTER 8: SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
8.1 Introduction.
The aim of the study was to find out how Turkana pastoralists in north
western Kenya coped with drought and famine in 2005-2006, inorder to
identify appropriate sustainable adaptive strategies. In particular, the
study has sought to understand the indigenous models of adaptation in
the absence of outside food aid, particularly famine relief food. The
argument was advanced that sustainable adaptability can be built only if
we take the existing local livelihood response as the starting point, and
allow Turkana people to take the leading role. Therefore, Turkana people
were asked what they do to mitigate the effects of drought and famine, and
what they perceive as the factors which impinge on their adaptability.
The study was motivated by my own observation of the continual suffering
Turkana people experience due to a long history of drought and famine in
the Turkana District. Apart from drought, other factors identified in the
literature as the cause of food insecurity were human and livestock
diseases, raids from neighbouring tribes, and the colonial policy of
marginalisation. It was learnt that during these crises, Turkana people
were able to develop various indigenous livelihood strategies within their
social and economic backgrounds to avert the catastrophe. These
livelihood strategies were based on platforms of assets that families,
households or individuals have access to. This information formed the
basis upon which adaptive behaviour during the 2005-2006 droughts and
famine could be assessed.
8.2 Theoretical implications.
Livelihoods in pastoral areas are normally complex and diverse, and this
makes it difficult to capture the dynamics of livelihoods or adaptive
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