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

strategies 19 and achievement of sustainable livelihoods. The idea is not
new. An earlier study by Gulliver (1955) established that in the pre-
colonial period social relations among Turkana pastoralists were a critical
part of the production system.
Theoretically, the study seeks to investigate and explain two basic
components of the adaptive phenomenon. First, the specific types of social
networks 20 activated during the 2005-2006 drought and famine in the
endeavour to survive 21. However, how to identify these relationships is a
real challenge. Nomadism presents several problems for a standard
network analysis approach (most network analysts have studied settled
communities). It is not possible to delineate a herd owner’s total network of
social relations since it would take a lifetime to come into contact with all
the people who are part or potentially apart, of a nomadic social network.
For example, in Turkana, a person’s residence frequently and irregularly
changes. The qualities of an individual’s social ties vary both in number
and temporarily through the course of the year, and throughout a lifetime.
To overcome this problem, I place more emphasis on the quality of specific
relationships rather than the quantity, and focus only on those social
relations that emerged during the 2005-2006 droughts and famine, and
allowed the Turkana people to implement their livelihood strategies to good
effect, and hence towards the sustainability of their livelihood.
Secondly, it is important to examine the social and economic determinants
of adaptability 22. Toulmin (1986) has argued that people’s responses to
food insecurity are often differentiated by socio-economic factors, and that
this determines a range of coping options at a household’s disposal. This
19 Strategies are referred to here as thoughts, plans, or behaviours that Turkana people
employ in their attempts to utilise scarce resources.
20 I use the concept ‘network’ because it allows me to focus on friendship ties of particular
individuals who provide each other a type of resource security during environmentally
stressful times. This will be key to the discussion in chapter 6.
21 I use the term ‘survive’ because, during difficult periods (i.e the dry season and
especially drought) life in Turkana is oriented toward survival.
22 See chapter 7 for detailed discussion.
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