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

was discussed there and then. Therefore, data generated in this way left a
lot of gaps in the subject of response to drought and famine. Thirdly, the
data generated through observation and informal interviews was not
enough to bring out completely, the Turkana people’s cultural
interpretation of drought and famine, and how they currently cope with
such conditions on their own within their network ties. There was then a
need for a more systematic data collection technique specifically designed
to explore the adaptation phenomenon.
3.4.3 Key Informant Interviews.
To assemble systematic information on the history of drought and famine,
cultural interpretation of drought and famine and modes of adaptation in
the past and today, eight key informants were identified and interviewed
in-depth. This investigation was conducted in informal semi-structured
interviews with general topics and open-ended questions. Mikkelsen (2005)
points out that with a semi-structured interview, everything is negotiable
and the informant can criticise, correct, or point out that it is sensitive, or
answer in any way they wish. During the data collection, the semi-
structured technique allowed me to follow my interests and ask follow-up
questions in order to get a deeper understanding of local people’s
behavioural patterns during crises. Questions were asked according to a
flexible checklist or guide (see Appendix 3). 55 A framework for analyzing
Turkana pastoralist’s adaptation to a dryland situation with special
response to drought (see Figure 4), and a framework for micro policy
analysis of rural livelihoods (see Figure 3), were used as a guideline when
establishing the checklist. 56
The interviews were expected to generate expert information about the two
research sites based on the research objectives. Fourteen days of intensive
55 The livelihood configurations discussed in Chapter 2 were subsumed into the key
informant and household interview schedules.
56 The two frameworks were also used in the form of a household questionnaire.
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