Mega-Projects, Land Tenure and Local Institutions Changes in Nakuprat-Gotu Community Conservancy in Isiolo County, Kenya
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Date
2023
Authors
Changwony, Winnie
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kenyatta University
Abstract
Community-Based Conservation (CBC) in Northern Kenya occur in diverse socio-ecological and socio-political contexts, which often influence their success and changes. Recently, the region was proposed for implementation of the Lamu Port South-Sudan Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) corridor; a large-scale infrastructural development associated with resort cities, highways, pipelines, railway lines, among others. If fully implemented, these mega projects will massively encroach on land formerly under the Nakuprat-Gotu conservancy in Isiolo. This study utilized the perspectives of ‘economies of anticipation’ to explore emerging land tenure changes as the LAPSSET corridor and other ancillary projects take shape. It further examined the dynamics facing local institutions used to conserve and govern natural resources in the context of emerging issues, and its implication to the CBC system. The conservancy under study is an important ecosystem for wildlife and pastoralism and is owned by previously warring Turkana and Borana pastoralist communities, brought together under a common conservancy unit to harmoniously share resources. The study adopted a descriptive research design and a mixed method approach. Primary data was collected from a sample size of 110 members of the conservancy, the management committee, conservation actors as well as government agencies. Respondents were engaged through semi-structured interviews, key information interviews (KIIs) and focused group discussions (FGDs). Additionally, secondary sources including journals, relevant reports, and library materials were used. Quantitative data was organized and analyzed using the statistical packages for social sciences (SPSS) and further complimented the qualitative results which were analyzed and presented using thematic coding analysis. The findings of the study revealed that Nakuprat-Gotu’s CBC model has been a sustainable land-use model and a critical tool in supporting organized access, use and benefit sharing of communally owned resources among the Turkana and Borana. With the anticipation of mega-projects, communities are increasingly expressing hope and expectations, fears, and contestations about the uncertain future of their land, the conservancy, and pastoral livelihoods. These manifest through the changes in land views explained through the notion of ‘commodification of commons’ where communal land within the conservancy becomes a commodity for exchange in arm’s length market. Consequently, the area has witnessed massive land tenure changes that have also been characterized by pseudoformal land registration arrangements, foreign land acquisitions and privatization, as well as land grabs albeit with manifold layers of contestations and conflicts. Local institutions, referring to informal rules, regulations, norms, and values for conservation of nature, that have hitherto played an instrumental role in governing the commons, are facing new strains given the emerging land tenure issues and coupled political instrumentalization. The rule of the elders, who are the custodians of communal property, are increasingly losing their grasp on local land matters and suffer from the weight of recent institutional innovations and replacement. With the increasing value of land owing to the proposed mega projects, traditional institutions and councils of elders face political pressure to provide “social licenses” to land-related transactions. Findings also showed that indigenous norms and customary expressions, which conservation was pegged on, is under threat following the expectations of modernity promised in the ongoing plans and discussions that present the corridor as a ‘game changer’ in the north. These emerging issues raise critical concerns on the future of a community-based conservation model in the region.
Description
A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Award for the Degree of Master of Environmental Studies and Community Development in the School of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences of Kenyatta University, October, 2023.
Keywords
Mega-Projects, Land Tenure, Local Institutions Changes, Nakuprat-Gotu, Community Conservancy, Isiolo County, Kenya