Does the Community Conservancy Model Work for Pastoralists? Insights from Naibunga Conservancy in Northern Kenya

Abstract

Community conservancies are increasingly being established across African pastoral rangelands to help bolster wildlife conservation and livelihoods. Enhancing the effectiveness and sustainability of such conservancies requires better understanding of local community participation and perceptions of their socioeconomic outcomes. Working in Naibunga Community Conservancy in northern Kenya, we evaluated: (1) local community members’ perceptions of conservancy-related socioeconomic outcomes; (2) their involvement in conservancy management and conservation activities; and (3) association between these factors (perceptions and involvement) and various demographic factors. We conducted surveys in 358 households, selected using multi-stage sampling, and additionally interviewed key informants. Large proportions (65–90%) respondents perceived conservancy-related improvements in their overall socioeconomic status, security, household income, livestock numbers, and accessibility to grazing resources, schools, and health facilities. Over 75% of respondents indicated that they were involved in conservancy management and conservation activities. Involvement in these activities was positively associated with perception of socioeconomic improvements. In addition, various demographic factors shaped both perceptions of socioeconomic changes and involvement in conservancy activities. Our findings suggest that community conservancies can improve local pastoralists’ socioeconomic wellbeing. Such conservancies can achieve far greater outcomes with greater focus on maximizing socioeconomic benefits for local pastoralists and enhancing their participation in conservancy activities.

Decolonising spaces of knowledge production: Mpala research centre in Laikipia County, Kenya

“…Of the 100s of research outputs listed on the Mpala website, 17 none or few deal with marginalised groups as marginalised; they are instead addressed as small-hold farmers (Krell et al, 2021), poachers (Beery and Bondi, 2021) or as useful-or-not in already-conceived conservation initiatives (Schuttler et al, 2019). None of this research draws on critical perspectives on colonialism, race, gender, class and so forth, and where qualitative data is collected it tends to take the form of multiple-choice surveys that are quantified for statistical analysis (Oburah et al, 2021). 18 With these references, we stress, it is not our intention to direct critique at individual authors and articles but to demonstrate a structural issue where the practices of knowing the world are strongly centred on quantitative ordering of wildlife habitats.…”

NGO-Led Community-Based Conservation: A New Frontier of Territorialization with Implications for Pastoralists’ Land Tenure and Climate Change Adaptation

“…Although there is a growing body of research on market-based conservation in general and NGO-led CBC in particular, little attention has been paid to the effects on pastoralists' climate change adaptation and land tenure. Some studies suggest that NGO-led CBC results in improved socioeconomic well-being for pastoralists and enhanced ecological conditions [29][30][31]. However, as observed in southern Africa, where contemporary CBC was established much earlier and is more widely studied, research is nevertheless often limited to or undertaken with the direct beneficiaries or promoters of NGO-led CBC (see, for instance, [29,30,32]), and which poses a methodological weakness [33].…”

“…Some studies suggest that NGO-led CBC results in improved socioeconomic well-being for pastoralists and enhanced ecological conditions [29][30][31]. However, as observed in southern Africa, where contemporary CBC was established much earlier and is more widely studied, research is nevertheless often limited to or undertaken with the direct beneficiaries or promoters of NGO-led CBC (see, for instance, [29,30,32]), and which poses a methodological weakness [33]. Communitybased conservation is also conceptualized as ecosystem-based adaptation [34][35][36] or as payment for ecosystem services [37].…”