Unevenness in scale mismatches: Institutional change, pastoralist livelihoods, and herding ecology in Laikipia, Kenya

Unks, Ryan R.; King, Elizabeth G.; German, Laura; Wachira, Naiputari Paul; Nelson, Donald R.

doi:10.1016/j.geoforum.2018.12.010

Cited by 14 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 107 publications

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“…For all these reasons, camel milk fetches higher prices than other animals' milk (e.g. about 20 to 50% higher than cow milk in Isiolo, according to Elhadi et al 2015), and camels are becoming increasingly attractive also to non-traditional camel-keeping communities (Anderson et al 2012, Unks et al 2019). As it is consumed raw and supplied from long distances, health risks associated to CM consumption are evident (tuberculosis, brucellosis, etc.).…”

Section: Northern Kenya Drylandsmentioning

confidence: 99%

High quality, high reliability: The dynamics of camel milk marketing in northern Kenya

Nori

2023

Pastoralism

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In order to analyse the transformations faced by pastoralists in coping with the uncertainties of their livelihoods, this paper analyses the evolutions of the marketing of camel milk, which has turned from a local taboo into a critical asset for the pastoral communities of Isiolo, a county typically associated with the rearing of cattle. Camel milk marketing (CMM) challenges several assumptions about pastoral societies and their supposed embedding conservativeness, inefficiency and risk aversion.A high-reliability perspective has been instrumental in revealing the ongoing dynamics that are reconfiguring pastoral resource management and livelihood patterns in Isiolo. Through this approach, the management practices and contractual relationships that underpin CMM production and marketing have been explored, with a view to unveiling the rationale inspiring the networks through which camel milk is transacted, and the related socially-regulated arrangements and practices. The social and political embeddedness of CMM networks is central to their ability to adapt and function in constantly changing local conditions.The marketing of camel milk provides an intriguing insight into how pastoral systems are informed by a high-reliability approach to operating under conditions of volatility and uncertainty. Political economy matters will have a significant influence on the evolution of this important enterprise. Adequate investments in infrastructure and public facilities would be crucial to further develop CMM and to enable its operators to respond and adapt to local dynamics, with a view to fairly share the associated risks, costs and benefits.

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Section: Northern Kenya Drylandsmentioning

confidence: 99%

High quality, high reliability: The dynamics of camel milk marketing in northern Kenya

Nori

2023

Pastoralism

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“…This landscape is predominantly semi-arid bushland divided among a matrix of privately-owned conservancies, commercial ranches, and agro-pastoralist community-owned conservancies (Frank et al, 2005;Frank, 2010;Bond, 2014;Yurco, 2017). Livestockowners in this landscape keep cattle, sheep, and goats (collectively referred to as shoats), donkeys, and camels (Ogada et al, 2003;Frank et al, 2005;Frank, 2010;Unks et al, 2019). There are two rainfall seasons, with heavier rains from April-June and lighter rains from October-December.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

The Integral Nature of Encounter Rate in Predicting Livestock Depredation Risk

Hoffmann

Pilfold

Ruppert

et al. 2022

Front. Conserv. Sci.

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Carnivore depredation of livestock is one of the primary drivers of human-carnivore conflict globally, threatening the well-being of livestock owners, and fueling large carnivore population declines. Interventions designed to reduce carnivore depredation typically center around predictions of depredation risk. However, these spatial risk models tend to be informed by data depicting the number of livestock attacked by carnivores. Importantly, such models omit key stages in the predation sequence which are required to predict predation risk, or in this case depredation risk. Applying the classic predation risk model defined by Lima and Dill demonstrates that depredation risk is dependent upon quantifying the rates at which carnivores encounter livestock before attacking. However, encounter rate is challenging to estimate, necessitating novel data collection systems. We developed and applied such a system to quantify carnivore-livestock encounters at livestock corrals (i.e., bomas) across a 9-month period in Central Kenya. Concurrently, we monitored the number of livestock attacked by carnivores at these bomas. We calculated carnivore-livestock encounter rates, attack rates, and depredation risk at the boma. We detected 1,383 instances in which carnivores encountered livestock at the bomas. However, we only recorded seven attacks. We found that the encounter rate and attack rate for spotted hyenas were almost six and three times higher than that for any other species, respectively. Consequently, spotted hyenas posed the greatest depredation risk for livestock at the boma. We argue that better understanding of carnivore-livestock encounter rates is necessary for effective prediction and mitigation of carnivore depredation of livestock.

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“…Containment strategies such as fencing and border restrictions constrain pastoralists who lose their seasonal and informal movements to capitalise on grazing, fodder, water or escape from disease or conflict (Davis & Sharp, 2020;Khbou, Htira, Harabech, & Benzarti, 2018). In addition, in Kenya, constrained mobility from the institutionalisation of private property undermined social relations that enabled labour sharing, animal gifting and herd risk pooling (Unks, King, German, Wachira, & Nelson, 2019). However, exposure to infection is high after rainfall when herders and animals are concentrated to capitalise on good grazing and women manage young and sick animals exposing them to disease (Dzingirai et al, 2016).…”

Section: Containment Strategies and The Health/livelihoods Paradoxmentioning

confidence: 99%

EIDs and the Intersectional Health/Livelihoods Paradox in the Rural Global South

Gomersall¹

2022

JSD

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This article presents the framework of the intersectional health/livelihoods paradox to analyse how political economic processes incur land use change to create vulnerability to infectious disease, but that in contending with these risks rural people negotiate conflicts with livelihoods. The conflicts and trade-offs people make in deliberating over health and livelihood outcomes because of ecological degradation are distributed unevenly through lines of social difference, such as gender and class. While the health/livelihoods paradox is evident within contexts of vulnerability to infectious disease, it is poignant when considering the impacts of interventions and containment strategies to control outbreaks in rural settings. Despite considerable attention on the urban context of disease surveillance, spread and containment due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this article refocuses analysis of the impacts of emerging infectious disease (EID) in rural contexts. The article shifts attention away from analysis of the problematic practices of rural households that undertake livelihood activities such as harvesting of wildlife for consumption, to a nexus between land use change, ecologies, livelihoods and health. The literature is fragmented in terms of the landscapes explored, developmental processes, species dynamics, diseases and social contexts. Therefore, this article presents a framework that enables complex dynamics such as these, that lead people to make compromises between competing health and livelihood outcomes to be examined.

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Unevenness in scale mismatches: Institutional change, pastoralist livelihoods, and herding ecology in Laikipia, Kenya

Cited by 14 publications

References 107 publications

High quality, high reliability: The dynamics of camel milk marketing in northern Kenya

High quality, high reliability: The dynamics of camel milk marketing in northern Kenya

The Integral Nature of Encounter Rate in Predicting Livestock Depredation Risk

EIDs and the Intersectional Health/Livelihoods Paradox in the Rural Global South

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