Of Grasslands and Guns: Natural-Resource Based Conflict Among the Waso Borana Pastoralists of Northern Kenya

The once productive, arid rangelands of northern Kenya, traditionally dominated by a mix of woody species (Acacia, Commiphora, Cordia spp.) and graminoids (Tetrapogon, Aristida, Chrysopogon and Sporobolus spp.) have gradually deteriorated in ecological condition over recent decades (Herlocker, 1999). A major factor considered to be responsible for this trend is the disintegration of traditional systems of land stewardship. Traditional authority has waned in northern Kenya and has often been replaced by open-access tenure, overseen by ineffectual government administrators. Couple this with frequent droughts that typify this zone, as well as expanding populations of people and livestock, and the net result is increased competition for diminishing quantity and quality of grazing and water resources. Local people throughout northern Kenya have reportedly entered a survival mode of existence where the incidence of armed conflict has increased because resource-based disputes have intensified (Smith et al., 2000). The objective of this research was to investigate and quantify the views of the Waso Boran people, one of many ethnic groups in the northern Kenyan rangelands, concerning the causes, and possible solutions, for their conflicts that revolve around natural resources