Pastoralist societies in flux: A conceptual framework analysis of herding and land use among the Mukugodo Maasai of Kenya

Abstract

Pastoral livelihoods are evolving rapidly. The emergence of globalized markets and the integration of globalized production in developing countries have forced many pastoralists, along with the rest of the world’s consumers, to shift their economic strategies of production to accommodate these evolving markets. The objective of this paper is to illustrate the relationship between globalization and apparent transformations in pastoralist behaviour in recent years. We specifically focus on the links among climate, land use, and herding in rural northern Kenya. To do this, we use a novel conceptual framework that incorporates both traditional interactions between pastoral ecology and resource generation and modern opportunities by linking pastoral families via their pastoral production and other economic activities to the cash economy, modern diets and nutritional status (health), and public and private assistance and programmes (such as food aid).