The politics of policy-making around pastoralism in Kenya

Hon. Mohamed Elmi Member of Parliament for Tarbaj constituency, Kenya  and Former Minister for Northern Kenya and Other Arid Lands

Izzy Birch Technical Adviser, National Drought Management Authority, Kenya (formerly Ministry of Northern Kenya and other Arid Lands)

STEPS Centre / Future Agricultures Consortium Seminar
In April 2008 the Government of Kenya created a ministry to focus on the distinct challenges and opportunities of the country’s arid lands. Long-neglected and misunderstood by central policy-makers, these are areas on the one hand marked by insecurity and inequality, but on the other possessed of substantial, if latent, endowments and strengths.

The speakers will reflect on the ministry’s experience of promoting policy and institutional reform in the interests of a predominantly pastoral region and discuss its relationships with a range of other policy actors. They will highlight the challenges of pursuing long-term change within the limits imposed by five-year administrations, as well as the prospects for further consolidation of the reforms under Kenya’s new national and county governments.

The book Pastoralism and Development in Africa: Dynamic Change at the Margins is available to buy from Routledge (published 2012).