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141 7 Climate Change and Peacebuilding among Pastoralist Communities in northeastern uganda and Western kenya Julaina a. obika and Harriet k. bibangambah the link between climate change and conflict is a continuously debated subject that has attracted a growing body of research. in the developing field of eco-conflicts, many scholars focus on assessing whether climate change increases the risk of conflict. drawing on a wide range of literature and using the cases of the karimojong in uganda and the Pokot and turkana in kenya, this chapter examines climate change, conflict, and peacebuilding among pastoral societies in the great lakes region of east africa. building on Homer-dixon’s (1999) theory of eco-conflicts, we argue that climate conditions and change have impacted the political, economic, and social characteristics of pastoralism, and exacerbated conditions for conflict. Pastoralist communities of east africa are faced with the challenge of a declining natural resource base that impinges on their survival and that of their herds. This has become a structural cause of violence in the region as well as a sustaining factor for conflict. Pastoralism in the great lakes region of east africa Pastoralists are people whose livelihood depends on their livestock; in east africa, this mode of production is accompanied by a nomadic or seminomadic lifestyle. Harsh environments of very high spatial and temporal variability in rainfall have been responsible for the evolution of pastoralism over the years (tarekegn 2007, 170–71). However, pastoralism still remains the most capable traditional land management system in regions with scanty vegetation, erratic rainfall, increasing droughts, and other climatic uncertainties (Mulugeta and Hagmann 2008, 73). 142 | Case Studies of Conflict and Peacebuilding in the Great Lakes The kenya-uganda border is ethnically diverse, forming the boundary that traverses the homelands of the samia, teso, Pokot, and turkana, dividing them from the ugandan karimojong, dodoth, and Jie (Mkutu 2006). The Pokot are situated in the rift Valley, along kenya’s western border, and are divided into three groups, the smallest of which lives in uganda (upe Pokot). The turkana are nomadic pastoralists and the second largest pastoral community in kenya next to the Maasai. They occupy the northwestern part of kenya, an area of about 67,000 square kilometers in the rift Valley. karamoja occupies approximately 27,200 square kilometers in northeastern uganda, bordering sudan and kenya (Mkutu 2008; stites and akabwai 2009). The region is known to be “one of the most inhospitable ecozones in africa,” where rainfall is generally unpredictable, making agriculture an unreliable subsistence strategy (Jabs 2007, 1501); the environment is so fragile that no other group of people has ever wanted to occupy it (knaute and kagan 2009, 6). Pastoralist zones in the great lakes region have been described as wracked with conflict, the conventional explanations for which are said to be the competition for scarce resources, including water and pasture (Jabs 2007; Markakis 2007). it is pertinent to note that extreme weather conditions such as drought bring about additional shocks and stresses, particularly for poor communities who must find ways of coping, recovering, and adapting. These adaptation mechanisms vary as the extreme climatic conditions worsen. as a result of environmental degradation, shrinkage of the natural resource base, and armed confrontations over grazing land and water, pastoralism is therefore increasingly associated with uncontrolled violence (Hagmann and Mulugeta 2008, 19). This “pastoralist violence” discourse is gaining popularity among researchers , media, donors, and state officials. in the 1990s there were devastating conflicts between the Pokot and the turkana over land and other resources (Österle 2007, 202). in uganda, karimojong warriors have had violent interactions with the toposa of sudan, and have often attacked the agriculturalist iteso in an ongoing conflict for over fifty years (Mkutu 2008, 29). The Pokot, who live on both sides of the kenya-uganda border and cross over frequently, have clashed with their neighbors, the karimojong, because—as Mkutu (2008, 22) believes—the Pokot are trying to keep their land while the karimojong want possession of it. The preceding examples comprise conflicts among pastoralists, as well as between pastoralists and agriculturalists; higher incidents of violent conflict seem to be found among ethnic communities and groups whose main source of survival is directly linked to the environment. indeed, pastoralists have been largely blamed for environmental degradation with little attention or regard to their circumstances (Thebaud and batterbury 2001, 69). We argue that the conditions pastoralists experience as well as the dynamics of conflict and cooperation among them and other neighboring groups are...

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