Around a third of Kenyans live in the Arid and Semi-Arid Regions of Kenya, which constitutes 80 % of Kenya's landmass. In Northern Kenya, temperatures have risen 0.34 degrees C (.6 F) per decade since 1985, according to U.S government data. This temperature change is fueling more severe cycles of drought. The drought cycle has been reduced from ten years to five years. But increasingly, that cycle has been reduced to 2-3 years. While the increasing intensity and frequency of drought are predictable, there has not been a commensurate policy response to cushion the predominantly pastoralist community that relies on rain for their livelihood. The cumulative impacts of two subsequent spots of rain season has leftover. 1.4 million people facing food insecurity. According to the UN, that number is expected to go up to 2 million by the end of the year. Frontier Counties Development Council (FCDC) CEO Simba Guleid shares his insights regarding policy options for dealing with drought in a sustainable means. Recorded in September 2021.
Climate change is endangering the lives of millions of Kenyans in the northern counties and rendering them destitute. But indigenous and pastoralist women are the most marginalized and the most vulnerable to the climate crisis.
International institutions are feeling pressure to raise critical questions about how they operate in local communities and the impact of their work on these populations. But are they prepared to listen?
The obstacles that the county faces may sound daunting and impossible, but they can be fixed with a new crop of accountable and compassionate leaders and managers who put people first.
Pastoralists have long been the object of unfavourable and misleading stereotypes and narratives that have contributed to their communities' neglect and marginalization.
In the face of an indifferent traditional media, citizens from the marginalised communities of northern Kenya have taken to social media to highlight the challenges they face at the hands of government security agencies.
The 2010 Constitution requires that not more than two-thirds of the members of elective or appointive bodies shall be of the same gender. Article 170, which provides for the appointment of Kadhis, does not specify their gender. Yet the constitution is absent in the intra-Muslim discussions on the appointment of female Kadhis.
Although the sub-groups of the larger Oromo are distinct both socially and economically, and in terms of religious belief, they are united by a shared language, Afaan Oromoo or Oromiffa, which is widely spoken in the Oromia region of Ethiopia, in northern Kenya and in parts of Somalia.
Historically, drivers of conflict in Marsabit County have been competition for land and water resources but the violence increasingly appears to be politically instigated.
Somali refugees in Kenya should not be held hostage by political disagreements between Mogadishu and Nairobi but must continue to enjoy Kenya’s protection as provided for under international law.
Despite the hostile rhetoric and threats of closure, the presence of refugees in the camps in northern-eastern Kenyan has benefited the host communities.
Despite the enacting of the Community Lands Act of 2016, pastoral communities in Kenya have continued to be disadvantaged by the weak nature of their land tenure rights.