Campbell, Thomas and Semplici, Greta (2023) The revival of the drylands: re-learning resilience to climate change from pastoral livelihoods in East Africa. Climate and Development. ISSN 1756-5537

Preview

Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract

Drylands, seen from the outside world, fall in the imaginary of the remote, the deserted, the unproductive; a powerful imaginary rooted in romantic narratives, as well as in political and economic interests. In this article, we review different waves of rural politics and development in the East African drylands, with a particular focus on Kenya's arid and semi-arid lands, in the context of climate change. We question the re-awakening of international and national attention paid to the drylands under the all-embracing framework of ‘resilience building’. Unfortunately, tensions between climate change policies and local knowledge and practices remain. We show how such renewed attention retains old myths about drylands and leaves little space to the agency of pastoral communities that live in these territories, and what are the implications of mislead development efforts. On the contrary, we suggest learning from pastoral practices to unravel theoretical and policy alternatives.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	Pastoralism; climate change; resilience; development;
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Social Sciences > International Development
Item ID:	17014
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.1080/17565529.2022.2160197
Depositing User:	Tom Campbell
Date Deposited:	09 Mar 2023 12:23
Journal or Publication Title:	Climate and Development
Publisher:	Taylor and Francis Group
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	Publisher
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

Repository Staff Only(login required)

Item control page

Downloads

Origin of downloads