Community engagement in pastoralist areas: Lessons from the public dialogue process for a new refugee settlement in Turkana, Kenya

Abstract Large-scale development interventions have long failed to accommodate the needs and preferences of pastoralists or the systems of resource governance and land tenure upon which they rely. However, advocates of rights-based approaches to development emphasise the importance of community part...

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Autor principal:	Cory Rodgers
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	SpringerOpen 2021
Materias:	Pastoralism Kenya Land Elites Public participation Community dialogue Animal culture SF1-1100
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/456d858b47a94e8aa3b3d969fd88d65e
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:456d858b47a94e8aa3b3d969fd88d65e2021-11-28T12:05:48ZCommunity engagement in pastoralist areas: Lessons from the public dialogue process for a new refugee settlement in Turkana, Kenya10.1186/s13570-021-00192-72041-7136https://doaj.org/article/456d858b47a94e8aa3b3d969fd88d65e2021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1186/s13570-021-00192-7https://doaj.org/toc/2041-7136Abstract Large-scale development interventions have long failed to accommodate the needs and preferences of pastoralists or the systems of resource governance and land tenure upon which they rely. However, advocates of rights-based approaches to development emphasise the importance of community participation in planning and agenda-setting, and in Kenya, public participation is a formal constitutional requirement for government decision-making processes. In 2015, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees concluded negotiations with local stakeholders about the use of 15 km2 of communal rangelands to build a new refugee settlement in Turkana County, Kenya. Negotiations entailed a community dialogue process involving local people living in the vicinity of the proposed settlement. This paper retrospectively examines the inclusivity of the dialogue process, with particular attention to the involvement of pastoralists and the representation of their interests. Interviews and focus groups conducted with a range of key informants and community stakeholders highlighted two key problems. First, negotiations relied upon a simplistic approach to communal land tenure that overlooked the complexity of overlapping and often contested access rights. Second, there was an over-reliance on urban professionals and politicians as intermediaries between rural communities and development actors. Even where elite intermediaries act in good faith, they may introduce an ‘oppidan bias’ into development policies, thereby marginalising the viewpoints of non-urban, non-sedentary demographics, such as pastoralists. I conclude with recommendations for the UNHCR to develop a more explicit strategy for direct engagement with host community stakeholders in Turkana and with increased attention to the interests of livestock producers and the nuances of pastoralist land use.Cory RodgersSpringerOpenarticlePastoralismKenyaLandElitesPublic participationCommunity dialogueAnimal cultureSF1-1100ENPastoralism, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-16 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Pastoralism Kenya Land Elites Public participation Community dialogue Animal culture SF1-1100
spellingShingle	Pastoralism Kenya Land Elites Public participation Community dialogue Animal culture SF1-1100 Cory Rodgers Community engagement in pastoralist areas: Lessons from the public dialogue process for a new refugee settlement in Turkana, Kenya
description	Abstract Large-scale development interventions have long failed to accommodate the needs and preferences of pastoralists or the systems of resource governance and land tenure upon which they rely. However, advocates of rights-based approaches to development emphasise the importance of community participation in planning and agenda-setting, and in Kenya, public participation is a formal constitutional requirement for government decision-making processes. In 2015, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees concluded negotiations with local stakeholders about the use of 15 km2 of communal rangelands to build a new refugee settlement in Turkana County, Kenya. Negotiations entailed a community dialogue process involving local people living in the vicinity of the proposed settlement. This paper retrospectively examines the inclusivity of the dialogue process, with particular attention to the involvement of pastoralists and the representation of their interests. Interviews and focus groups conducted with a range of key informants and community stakeholders highlighted two key problems. First, negotiations relied upon a simplistic approach to communal land tenure that overlooked the complexity of overlapping and often contested access rights. Second, there was an over-reliance on urban professionals and politicians as intermediaries between rural communities and development actors. Even where elite intermediaries act in good faith, they may introduce an ‘oppidan bias’ into development policies, thereby marginalising the viewpoints of non-urban, non-sedentary demographics, such as pastoralists. I conclude with recommendations for the UNHCR to develop a more explicit strategy for direct engagement with host community stakeholders in Turkana and with increased attention to the interests of livestock producers and the nuances of pastoralist land use.
format	article
author	Cory Rodgers
author_facet	Cory Rodgers
author_sort	Cory Rodgers
title	Community engagement in pastoralist areas: Lessons from the public dialogue process for a new refugee settlement in Turkana, Kenya
title_short	Community engagement in pastoralist areas: Lessons from the public dialogue process for a new refugee settlement in Turkana, Kenya
title_full	Community engagement in pastoralist areas: Lessons from the public dialogue process for a new refugee settlement in Turkana, Kenya
title_fullStr	Community engagement in pastoralist areas: Lessons from the public dialogue process for a new refugee settlement in Turkana, Kenya
title_full_unstemmed	Community engagement in pastoralist areas: Lessons from the public dialogue process for a new refugee settlement in Turkana, Kenya
title_sort	community engagement in pastoralist areas: lessons from the public dialogue process for a new refugee settlement in turkana, kenya
publisher	SpringerOpen
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/456d858b47a94e8aa3b3d969fd88d65e
work_keys_str_mv	AT coryrodgers communityengagementinpastoralistareaslessonsfromthepublicdialogueprocessforanewrefugeesettlementinturkanakenya
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Community engagement in pastoralist areas: Lessons from the public dialogue process for a new refugee settlement in Turkana, Kenya

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