Publications

Transformation of Organized Violence from a Natural Resource Management Perspective

A Comparative Case of Samburu and Isiolo Counties, Kenya

Release Date

2025-01

Language

  • English

Topics

  • Violent Environments and Infrastructures

This study examines the impact of informal arrangements between the Northern Rangeland Trust (NRT), a non-governmental organization, pastoral communities, and state actors in northern Kenya, focusing on Isiolo and Samburu counties. The cases in these counties highlight the contrasting impacts of NRT-led conservation interventions on natural resource management (NRM). The work draws on 56 in-depth interviews, 41 focus group discussions, repeated field observation, and transect walks conducted between 2018 and 2024 with key informants, including NRT representatives, government officials, civil society actors, and pastoral community members, triangulating findings with conservation literature and government documents. The analysis reveals that public-private partnerships (PPPs) involving NRT and government actors are characterized by secrecy, and their influence is primarily evident through their impacts. Conservation efforts, often justified under the guise of environmental protection, have increasingly relied on the privatization and legitimization of coercive force. This militarized approach exacerbates resource conflicts and perpetuates cycles of violence. The study, thus, underscores the need for greater transparency and accountability in conservation initiatives to balance resource management and community livelihoods effectively.

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Cite as

@article{CollinsOmondiOkwanyOwino2025, author = "Clifford Collins Omondi Okwany and Evelyne Atieno Owino", title = "Transformation of Organized Violence from a Natural Resource Management Perspective", subtitle = "A Comparative Case of Samburu and Isiolo Counties, Kenya", latexTitle = "Transformation of Organized Violence from a Natural Resource Management Perspective", publisher = "The Åland Islands Peace Institute", booktitle = "Journal of Autonomy and Security Studies ", institution = "The Åland Islands Peace Institute", type = "Journal article", year = "2025", address = "Åland", }

Document-Type

Journal article

Publisher

The Åland Islands Peace Institute

Place

Åland

Is part of / In:

Title:
Journal of Autonomy and Security Studies