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The blog of the Wilson Center's Environmental Change and Security Program
  • Jacqueline H. Wilson, U.S. Institute of Peace

    Can Aquifer Discovery in Kenya Bring Peace to Desolate Region?

    October 28, 2013 By Wilson Center Staff

    The original version of this article, by Jacqueline H. Wilson, appeared on the U.S. Institute of Peace’s Olive Branch blog.

    The people of northern Kenya currently face many daily hardships. Primarily pastoralists by livelihood, their cycle of life focuses on the basics – securing food and water for family and livestock, constructing shelter from the unforgiving sun, and finding sustenance when periodic droughts ravage the region. A 2011 drought affected millions of people, and tens of thousands of livestock died. Approximately 90 percent of the area’s population lives below the poverty line.

    The physical hardship is made worse by a man-made blight of illiteracy and a lack of economic development. Marginalization – and sheer geographical distance – from the central government in Nairobi coupled with the unabated flow of small arms across porous borders means that frequent conflicts over water and grazing land often turn deadly.

    The new discovery – using a combination of satellite data and traditional ground sensing – of multiple huge underground water reserves in Turkana constitutes a proverbial jackpot. The trifecta includes large supplies of water, new oil discoveries nearby, and an almost certain surge of economic development and attention from governments and businesses.

    Continue reading on The Olive Branch.

    Video Credit: UNESCO groundwater mapping feature, courtesy of UNESCO.

    Topics: Africa, conflict, development, economics, environment, environmental peacemaking, environmental security, food security, Kenya, livelihoods, natural resources, poverty, security, video, water
    • Jeremiah O. Asaka

      Great piece! These discoveries have great potential of changing lives of communities in Turkana County and the neighbouring regions big time. Over this summer I conducted a two month long fieldwork for my Masters thesis in the neighboring Samburu County, and just like in Turkana, water is a big problem to the pastoralists turned agro-pastoralists communities living in Samburu. Retrogressive government policies (both during colonial periods and after Kenya’s independence) that set these regions as waste land only fit for use as military training grounds and/or rangelands, are to blame for the slow process of growth and high rate of biting poverty in these areas. I believe with the new devolved regional system of government that Kenya adopted after the promulgation of her new constitution in 2010, there’s high likelihood that these regions will boast of a new lease of life that may see them feel as part and parcel of the greater national fabric of Kenya. Until very recently most of them didn’t even feel that they belonged in Kenya.

      • Jacki

        Thanks for your comment Jeremiah. I am also hopeful devolution can bring a new lease on life for Kenyans in more remote areas, who now have representatives who better understand local perspectives. Yet these discoveries of oil and water affect land, natural resources, the environment, the private sector, and government at multiple levels, as well as the local communities. The constitution helps clarify the responsibilities of various actors, but responsible development will require engaging them all constructively. Let us hope that is the case, and that the result benefits the local communities as well as all Kenyans.

        • Jeremiah O. Asaka

          Thanks for your response, Jacki. Hope is probably the keyword moving forward. I must say am impressed by how these regions are slowly but surely awakening from slumber. There’s a ray of hope at last!

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