DEVELOPMENT IN KENYA: DROUGHT, DESERTIFICATION AND FOOD SCARCITY

THIS ARTICLE IS ABOUT the effects of development on desertification in two pastoral areas of Kenya. I argue that desertification in both areas has been largely caused by ill-conceived development, which has encouraged population and livestock concentration and, in particular, the growth of villages and towns. This development is a result of a government policy which emphasizes settlement (in the interests of national unity) and agriculture (to increase food production and to combat desertification)1 rather than pastoral nomadism. Any solution to the problem of desertification depends on a reversal of this policy and a clear commitment to the principles of nomadic pastoralism.