Vol. 5 · No. 1 · 2001 · pp. 89-119 (30)

The Importance of Pastoralists' Indigenous Coping Strategies for Planning Drought Management in the Arid Zone of Kenya

Gufu Oba

Drought survival among pastoralists in Africa is increasingly becoming arduous. Each drought results in dislocation of poor, despite massive hand-outs of famine relief by governments and donors. Indeed, drought survival involves survival of the fabrics of the social security systems that must depend on survival of livestock, the ability to grow crops, marketing of the produce and sharing the resources (Sobania 1979). Development programs might alleviate problems of food insecurity on a sustained basis if the people are helped to revive indigenous means of coping. This has not happened because improved knowledge of indigenous coping strategies, which is essential for developing food security policy, is lacking.