Pastoralism within Land Administration: Seasonal Interactions and Access Agreements between Pastoralists and Non-Pastoralists: A Case of Northern Kenya

Abstract

"Pastoralists in Northern Kenya maintain their seasonal migrations between drylands-highlands resources, and this often result to interactions with non-pastoralist land use actors. The aim of this paper is to understand how non-pastoralist land use actors manage seasonal encounters with migrating pastoralists. A case study was used to find out if non-pastoralist land use actors made agreements to allow herders grazing access on private land; the nature of those agreements; and their opinions on regularization of these access agreements through formalization in Land Administration (LA). Results showed that the majority encountered seasonally migrating pastoralists in distinct drought periods; the majority never allowed herders access on private land; a least proportion allowed access, and made agreements through spoken and written contracts. Rules formed to regulate pastoralists presence on private land centred on grazing fees, grazing regulations and protection of private property; majority are unwilling to have pastoralists access rights regularized in LA. As land is continuously being adjudicated, surveyed and allocated for private purposes, imposition of statutory rights on pastoralists areas, including migration corridors, permanently cuts out and extinguishes pastoralist rights to mobility and access to required resources. This research argues that land adjudication should identify and confer all existing land rights to all its users, in order to avoid obstruction or re-negotiation for access, and concludes by recommending the inclusion of pastoralists access rights as real property rights which could be accommodated in LA system."