IR Home
CR
Home
Editors
Forthcoming
Information
Subscribe
CR SPECIAL 1
CR SPECIAL 2
CR SPECIAL 3
CR SPECIAL 4
CR SPECIAL 5
CR SPECIAL 6
CR SPECIAL 7
CR SPECIAL 8
CR SPECIAL 9
CR SPECIAL 10
CR SPECIAL 11
Journals
Home
MEPS
AME
CR
DAO
ESEP
Search
Subscribe
Book Series
EE Books
Top Books
ESEP Books
Order
EEIU Brochures
(pdf format)
Discussion Forums
Home
Research
Endangered Species Programs
Institutions
International Ecology Institute
Eco-Ethics International Union
Foundation
Otto Kinne Foundation
![](../../../../images/pixel.gif) | ![](../../../../images/pixel.gif) |
CR 19:149-159 (2001)
|
Abstract
|
![](../../../../images/hline.gif)
When deserts flood: risk management and climatic processes among East African pastoralists
Peter D. Little1, Hussein Mahmoud1,2, D. Layne Coppock3
1Department of Anthropology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 40506-0024, USA
2Department of Geography, Egerton University, PO Box 536, Njoro, Kenya
3Department of Rangeland Resources, Utah State University, Logan, Utah 84322-5230, USA
*E-mail: pdlitt1@pop.uky.edu
![](../../../../images/hline.gif)
ABSTRACT: Pastoral populations of East Africa confront multiple risks associated with drought, food shortages and insecurity. In this arid region, drought is a 'normal' event and herders pursue strategies of mobility, livestock loaning and diversification
to combat its effects. What is not a norm are prolonged floods when precipitation cycles become inverted and dry season rainfall greatly exceeds the average amount for a year. This article examines the events and responses to 'El Niño' in the rangeland
areas of northern Kenya and southern Somalia during 1997/98. It suggests that these global climatic episodes need to be assessed against local factors and processes, which strongly shape their impacts on human populations.
KEY WORDS: African pastoralism · Drought · Floods · Political ecology · Food security · Development policy
Full text in pdf format
![](../../../../images/hline.gif)
Published in CR Vol.
19, No. 2
(2001) on December 4
Print ISSN: 0936-577X; Online ISSN: 1616-1572.
Copyright © Inter-Research, Oldendorf/Luhe, 2001
|