Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T15:06:24.689Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

When “Green” Equals Thorny and Mean: The Politics and Costs of an Environmental Experiment in East Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 August 2019

Peter D. Little Open the ORCID record for Peter D. Little [Opens in a new window]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract:

This article examines an environmental experiment in northern Kenya that went badly amiss. Focusing on the introduction of an invasive plant, prosopis juliflora, it explores wider issues of scientific hegemony, political identity, and land conflicts. Two legal cases pitting a small pastoralist community against the Kenyan state are discussed, which reveal a new but generally unsuccessful strategy by indigenous groups of utilizing courts to address injustices. The research draws on ethnographic, archival, and visual materials collected over a thirty-five-year period to demonstrate the violence and impoverishment that can be associated with technical interventions aimed at “greening” the environment.

Résumé:

Cet article examine une expérience environnementale dans le nord du Kenya qui a mal tourné. Axé sur l’introduction d’une plante envahissante, prosopis juliflora, il explore des questions plus larges d’hégémonie scientifique, d’identité politique et de conflits fonciers. Deux affaires juridiques opposant une petite communauté pastorale de l’État kényan sont examinées, révélant ainsi une stratégie nouvelle mais généralement infructueuse de la part de groupes autochtones qui ont recours aux tribunaux pour remédier aux injustices. La recherche s’appuie sur des documents ethnographiques, archivistiques et visuels rassemblés sur une période de trente-cinq ans pour démontrer la violence et l’appauvrissement pouvant être associés à des interventions techniques visant à « écologiser » l’environnement.

Resumo:

O presente artigo analisa uma experiência ambiental implementada no norte do Quénia, a qual correu extraordinariamente mal. Com principal enfoque na introdução de uma planta invasiva – a Prosopis juliflora –, o artigo explora temas mais abrangentes, como a hegemonia científica, a identidade política e os conflitos pela posse de terras. São debatidos dois casos jurídicos que opuseram uma pequena comunidade pastorícia ao Estado queniano, os quais revelam uma nova, mas geralmente malsucedida, estratégia adotada pelos grupos indígenas, segundo a qual recorrem aos tribunais para combater injustiças. Com base em materiais etnográficos, arquivísticos e visuais, esta investigação demonstra que as intervenções técnicas destinadas a tornar o ambiente “mais verde” podem estar associadas a violência e a empobrecimento.

Keywords

Human rightspoliticsindigenous peoplespastoralismenvironmental justicelandviolence
Type
Article
Information
African Studies Review , Volume 62 , Issue 3 , September 2019 , pp. 132 - 163
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 2019 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article was presented as the ASR Distinguished Lecture at the 61st Annual Meeting of the African Studies Association, November 2018, Atlanta, GA.

References

Anderson, David. 2002. Eroding the Commons: The Politics of Ecology in Baringo, Kenya, 1890–1963. Oxford: James Currey.Google Scholar
Andersson, Stefan. 2005. Spread of the Introduced Tree Species Prosopis Juliflora (Sw.) DC in the Lake Baringo Area, Kenya . Institute for Forest Vegetation Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. Umea, Sweden.Google Scholar
Bassett, Thomas J., Zueli, Koli. B., and Ouattara, Ferdinand. 2003. “Fire in the Savanna: Environmental Change and Land Reform in Northern Cote d’Ivoire.” In African Savannas: Global Narratives and Local Knowledge of Environmental Change, edited by Bassett, Thomas J. and Crummey, Donald, 53–71. Portsmouth, New Hampshire: Heinemann.Google Scholar
Behnke, Roy, and Mortimore, Michael, eds. 2016. The End of Desertification? Disputing Environmental Change in the Drylands. Berlin: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beinart, William. 2008. The Rise of Conservation in South Africa: Settlers, Livestock, and the Environment 1770–1950. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Beinart, William, and McGregor, JoAnn, eds. 2003. Social History and African Environments. Oxford: James Currey Publishers.Google Scholar
Berman, Bruce, and Lonsdale, John. 1992. Unhappy Valley, Book 2: Violence and Ethnicity. Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press.Google Scholar
Bigsten, Arne. 1996. “The Circular Migration of Smallholders in Kenya.” Journal of African Economies 5 (1): 1–20.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bollig, Michael. 2016. “Adaptive Cycles in the Savannah: Pastoral Specialization and Diversification in Northern Kenya.” Journal of Eastern African Studies 10 (1): 21–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boone, Catherine. 2012. “Land Conflict and Distributive Politics in Kenya.” African Studies Review 55 (1): 75–103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). 2006. “Landmark Ruling for Kenya Nomads.” BBC News, December 19. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6194373.stm.Google Scholar
Brockington, Dan. 2002. Fortress Conservation. The Preservation of the Mkomazi Game Reserve, Tanzania. Oxford: James Currey.Google Scholar
Brown, Leslie. 1963. The Development of Semi-Arid Areas of Kenya. Nairobi: Ministry of Agriculture.Google Scholar
Chebet, Caroline. 2018. “Kefri to Work with Counties to Manage Prosopis after Successful Project in Baringo.” The Kenya Standard, August 30. https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/lifestyle/article/2001293885/kefri-puts-invasive-weed-to-good-useGoogle Scholar
Choge, Simon, and Pasiecznik, Nick. 2006. The Challenges of Eradicating Prosopis in Kenya. Coventry, UK: Henry Doubleday Research Association (HDRA).Google Scholar
Comaroff, John, and Comaroff, Jean. 2009. Ethnicity, Inc. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Daily Nation. 2017. “Politics not pasture drives violence in Laikipia, Baringo.” July 14. http://www.nation.co.ke/news/Whats-driving-violence-Laikipia/1056-4014348-viuyeo/index.htmlGoogle Scholar
Duffy, Rosaleen, John, Freya St., Büscher, Bram, and Brockington, Dan. 2015. “The Militarization of Anti-Poaching: Undermining Long Term Goals?” Environmental Conservation 42 (4): 345–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, Hugh, and Ngau, Peter. 1991. “Rural-Urban Relations, Household Income Diversification and Agricultural Productivity.” Development and Change 22 (3): 519–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fairhead, James, Leach, Melissa, and Scoones, Ian. 2012. “Green Grabbing: A New Appropriation of Nature?” Journal of Peasant Studies 39 (2): 237–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FAO. 1985. Draft Report of the Joint Government of Kenya/Government of Australia/FAO Review Mission on Project GCP/KEN/051 (AUL) “Fuelwood and Afforestation Extension in Baringo” Project. Nairobi: FAO.Google Scholar
FAO. 1986. Fuelwood Afforestation and Extension in Baringo, Kenya. Interim Report. Nairobi, Kenya: FAO.Google Scholar
Ferguson, James. 1990. The Anti-Politics Machine: "Development," Depoliticization and Bureaucratic Power in Lesotho . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Goodale, Mark, and Merry, Sally Engle, eds. 2007. The Practice of Human Rights: Tracking Law between the Global and the Local . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Greiner, Clemens. 2013. “Guns, Land, and Votes: Cattle Rustling and the Politics of Boundary-(Re) Making in Northern Kenya.” African Affairs 112 (2013): 216–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kadida, Jillo. 2006. “Toothless Goat in Court in Case over Harmful Weed.” Daily Nation , July 11. https://www.nation.co.ke/news/1056-133054-mdklmyz/index.html.Google Scholar
Kahi, C. H., Ngugi, R. K., Mureithi, S. M., and Ng’ethe, J. C.. 2009. “The Canopy Effects of Prosopis Juliflora (Dc.) and Acacia Tortilis (Hayne) Trees on Herbaceous Plants Species and Soil Physico-Chemical Properties in Njemps Flats, Kenya.” Tropical and Subtropical Agro-ecosystems 10 (2009): 441–49.Google Scholar
Kangogo, Joseph. 2018. “Projects Suffer Big Blow as Half of Baringo Budget Goes to Wage Bill.” June 29. The Star Newspaper https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2018/06/29/projects-suffer-big-blow-as-half-of-baringo-budget-goes-to-wage-bill_c1779593.Google Scholar
Kenya [Carter] Land Commission. 1934. Evidence and Memoranda, Volume 2 . Nairobi: Government Printer.Google Scholar
Kenya Information Guide. 2019. Baringo County. http://www.kenya-information-guide.com/baringo-county.htmlGoogle Scholar
Kenya, Republic of. 2006a. Lereya & 800 others v Attorney General & 2 others. Civil Suit 115. Nairobi: The High Court of Kenya.Google Scholar
Kenya, Republic of. 2006b. In the Matter of Il Chamus and the Constitution of Kenya: Judgement . Misc. Civil Application no. 305 of 2004. Nairobi: The High Court of Kenya.Google Scholar
Kenya, Republic of. 2007. “Republic of Kenya in the High Court of Kenya at Nairobi (Nairobi law courts). Petition 466 of 2006, Kenya Law, www.Kenyalaw.org.Google Scholar
Kipsang, Wycliff, and Koech, Florah. 2018. “Ruto-Moi Rivalry Renewed in Baringo South by-election. June 5. Daily Nation. https://www.nation.co.ke/counties/baringo/Ruto-Moi-rivalry-renewed-in-Baringo-South-by-election/3444812-4597156-edcktgz/index.html.Google Scholar
Koech, Florah. 2018. “Fears of Flooding as Water Levels in Baringo Lakes Rise.” Daily Nation, August 21. https://www.nation.co.ke/counties/baringo/Fears-of-flooding-as-water-levels-in-Baringo-lakes-rise/3444812-4721292-5hou5s/index.htmlGoogle Scholar
Langat, Anthony. 2016. “Why Kenya’s Cattle Raids are Getting Deadlier: The Infiltration of Illegal Firearms Has Led to a Rise in Violent Cattle Raids. December 27. Al-jazeera . https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2016/12/kenya-cattle-raids-deadlier-161212152024718.html.Google Scholar
Lecocq, Baz. 2010. Disputed Desert: Decolonisation, Competing Nationalisms and Tuareg Rebellions in Northern Mali. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Little, Peter D. 1992. The Elusive Granary: Herder, Farmer, and State in Northern Kenya . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Little, Peter D. 1994. “The Social Context of Land Degradation (“Desertification”) in Dry Regions.” In Population and Environment: Rethinking the Debate, edited by Arizpe, Lourdes, Stone, Priscilla, and Major, David, 209–51. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Little, Peter D. 1996. “Pastoralism, Biodiversity, and the Shaping of Savanna Landscapes in East Africa.” Africa 66 (1): 37–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Little, Peter D. 1998. “Maasai Identity on the Periphery.” American Anthropologist 100 (2): 444–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Little, Peter D. 2003. “Rethinking Interdisciplinary Paradigms and the Political Ecology of Pastoralism in East Africa.” In African Savannas: New Perspectives on Environmental and Social Change, edited by Bassett, Thomas and Crummey, Donald, 161–77. Oxford: James Currey Publishers.Google Scholar
Little, Peter D. 2016. “A Victory in Theory, Loss in Practice: Struggles for Political Representation in the Lake Baringo-Bogoria Basin, Kenya.” Journal of Eastern African Studies 10 (1): 189–207.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maher, Colin. 1937. Soil Erosion and Land Utilization in Kamasia, Njemps, and East Suk Reserves . Nairobi: Ministry of Agriculture.Google Scholar
Masibo, Kennedy. 2008. “Justice Denied as Court Orders to Save the Ilchamus Delayed.” Daily Nation . October 6. https://www.nation.co.ke/news/-/1056/477886/-/5g838uz/-/index.html.Google Scholar
Mawathe, Anne. 2006. “Killer Weed Hits Kenyan Herders, BBC News Kenya, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/5252256.stm.Google Scholar
Mbaria, John. 2004. “Kenya Environment Body Summons FAO over ‘Killer’ Weed.” The East African, March 1, https://allafrica.com/stories/200403030744.html.Google Scholar
McPeak, John, Little, Peter D., and Doss, Cheryl. 2012. Risk and Social Change in an African Rural Economy: Livelihoods in Pastoralist Communities . New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Miningwo, Vincent. 2016. “Ilchamus Elders Curse a Law Firm for Derailing a Petition Case Against the Government over a Poisonous Tree.” August 31. http://kenyanewsagency.go.ke/en/ilchamus-elders-curse-a-law-firm-for-derailing-a-petition-case-against-the-government-over-a-poisonous-tree.Google Scholar
Mortimore, Michael. 1989. Adapting to Drought: Farmers, Famines and Desertification in West Africa . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mwangi, Esther, and Swallow, Brent. 2005. Invasion of Prosopis Juliflora and Local Livelihoods: Case Study from the Lake Baringo Area of Kenya . ICRAF Working Paper No. 3. Nairobi: World Agroforestry Centre.Google Scholar
Mwangi, Mburu. 2002. “Baringo Rebels Push for Leader to Replace Moi.” April 5. Daily Nation. Http://Allafrica.Com/Stories/200204050141.html.Google Scholar
Mwebe, John, and Jika, Elias. 2018. “Communities in Kenya Demand Better Engagement on Geothermal Power Plant Project.” International Accountability Project (IAP), December 17. https://medium.com/@accountability/communities-in-kenya-demand-better-engagement-on-geothermal-power-plant-project-4290f7f32194.Google Scholar
Neves, David, and du Toit, Andries. 2013. “Rural Livelihoods in South Africa: Complexity, Vulnerability, and Differentiation.” Journal of Agrarian Studies 13 (1): 93–115.Google Scholar
Ngugi, Tee. 2018. “In Kenya, Politicians Sit on Top of the Pay Pyramid as Workers Scramble for Crumbs.” April 18. The East African . http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/oped/comment/Kenya-politicians-sit-on-top-of-the-pay-pyramid/434750-4421386-ja3lsn/index.html.Google Scholar
Nguru, P. M., and Rono, D. K.. 2013. “Combating Desertification in Kenya.” In Combating Desertification in Asia, Africa and the Middle East: Proven Practices , edited by Ali Heshmati, G., and Squires, Victor, 139–51. New York: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Odhiambo, Michael R. 2015. Il Chamus verses the State: Vulnerability, Litigation and Resilience Building in the Baringo Lowlands of Kenya . PhD thesis in anthropology, University of Cologne, Germany.Google Scholar
Odingo, Richard S. 1990. “Report of the Kenya Pilot Study (FP/6201-87-04), Using the FAO/UNEP Methodology for Assessment and Mapping of Desertification.” In Desertification Revisited: Proceedings of an Ad Hoc Consultative Committee on the Assessment of Desertification, edited by UNEP. Nairobi: UNEP.Google Scholar
Pasiecznik, Nick, Choge, Simon, Muthike, George, Chesang, Salina, Fehr, Clemens, Bakewell-Stone, Petra, Wright, Julia, and Harris, Phil. 2006. Putting Knowledge on Prosopis into Use in Kenya. Pioneering Advances in 2006. Coventry, UK: HDRA.Google Scholar
Peet, Richard, Watts, Michael J., and Robbins, Paul, eds. 2011. Global Political Ecology. London and New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Peluso, Nancy, and Watts, Michael J.. 2001. “Violent Environments.” In Violent Environments, edited by Peluso, Nancy and Watts, Michael J., 3–38. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Pratt, David. 1963. “Reseeding Denuded Land in Baringo District, Kenya: Preliminary Trials.” East African Agriculture and Forestry Journal 29: 78–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robbins, Paul. 2003. “Fixed Categories in a Portable Landscape: The Causes and Consequences of Land Cover Categorization.” In Political Ecology: An Integrative Approach To Geography and Environmental-Development Studies , edited by Zimmerer, Karl S. and Bassett, Thomas J., 201–20. New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Shiferaw, Hailu, Teketay, Demel, Nemomissa, Sileshi, and Assefa, Fassil. 2004. “Some Biological Characteristics that Foster the Invasion of Prosopis Juliflora at Middle Awash Rift Valley Area, Northeastern Ethiopia.” Journal of Arid Environments 58 (2): 135–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Speed, Shannon, Ramirez, Renya, Blackwell, Maylei, Macleod, Morna, Castillo, Rosalva A. H., Sieder, Rachel, Sierra, Maria T., and Herrera, Juan. 2009. “Remapping Gender, Justice, and Rights in the Indigenous Americas: Toward a Comparative Analysis and Collaborative Methodology.” The Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology 14 (2): 300–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stebbing, E. P. 1938. “The Man-Made Desert in Africa: Erosion and Drought.” Journal of the Royal African Society (Supplement 17): 3–40.Google Scholar
Straight, Bilinda. 2009. “Making Sense of Violence in the ‘Badlands’ of Kenya.” Anthropology and Humanism 34 (1): 21–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tilly, Charles. 1990. Coercion, Capital and European States: AD 990–1992 . Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Tubei, George. 2018. “Here is what an Acre of Land Costs at these 10 Fastest Growing Kenyan Counties as by the End of 2017.” Business Insider, April 24. https://www.pulselive.co.ke/bi/what-an-acre-of-land-costs-at-these-10-counties-as-of-end-2017-id8297343.html.Google Scholar
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). 2017. Income Inequality Trends in Sub-Saharan Africa Divergence, Determinants and Consequences. New York: UNDP.Google Scholar
Verstraete, Michael, Scholes, Robert, and Smith, Mark. 2009. “Climate and Desertification: Looking at an Old Problem through New Lenses.” Frontiers in Ecology and Environment 7 (8): 421–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vigliar, Virginia. 2017. “Kenya’s Ogiek Win Land Case against Government.” Al Jazeera, May 26. https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2017/03/kenya-ogiek-win-land-case-government-170314135038447.html.Google Scholar
Wabusya, Elca N. 2013. Policy Outcomes and Community Perceptions of a Dryland Invasive Species: A Case Study of Prosopis Juliflora in Baringo County, Kenya. MA thesis paper in Development Studies, Institute of Social Studies (ISS), The Hague, Netherlands.Google Scholar
Watts, Michael J. 2003. “Political Ecology.” In A Companion to Economic Geography, edited by Sheppard, Eric and Barnes, Trevor J., 257–74. Oxford: Blackwell.CrossRefGoogle Scholar