This fact sheet presents findings from the RESOLVE Network research report, "Nomadic Pastoralism and Everyday Peace: Key
Evidence and Lessons for Peacebuilding and Conflict Mitigation from Kenya's Turkana North," by Caleb Maikuma Wafula. Over
the past twenty years, tensions around the cultural and economic practices of pastoralism have become an increasingly
discussed source of conflict across a wide stretch of the African continent. Pastoralist ways of life face unprecedented
economic, ecological, social, and political pressure. As a result, pastoralists are often scapegoated by politicians and security
actors as uniquely prone to violent conflict, a risk to peace and order in the spaces they share. This narrative is simplistic and
ignores the important impact, contributions to sustainable development, and role in local, bottom-up initiatives to build and
maintain peace that pastoralist communities play within broader state and regional structures. Informed by a multi-method
research methodology, the findings from this study highlight both the existing local systems and resources for peacebuilding
and conflict mitigation in pastoralist communities in Kenya’s Turkana region, as well as the stressors and challenges that affect
them. Lessons from this research contribute to our broader understanding of how policymakers and practitioners can better
assess and coordinate violence prevention and reduction efforts in light of specific pastoralist needs and everyday practices of
peace, particularly in areas impacted by violent conflict and/or violent extremism where pastoralist communities exist.

For more, see: Wafula, Caleb Maikuma. Nomadic Pastoralism and Everyday Peace: Key Evidence and Lessons for Peacebuilding
and Conflict Mitigation from Kenya's Turkana North. RESOLVE Network, 2024.

 

This publication and research were produced with funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)’s Africa Bureau. RESOLVE would like to thank USAID’s Africa Bureau for its generous support for this report and RESOLVE’s Learning from Local Peacebuilding Approaches Research Initiative.

The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the RESOLVE Network, acknowledged partners contributing to the production of this publication,
the U.S. Institute of Peace, or any entity of the U.S. government.