Constraints and capacities for novel livelihood adaptation: lessons from agricultural adoption in an African dryland pastoralist system

Climate change, land use change, and sociopolitical and institutional transitions in African drylands have resulted in the loss, fragmentation, and degradation of environmental resources that pastoralists rely upon to sustain their livestock-based livelihoods. Diversification into irrigated agriculture is a potential strategy to increase food security. However, successful livelihood adaptation depends on access to key forms of natural, human, social, financial, and physical capitals, which may be lacking or unequally distributed in pastoralist communities. In two dryland pastoralist communities in Kenya, an international relief organization introduced irrigated farming in 2010. Nearly 200 individuals began farming, but within 4 years, all had quit. This study investigated the role of household access to different forms of capital in decisions to adopt agriculture, and how adaptive capacities, environmental conditions, and farming as a new livelihood practice interacted to shape household vulnerability. We found that decisions to farm were largely decoupled from access to assets that would afford greater adaptive capacity. The analysis also identified critical constraints that households encountered once they adopted farming. This study highlights the importance of more nuanced understandings of local capacities in the dynamics of adapting to environmental change. We recommend that prior to introducing interventions that promote new livelihood activities, development organizations should assess local capacities and pursue targeted strategies to increase household-level access to the forms of assets that will facilitate successful adaptation.