Abstract:
Resources both natural and human play an instrumental role towards a society’s
socio-economic growth as demonstrated by numerous studies. Statistics indicate
that over 80% of the countries worldwide have or still rely on their locally available
resources for both primary and secondary growth. This scenario is not likely to
change if appropriate strategies are not devised in transforming available resources
towards sustainable livelihoods especially in environmentally fragile and vulnerable
ecosystems. The main objective of this study was to examine the impact of resource
mobilization strategies on pastoral communities’ livelihoods in Kenya. The specific
objectives were to: examine the types of resources endowment in the study area;
assess strategies applied in resource mobilization; evaluate the effects of the
strategies towards sustainable livelihoods of the people and examine challenges
manifested in the application of these strategies. The study was based on social
development theory by Jacobs and Harlon Cleveland that views social development
as a process where human energies are organized in higher levels in order to
achieve greater results. The study was anchored on pragmatic philosophical
underpinning and applied mixed methods research design. The target population
was 134,674 persons, inhabitants of Turkana Central Sub-County, using stratified
and simple random sampling techniques; a sample size of 277 was selected.
Instruments of data collection were questionnaires, focused group discussions and
interview schedules. Qualitative data was collected, analysed and presented
thematically in line with research objectives. In quantitative analysis, both
descriptive and inferential statistics were used. Descriptive analysis employed
frequencies and percentages as generated with the aid of SPSS program. Inferential
statistics on the other hand utilized chi-square. When the chi-square test for
independence, from the value at χ 2 = 1014.326, p = 0.000 was undertaken, it was
established that there was a significant relationship between resource mobilization
strategies and people’s livelihoods, thus the null hypothesis was rejected since p <
0.05. Equally, the magnitude and direction of the relationship was also determined
showing a weak but positive (r = 0.382) correlation hence confirming the existence
of the relationship. The resultant chi-square test therefore indicated that there was a
statistically significant relationship between resource mobilization strategies and the
pastoralists’ livelihoods. Despite myriad of challenges that exist in the region, the
study found out that livestock, land and Lake Turkana are the key resources found
in the study area. Further, value, addition, infrastructural development and creation
of market linkages were the main resource mobilization strategies used. The study
showed accessibility to social amenities and improved infrastructure as the effects
of resource mobilization strategies while climate change, governance, illiteracy and
poverty were challenges to resource mobilization. The study showed that the
Turkana County government has developed resource maps and protected resource
sites. In conclusion, the resource mobilization strategies adopted has enhanced
sustainable livelihoods in the area of study. Finally the study recommends pastoral
communities to appreciate diversity of livelihoods by applying appropriate
strategies on existing resources, advocate for the concept of participation and
inclusion methods in developing resource mobilization strategies, the state to
improve the infrastructure of the area and also consider gender mainstreaming
practice to avert impediments advocated by culture and traditions in the area of
study and creation of Community based empowerment programmes. Lastly,
pastoral communities should appreciate all the efforts made in realizing appropriate
strategies for their sustainable livelihoods by their contributions during public
participation.