Livestock mobility is among the most important modes of flexibility that pastoralists rely on to counter environmental uncertainty and variability in rangelands. Over the last half-century, pastoralists in Africa south of the Sahara have faced a series of land reductions through the establishment of large protected areas and the subdivision of communal land, which have altered patterns of mobility and increasing vulnerability to environmental change. One of the unanswered questions in these human-environment interactions is: What role do protected areas play in influencing the livelihood strategies of pastoralists who reside along the borders of protected areas? The objective of this doctoral dissertation research project is to understand the socio-ecological complexity of pastoralist herding of Maasai pastoralists at the periphery of the Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya. Using a political-ecological theoretical framework, the doctoral candidate will address four research questions to pursue the research objective: (1) What are the spatially and temporally explicit patterns of livestock movement? (2) How do demographic, political-economic and ecological processes influence livestock mobility patterns? (3) How do power-relations between pastoralists and protected area managers influence livestock mobility processes? (4) How are these patterns and processes linked to physical impacts and feedbacks on the environment? The student will use mixed methods to answer these questions over the course of a year-long field period, including the use of global positioning systems units attached to livestock, various participatory rural appraisal (PRA) techniques (oral histories, calendar mapping activities, key informant interviews and participant observation), household surveys, remotely sensed satellite imagery, vegetation transects, and rangeland soil quality tests. These data with be analyzed using a suite of qualitative, quantitative, and spatial analytical methods and techniques.
The project will improve the scientific knowledge on:(1) the linkages among the social and ecological factors influencing livestock mobility in areas around protected areas; (2) the decision-making processes of pastoralists as they respond to different factors influencing livestock herding strategies; (3) the nature and magnitude of changes in the physical environment that are attributed to livestock grazing; and (4) the integration of mixed methods, from remote sensing to interviews and vegetation transects, in order to provide a holistic assessment of the complex interactions between pastoralists, protected areas, and the physical environment. The results of this project will help inform current protected areas management strategies and livestock-development policies within the study site as well as other parts of Kenya and East Africa. The research will also provide for the training of local Maasai research assistants in ecological census techniques, survey methods and the use of geospatial technologies. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this award also will provide support to enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career.
