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Innovation and Distress: Managing Multiple Uncertainties in Laikipia, Kenya

Reports & Research
January, 2010

The research begins by describing the land access and tenure context in Laikipia, Kenya. The paper also incudes:
•• Pastoralism researchers analyse coping innovations during
the 2009 drought that pushed Maasai herders to Mount Kenya.
•• Despite previous brittle social relations, agreements between
ranchers and farmers permitted limited grazing of cattle and sheep inside commercial ranches on a controlled basis

"Since we have this land together"; A pastoral community in institutional management of communal resources.

Reports & Research
January, 2009

 In Kenya, the pastoral Maasai’s districts have been the vanguard in rangeland tenure transitions and experimentation as pastoralists’ territory gave way to communal group ranches and to individual land holdings under diverse land-use activities. The tenure transformations have been accompanied by institutional and socio-economic changes that have had bearings on local communities’ capacities for collective action, pastoral livelihoods, and environmental sustainability.

The Transformation of Property Rights in Kenya's Maasailand: Triggers and Motivations

January, 2005

This paper explores the puzzle of why the pastoral Maasai of Kajiado, Kenya, supported the individualization of their collectively held group ranches, an outcome that is inconsistent with theoretical expectation. Findings suggest that individuals and groups will seek to alter property
rights in their anticipation of net gains from a new assignment, even as they seek to eliminate disadvantages that were present in the status quo property rights structure. Heightened perceptions of impending land scarcity, failures of collective decision making, the promise of

Subdividing the commons: The politics of property rights transformation in Kenya's Maasailand

Reports & Research
January, 2006

This paper discusses the internal processes and decisions that characterized the transition from collectively held group ranches to individualized property systems among the Maasai pastoralists of Kajiado district in Kenya. It addresses the question of why group ranch members would demand individualized property systems, but then turn against the outcome. In addressing this puzzle the paper discusses the process of land allocation and distribution during group ranch subdivision.

Beyond Group Ranch Subdivision: Collective Action, Livestock Mobility, Ecological Viability and Livelihoods

Reports & Research
January, 2007

This paper leverages datasets and results from two separate studies carried out across eight Kajiado group ranches and offers a unique opportunity to look at emergent pre- and postsubdivision trends from an interdisciplinary framework that combines ecological, political, and human-ecological research perspectives. It provides insights into the following issues: the loss of flexibility and mobility for Maasai herders’ dues to subdivision, the nature of collective activities that individuals pursue after subdivision, and the emergence of pasture sharing arrangements.

The impact of subdivision and sedentarization of pastoral lands on wildlife in an African savanna ecosystem

Journal Articles & Books
January, 2009

This study looks at the impact of subdivision and sedentarization of pastoral lands on wildlife numbers and production in a savanna ecosystem of southern Kenya. The study uses aerial counts over a period of 33 years to compare changes in wildlife populations on two adjacent and ecologically similar Maasai group ranches. During the period under study, one group ranch was subdivided and settled. The other remained communally owned under shifting seasonal use.

Improving the Livelihoods of Pastoralist and Hunter-Gatherer Communities in Mongo wa Mono, Northern Tanzania through Payments for Ecosystem Services

Reports & Research
January, 2011

This Project Information Note (PIN) outlines an initial application to the Plan Vivo Foundation for working with select pastoralist and hunter-gatherer communities in Mongo wa Mono village, Mbulu District, Northern Tanzania (34°30’/03°30’S).