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
•• Herders also cooperated with small-holder farmers living adjacent to the Mt. Kenya forest, whereby Maasai kept the animals on farms during the night and grazed inside the forest at night.
•• Research also noted preference for smaller and improved breeding stock and livelihood diversification.
•• Social contracts and other drought coping strategies will be
presented in detail in early 2011 as input into Kenya’s Arid Lands Resource Management Project and its Natural Resource Management component.