Paper short abstract:

Climate change adaptation must be understood in the context of land use change. This paper explores pastoral adaptation in the context of rapid urban expansion and land privatisation in formerly rural areas, showing how household adaptation strategies seek to bridge rural and peri-urban space.

Paper long abstract:

Climate change adaptation must be understood in the broader context of social, economic and land-use change. This includes the ongoing expansion of urban, industrial and infrastructural expansion into rural areas. This paper explores pastoral climate change adaptation strategies at the rural-urban interface. It examines how Maasai pastoralists in peri-urban Nairobi, Kenya, are responding to climate hazards in the context of urban expansion, land use change and land privatisation.

We find that while urban expansion provides significant challenges for pastoral livelihoods in the study area, pastoralists also actively engage new opportunities in the peri-urban context and employ them in their adaptation strategies. We show how adaptation strategies related to mobility, diversification, market exchange, storage and comunal pooling are employed and reshaped through a variety of efforts including engagement with urban land markets and demand for livestock products, and by capitalizing on proximity to transport, trading facilities, water, and commercial fodder.

We also find that historical land ownership patterns play a significant role in adaptation strategies, as some pastoralists are able to convert rising peri-urban land values into private rural land access and diversification strategies. Poor households are in a more precarious position but draw on informal agreements to access land as part of their adaptation strategies. Our findings highlight how pastoral households at the rural-urban interface may draw actively on peri-urban opportunities and seek to bridge rural and peri-urban space in their adaptation strategies.

Please note: Sylvia Rotich is lead author. Mikkel Funder presents physically on behalf of the authors.