Paper short abstract:

This paper is a historical investigation of the changing visions for combatting drought in the Turkana area. It tracks how outside developers from colonial officers to 21st-century NGOs have envisioned the Turkana landscape in relation to the fight against recurring droughts and occasional famine.

Paper long abstract:

The arid ‘margins’ of the African states have been subject to a plethora of visions, planning interventions, explanations, and mythmaking, since the earliest colonial occupation. Whether seen as frontiers of possibilities for national governments and eager international developers, or ignored as desolate regions devoid of potential for economic development, these areas represent excellent cases for historical studies of future-making in the intersections between development aspirations, environment, and natural resources management.

The arid climate of the Turkana area and the nomadic production strategies of its inhabitants spurred a range of visions for the future of the Turkana environment and the fate of its inhabitants. Drought and famine were central to outside developers, and the vast majority of 'futures' centered around water, ecology, and livestock production. This paper is a historical investigation of the changing visions for combatting drought in the Turkana area. It tracks how outside developers from colonial officers to 21st-century NGOs have envisioned the Turkana landscape in relation to the fight against recurring droughts and occasional famine. The paper focus on distinct visions for environmental and water management and the changes and continuities in management ideas from early 20th century to the early 21st century. The paper will draw out how the fundamental colonial assumptions about Turkana ecosystems has continued into our present era, but also how management visions, aspirations, and techniques have evolved over these foundations. Making visible how the development apparatus continuously draw on familiar ecological tropes and proposed solution in its future-making in Africa’s arid ‘margins’.